App for Motorway Traffic Flow?

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Mon 5 Aug 2013 15:47
App for Motorway Traffic Flow? - meldrew

My trusty RAC 1210 Trafficmaster with its LEDs no longer works. The system is in the process of being turned off after 20 years of reliable info!

Can anyone recommend a good phone app that will provide reliable traffic alerts with minimum data download? Last night the road signs said M6 Long delays and there was hardly a car there when we got to the notified stretch! Something that actually works is needed. Maybe even an up to date satnav with traffic info?

Advice from the experts needed!

Regds

Meldrew

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Mon 5 Aug 2013 20:02
App for Motorway Traffic Flow? - Cyd

I joined the M6 south at J19 at around 7.30pm last night. It was chock and at a virtual standstill.

If I'd known I could have cut into Knutsford and joined the A50 there instead of crawling down to J18 and getting it from there.

So I would say the signs were probably correct.

An app such as you describe would have been useful.

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Tue 6 Aug 2013 08:37
App for Motorway Traffic Flow? - NARU

What about Waze?

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Tue 6 Aug 2013 14:18
App for Motorway Traffic Flow? - meldrew

<I joined the M6 south at J19 at around 7.30pm last night. It was chock and at a virtual standstill.>

Cyd - My sign was for Northbound. When I got to your junctions it looked horrendous. No comment on the radio RDS system either. So much for 21st century technology!

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Tue 6 Aug 2013 14:34
App for Motorway Traffic Flow? - NARU

Cyd - My sign was for Northbound. When I got to your junctions it looked horrendous. No comment on the radio RDS system either. So much for 21st century technology!

RDS is 20th Century! Apps like Waze are the way forward - with every car feeding back its real time speed information - so the routing software can see who is stuck, and where. And the speed on any viable diversions too. Waze has just been bought by Google, who can see the potential.

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Fri 9 Aug 2013 11:49
App for Motorway Traffic Flow? - meldrew

Surely this then depends on all the other cars ahead running Waze too? It may be the way to go but how long does it take for users to become a viable critical mass? My now out of date RAC Traffic Alert was the result of every single car passing the monitor cameras.

Have since discovered an app called "Inrix" which seems to have potential too.

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Fri 9 Aug 2013 12:55
App for Motorway Traffic Flow? - Armitage Shanks {p}

TomTom randomly tracks Vodaphone users which gives them some idea of traffic flow and it records the journey times into a database which is used to produce their IQ routes system which offers a route on, Say a Friday morning, which is based expereince of people on that route on the same day/time.

TomTom IQ Routes puts the driving experience of millions of TomTom users into your maps, calculating your route based on actual speeds driven on roads compared to speed limits. With TomTom IQ Routes you always get the smartest, most efficient route. Saving you time, fuel and money by driving like a local.

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Fri 9 Aug 2013 12:57
App for Motorway Traffic Flow? - Ed V

Waze, and others, seem to me to have a market elsewhere but probably not in England.

The authorities here are adept at ensuring 'rat-runs' asre slower than the main roads. And imagine cutting off the M25 to hit the A25 on a wet Tuesday. Or going to Hollyhead on the A5 through Shrewsbury. Not a goer IMHO.

The Waze illustration on its site shows a New York-style road grid, like telling you to go up 3rd Avenue rather than using 5th Avenue.

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Sun 11 Aug 2013 19:57
App for Motorway Traffic Flow? - meldrew

Tried loading Waze on a Android 2 phone and it just would not run. I prefer serious technolgy to "crowd sourced social media"! It looks like an up market Tom Tom or Garmin Nuvi is the way forward.

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Sun 11 Aug 2013 21:29
App for Motorway Traffic Flow? - Happy Blue!
Google Maps on my Blackberry has a traffic function which is pretty accurate - almost everywhere in the world I go including the UK, USA, EU and Middle East. has done for several years before Google bought Waze.
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Sat 4 Aug 2018 17:51
App for Motorway Traffic Flow? - NARU

Tried loading Waze on a Android 2 phone and it just would not run. I prefer serious technolgy to "crowd sourced social media"! It looks like an up market Tom Tom or Garmin Nuvi is the way forward.

We're up to Android 7 now!

You're aware that Waze is owned by google? It's a lot more than you're portraying!

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Thu 15 Aug 2013 18:14
App for Motorway Traffic Flow? - mickeybay

The authorities here are adept at ensuring 'rat-runs' asre slower than the main roads. And imagine cutting off the M25 to hit the A25 on a wet Tuesday. Or going to Hollyhead on the A5 through Shrewsbury. Not a goer IMHO.

I agree, I'd stop off in wonderful Shrewsbury and not carry on :-) (But then I'm from the area)

On a more serious note, the M54, A5 then A483 isn't such a bad route to the A55. Mostly motorway/dual carriage. You wouldn't take the A5 after Chirk and on to Llangollen.

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Thu 15 Aug 2013 23:22
App for Motorway Traffic Flow? - Millstone

You need 'Traffic View' only available for iPhone from the appstore

It's the latest version of the old traffic master YQ system, it uses all the sensors still in place and can be set to update as often as every 5 minutes, shows the speed or the delay time (you chose) at any section below 30 mph and the price ??? Just .69p yes sixty nine pence !!! This is the link for info:

Www.traffic master.co.UK/traffic view

Only downside is it now defaults to the new Apple mapping, instead of Google Maps, just makes the motorways a bit harder to see (they are yellow instead of blue)

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Fri 16 Aug 2013 18:47
App for Motorway Traffic Flow? - Hamsafar

They are all rubbish in the UK, the apps for phones and TMC data.

OFCOM should take away ICTIS's license and make it the responsibilty of the Highways Agency.

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Sat 4 Aug 2018 17:52
App for Motorway Traffic Flow? - NARU

Can anyone recommend a good phone app that will provide reliable traffic alerts with minimum data download?

Google maps as first choice. You can even download the maps to the phone before time over wifi. I have a three SIM which gives 200Mb of free data each month, and that's often enough.

Edited to add: Oops - I hadn't spotted this is a Lazarus thread from 2013.

Edited by NARU on 04/08/2018 at 17:54

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If you cover no more than 100 miles per day and have easy access to a charging point at home or work, then an EV is ideal for you.

Is an electric car right for me?