Get moving: in-car GPS with traffic services

April 24, 2006

We've yelled, we've honked, we've all experienced the pain and the frustration of traffic. And as people spend more time in their cars and endure longer commutes, is there any relief in sight? Some GPS manufacturers are betting so. The latest crop of portable navigation systems from the likes of Garmin, TomTom, Cobra, and Magellan is incorporating traffic services to provide you with real-time road updates, highlighting construction zones, slow-moving roadways, and traffic accidents. Many of the models will even suggest alternate routes around the affected areas. Of course, it's not all smooth sailing. The one downside is that you have to pay extra for these services. Typically, you'll be required to purchase a traffic receiver, then you have to pay a monthly or an annual subscription fee to the traffic-information network. Still, for some, it might be worth the cost, avoiding the headache of sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic. If this sounds like you, here are four navigation systems that can ease the pain.