Overview
NAVTEQ's Traffic.com provides real-time traffic for Los Angeles and driving routes between addresses, with options for the fastest route based on current traffic conditions or the most direct route. Traffic.com shows you where the delays are along your route and estimate how much time each delay will cost you. It is not a search engine, so you have to know where you want to go in order to get directions, but I sometimes find it more efficient because it is so simple.What Traffic.com Does Best
- Very simple interface without all the bells and whistles so it's easy to navigate
- Gives you a choice of the most direct route or fastest for current traffic conditions, both showing simultaneously on the map
- Shows some more subtle street-level detours than Bing
- Gives the jam-factor, speed and estimated time-delay of each traffic-slow-down
Other Pros:
- Real-time traffic
- Turn by Turn Directions
- Drag route to change
Cons:
- Most of the time, you need to be more precise about your addresses than with Google or Bing
- Strictly traffic and directions, no extra bells and whistles like parking, public transportation or bike trails
- The route-dragging function doesn't work very well, and if you drag a route, you lose the "fastest route" tab in favor of "custom route" and you have to resubmit the route to get back to the "fastest" option.
- Sometimes route recommendations are inconsistent with traffic information (i.e. tells you a route is fastest in current traffic, yet routes you right through a traffic jam, where it indicates a 22 minute delay, despite other route options being available to get around it).
Bing Maps
Google Maps
MapQuest
Traffic.com
Sigalert.com
