MMI 3G Traffic in Vancouver now working?

[Leor604]

Got in to go to work today and the default Navigation screen showed Navigation (TMC) at the top. Never seen TMC displayed before.

I pushed the INFO button and, sure enough, a whole bunch of information came up (such as the closure of the Boundary Road onramps to Hwy 1) whereas, before, it would just say something like "No information available". I set a destination that would make me use those ramps and after it plotted the original route, the nice lady said "Your route has be changed due to traffic conditions", so Dynamic Routing was also active and working.

Is this something new here? Hope it's permanent and not just a glitch of some sort. Anybody else have traffic info now? What about before today?

[dracolnyte]

check to see if ur sat radio is working

[Leor604]

No, my Sirius trial actually expired a month ago. I think TMC is via FM, correct? Could it be that while Sirius was active it was somehow defaulting to that and ignoring TMC? I haven't made any changes that I'm aware of.

While Sirius was active, I had no traffic info at all. My understanding is that Sirius Canada does not do traffic and some suggested getting a Sirius US account, but I had some of our Seattle friends check it out and the Sirius US traffic info stopped at the Canadian border so I though I was out of luck here in the wild west.

[J Ozzie]

oh nice! i just use google maps as i dont have a sirus plan

[DeMOROlized]

Sirius is offering free trial to former customers.

[Leor604]

Yep, it's the Sirius trial. Damn!!! Thought we somehow gained free traffic like my wife's TomTom (which has a blister on the power cord that is the TMC receiver). No charge, no sat subscription required.

However, Sirius traffic in Canada is new, no? Never had traffic during my initial 3 month trial. If they offer a lower priced traffic only subscription I'm all over it but, if I have to spring for everything, I'll pass. I didn't see anything about traffic on the Sirius Canada website

Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia TMC page. Don't know if our nav systems are capable of receiving the TMC signal via FM, or just by satellite. Maybe it's Sirius or nothing [:(]

=========================
United States and Canada

In the United States of America, XM Satellite Radio started transmitting TMC messages all over the US, as has Sirius Satellite Radio. NAVTEQ provides traffic data to both XM and Sirius Satellite Radio. NAVTEQ Traffic delivers traffic information and related advertising via RDS and HD signals to navigation devices nationwide. NAVTEQ also provides high quality traffic sourced from sensors, probes and other technologies in 10+ countries as of Dec 2009. INRIX, Inc. fuses TMC data with real-time flow information from its crowd-sourced network of floating cars and mobile devices with information from other public and private sources to deliver real-time and predictive traffic information.

Clear Channel Communications and Tele Atlas have a TMC service called Total Traffic Network (TTN), using FM RDS in 77 US cities and three Canadian metropolitan areas.[19] These services are both subscription, and were initially available to many in-car navigation units via an expansion module purchased separately.

The TomTom RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver acquires information through an FM radio signal broadcast by Clear Channel's regional providers. By connecting a TomTom GO device to the RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver, users automatically receive traffic information via the TMC connection. Once a trip is planned, traffic alerts are displayed in the traffic bar on the right hand side of the screen. When users tap the traffic bar, they receive further information, such as accident or traffic delays. The RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver is compatible with the TomTom GO 920, TomTom GO 720, TomTom ONE XL and TomTom ONE 3rd EDITION. It provides integration of RDS-TMC Traffic information with the user interface of the TomTom GO and ONE products.

By now, in addition these after-market services, about six major motor manufacturers are offering RDS-TMC as standard in their U.S. vehicles, including Volvo and BMW.

Ibiquity HD Radio is advertising a TMC service based on the existing RDS-TMC standard. Utilizing the established standard for RDS/TMC, the Traffic Message Channel (TMC) is a data application for broadcasting real-time traffic information. Data messages will be received and decoded by a TMC-based receiver in conjunction with HD Radio devices and navigation systems. Traffic services are delivered to the driver in a vehicle in a variety of ways: the most common of these being a TMC-enabled navigation system.
==================================

[DeMOROlized]

Yep, it's the Sirius trial. Damn!!! Thought we somehow gained free traffic like my wife's TomTom (which has a blister on the power cord that is the TMC receiver). No charge, no sat subscription required.

However, Sirius traffic in Canada is new, no? Never had traffic during my initial 3 month trial. If they offer a lower priced traffic only subscription I'm all over it but, if I have to spring for everything, I'll pass. I didn't see anything about traffic on the Sirius Canada website

Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia TMC page. Don't know if our nav systems are capable of receiving the TMC signal via FM, or just by satellite. Maybe it's Sirius or nothing [:(]

=========================
United States and Canada

In the United States of America, XM Satellite Radio started transmitting TMC messages all over the US, as has Sirius Satellite Radio. NAVTEQ provides traffic data to both XM and Sirius Satellite Radio. NAVTEQ Traffic delivers traffic information and related advertising via RDS and HD signals to navigation devices nationwide. NAVTEQ also provides high quality traffic sourced from sensors, probes and other technologies in 10+ countries as of Dec 2009. INRIX, Inc. fuses TMC data with real-time flow information from its crowd-sourced network of floating cars and mobile devices with information from other public and private sources to deliver real-time and predictive traffic information.

