Why do British and European motorists get up-to-date travel information from their sat-navs and car radios, while we are left in the dark, asks Paddy Comyn.
BOUGHT A sat-nav system in the past year? Well, you should be getting more from it, but because Ireland doesn't use advanced technology, we remain behind the rest of Europe.
If you travel abroad this summer, to countries such as France, Germany or even as close as the UK, if you use your satellite navigation system and there is a roadblock due to a crash, roadworks or some other problem, your system, if it is advanced enough, will offer you an alternative well in time. It works a treat, and can save you hours.
Here in Ireland, the same satellite navigation system remains silent, letting you dive headlong into the queues without as much as a hint at the problems lying ahead. The simple question is, why?
Well, in many European countries these headaches are avoided by using something called Traffic Message Channel (TMC), which is a technology for delivering traffic and travel information to drivers. It is a specific application of the FM Radio Data System (RDS) used for broadcasting real-time traffic and weather information.
Data messages are received silently and decoded by a TMC-equipped car radio or navigation system. It already works to a degree in Ireland. When you tune into RTÉ 1 or Lyric, for example, rather than the frequency, the name of the station shows up.
The way it works is quite simple.
Each traffic incident is sent as a TMC message. One message consists of an event code and a location code in addition to time details; the message is translated by a TMC receiver into the language of the user.
The source of the traffic information is usually the police, traffic cameras or traffic information services, such as AA Roadwatch.
A spokesperson for TomTom told The Irish Times: "Quite simply, the service doesn't work in Ireland because it isn't supported by any of the radio stations or provided by any Government departments."
This explanation was echoed by a spokesperson for Navteq, which provides mapping services in Ireland. "This sort of traffic information is usually provided by the government or private concerns in individual countries.
"In the UK, ITIS Holdings and Traffic Master are the two main operators. Depending on the system used, the level of information varies, but in the case of Ireland, nobody is providing the service so there is nothing for the satellite navigation system to pick up.
"Each government in each country is allotted a set of codes and they have the rights on these to use them themselves to provide traffic services, or allow a private company to use them."
Conor Faughnan of the AA explains further: "A number of years ago, the RDS TMC system worked to a degree in Ireland. Users could press a button on their car stereo system and a channel broadcasting a traffic report would interrupt whatever they were listening to.
"It worked well, but RTÉ received a number of complaints from people who seemingly couldn't work their audio systems properly, and were furious at having their regular programme interrupted by a traffic report.
"We have the information available on traffic delays and roadworks through our AA Roadwatch service, but currently there is no link-up between this and any operators updating maps."
However, there is some good news on the horizon, at least for the capital's satellite navigation users.
According to a spokesperson for the Department of Transport: "The Dublin Transport Authority will, on establishment, have powers to deliver a real-time travel and traffic information service, encompassing the deployment of enabling technologies such as RDS TMC, in the Greater Dublin Area."
There has been no timeline set on this, but at least it seems that, in the future, navigating around Dublin's blackspots will become that bit easier.