Perfect traffic alert app
February 10, 2012 2:18 PM Subscribe
iPhone traffic app, with push traffic alerts?
Is there such an app? I have a 45min drive to work every day along roads with regular accidents (they lead to ports, so often carry lorries and confused/lost drivers from the other side of the English channel).
Is there a traffic app that will alert me via push notifications to traffic and accidents between specific times and on specific routes/roads?
Is there such an app? I have a 45min drive to work every day along roads with regular accidents (they lead to ports, so often carry lorries and confused/lost drivers from the other side of the English channel).
Is there a traffic app that will alert me via push notifications to traffic and accidents between specific times and on specific routes/roads?
Response by poster: So just set the route as you're leaving the office to see if it routes you around delays. It needs to know which direction you're going in before it can tell you that there are delays on a particular route.
I want to specify certain roads in the preferences along with times of day (ideally). So if there is an a delay around the time I'm leaving for work I'm alerted.
I don't want to have to run a navigation app every morning for a route I know.
posted by lemonfridge at 3:12 PM on February 10, 2012
I want to specify certain roads in the preferences along with times of day (ideally). So if there is an a delay around the time I'm leaving for work I'm alerted.
I don't want to have to run a navigation app every morning for a route I know.
posted by lemonfridge at 3:12 PM on February 10, 2012
So I'm not aware of any app that will let you set routes and get alerts. For that, I suspect you'll need to look to your local transit agency, or roll your own scraper. I seem to recall CalTrans having an alert service, but that might only be for closures or weather or something. No matter what, you're looking for more of a service and less of an app per se.
As for in-the-moment information, you can't get alerts about where you are without an app running, as the phone would otherwise have no way of getting location data.
posted by TheNewWazoo at 3:53 PM on February 10, 2012
As for in-the-moment information, you can't get alerts about where you are without an app running, as the phone would otherwise have no way of getting location data.
posted by TheNewWazoo at 3:53 PM on February 10, 2012
Best answer: There definitely services in the US that offer traffic alerts by SMS. You tell it in advance the routes you're interested in and things like mute hours and level of severity to alert you to. In fact Microsoft offered this about 10 years ago. I think my mobile carrier also offered the service.
I suspect that in the UK similar services do exist as well. My point is they're not smartphone apps (but some services my have an app) but websites. Since the only time I've been in a car in the UK, I was in the back of a taxi, I can't give you specific recommendations, but Googling just now a few "traffic by SMS" sites for the UK show up. Because of the way SMS is different in the US and UK, they'll probably not be free for you though.
posted by birdherder at 5:41 PM on February 10, 2012
I suspect that in the UK similar services do exist as well. My point is they're not smartphone apps (but some services my have an app) but websites. Since the only time I've been in a car in the UK, I was in the back of a taxi, I can't give you specific recommendations, but Googling just now a few "traffic by SMS" sites for the UK show up. Because of the way SMS is different in the US and UK, they'll probably not be free for you though.
posted by birdherder at 5:41 PM on February 10, 2012
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I just want a heads-up before leaving the office to take a different route home, or from home to work.
Just a little popup "A258: 20min delays due to accident/roadworks"
posted by lemonfridge at 2:54 PM on February 10, 2012