Clear Channel Communications and Tele Atlas have a TMC service called Total Traffic Network (TTN), using FM RDS in 77 US cities and three Canadian metropolitan areas.[19] These services are both subscription, and were initially available to many in-car navigation units via an expansion module purchased separately.

The TomTom RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver acquires information through an FM radio signal broadcast by Clear Channel's regional providers. By connecting a TomTom GO device to the RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver, users automatically receive traffic information via the TMC connection. Once a trip is planned, traffic alerts are displayed in the traffic bar on the right hand side of the screen. When users tap the traffic bar, they receive further information, such as accident or traffic delays. The RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver is compatible with the TomTom GO 920, TomTom GO 720, TomTom ONE XL and TomTom ONE 3rd EDITION. It provides integration of RDS-TMC Traffic information with the user interface of the TomTom GO and ONE products.

By now, in addition these after-market services, about six major motor manufacturers are offering RDS-TMC as standard in their U.S. vehicles, including Volvo and BMW.

Ibiquity HD Radio is advertising a TMC service based on the existing RDS-TMC standard. Utilizing the established standard for RDS/TMC, the Traffic Message Channel (TMC) is a data application for broadcasting real-time traffic information. Data messages will be received and decoded by a TMC-based receiver in conjunction with HD Radio devices and navigation systems. Traffic services are delivered to the driver in a vehicle in a variety of ways: the most common of these being a TMC-enabled navigation system.
==================================

No it's not new. Sirius US has traffic info for the big 3 Canadian cities for years now.

[Leor604]

No it's not new. Sirius US has traffic info for the big 3 Canadian cities for years now.

So let me see if I have this straight.


1. When I received my car, I had a 3 month free trial from Sirius Canada
2. The free trial we are getting now in Canada is from Sirius US
3. Sirius US has traffic for Canada
4. Sirius Canada does not have traffic for Canada
5. In Canada, I cannot subscribe to Sirius US

Does that about cover it? Brilliant business model, Sirius! If I was trying to make things simple for subscribers, that's how I would do it.

[DeMOROlized]

So let me see if I have this straight.


1. When I received my car, I had a 3 month free trial from Sirius Canada
2. The free trial we are getting now in Canada is from Sirius US
3. Sirius US has traffic for Canada
4. Sirius Canada does not have traffic for Canada
5. In Canada, I cannot subscribe to Sirius US

Does that about cover it? Brilliant business model, Sirius! If I was trying to make things simple for subscribers, that's how I would do it.

It is possible to subscribe to Sirius US in Canada. Also, Sirius Canada is only a licensee of Sirius US, not a subsidiary.

I've also heard somewhere that the broadcast license of Sirius Canada prohibits delivery of local content, which traffic info falls into. Not sure how true that is.

[Leor604]

It is possible to subscribe to Sirius US in Canada.


I tried via their website, but step 1 is to enter your 5 digit zip code, and their terms do not allow for a Canadian credit card to be used for any recurring payment plan.

Ideas?

[haulin oats]

setup a secondary billing address on your credit card to one of the shipping depots in blaine, or point roberts. then you have a legit billing address in the US.

credit card companies do this all the time.

[vincent9993]

I went through this when I tried to activate my XM compatible Garmin to get Nav-Traffic and Nav-Weather. At the time, when XM was a seperate company from Sirius, they could not accept a Canadian CC regardless of the billing address. It did not work online nor over the phone with the CSR. As soon as I gave them my CC number, they rejected it as being a Canadian CC.

I was able to get a workaround by having them bill me at my USA address. Now I did not have a real address, I simply used a hotel address we had gone to. I then logged on to my account on their website and downloaded the pdf and sent them payment.

Since the XM-Sirius merger, I was able to update my account profile and they accepted my Canadian CC with a US address. As mentioned above, I setup an alternate billing address on my CC and it's been working since then.

When this trial ends, I may try to get a US subscription to my existing XM account. I suspect that they may not be able to do that...

Keep us posted if anyone successfully activates Sirius USA on their Canadian cars.

[Chestlock]

You and your fancy NAV..... pshaw

[Leor604]

I'm wishin' for a little less "fancy" and a little more "just gimme friggin traffic reports without making me jump through hoops".

Not really the Nav's fault, probably the damn CRTC "protecting our heritage" again. Neanderthals!

[Chestlock]

...probably the damn CRTC "protecting our heritage" again. Neanderthals!


Rage - CRTC - rage..... [headbang]