Suna or later

GPS Satallite Navigation with traffic warnings
Photo: Craig Sillitoe

Barry Park
October 7, 2008

WELCOME to the battle of the street smarts. In one corner is the SUNAtraffic management channel network, a 21st century satellite navigation system launched about six months ago that helps drivers skirt traffic bottlenecks with minimal fuss.

In the other is a human, its small bucketful of grey matter housing a sense of direction sharply honed on the battleground that is Melbourne's increasingly congested road network.

The challenge is formidable. Our SUNAsystem can constantly update itself to warn of slow traffic, and automatically re-route around it using the fastest roads. It uses an FM radio receiver that plugs into the satellite-navigation system to constantly gather information from a central database. That information then shows up on the system's screen, helping the driver decide which roads to take, and which to avoid.

Given the right circumstances, it can make a human navigator look . . . well, human.

How best to test them? Starting at Dandenong in Melbourne's east at the height of the Friday morning peak, we're going to work our way into the city's heart.

Along the way, we're going to have to skirt several of Melbourne's biggest traffic bottlenecks, crowds heading to the Royal Melbourne Show, and finally deal with a central business district shut down for the AFL grand final parade.

One car is equipped with a TomTom XL Traffic, the cutting edge of portable satellite-navigation units equipped with the SUNAsystem.

Another will rely on a standard in-car satellite navigation system, with the driver following its every command along the fastest route between two points as a control. The third of our testers will have the most difficult task, relying upon a current Melway street directory, radio traffic reports and years of hard-won rat cunning for guidance.

Each leg will be timed and the distance logged so that we can find out how much of an advantage the best form of navigation can yield. The Melway, like the satellite-navigation systems, can't be used while the car is rolling.
Who, then, is the undisputed king of the rat runners?

Central Dandenong at 8am is a cold, lonely, windswept place. We're gathered outside the Dandenong Hub, a once-proud arcade that speaks of more prosperous times in a hard-working weave in Melbourne's outer fabric.

We have each been given an envelope containing the drive route. I'm in a frugal Holden Astra diesel wagon, one of the best diesel packages I've come across this year, fitted with the SUNA-ready TomTom using its default out-of-the-box settings. Ian Porter, the most senior of our group, is in the "oldest" car, a Mercedes-Benz CLC based on the seven-year-old C-Class coupe and featuring Benz's traditional Comand multimedia interface, which includes satellite navigation. It will act as our control car.

David Morley, our flesh-and-bones rat runner, is in a fire-breathing Audi S5. He's brought along his dog-eared, decade-old Melway, but for today's exercise he'll need the new one as we're covering relatively uncharted territory. Rip open the envelopes, jump in the cars and away we go.

LEG 1
DANDENONG TO BLACKBURN
About 26 kilometres and 24 minutes
Morley is away at lightning speed, using a mental map of Melbourne's east to guide him out of the blocks. He's playing for sheep stations . . . or maybe for humanity's triumph over technology.

I'm a minute or so behind him, having to punch directions into the TomTom unit one letter at a time. Choose the suburb, then the street, then the number: Blackburn, Canterbury Road, 127. As I reverse out of the car park, Porter is still parked there, his brow furrowed in concentration.
As I go to follow the satellite-navigation unit's instructions to turn right on to Dandenong Road, I notice a "no right turn" sign. Oops, straight on up to a roundabout and back down to Dandenong Road to make a left turn towards EastLink, a short run away. I'm having no luck with the traffic lights, slowing progress somewhat. If only the SUNAsystem had a green light function. There's surprisingly little traffic.

Meanwhile, Morley loops further east, anticipating the hassles and snarls that experience tells him are likely to crop up, especially in peak hour. He's taken Stud Road, feeding into Boronia Road to avoid Forest Hill shopping centre, and then on to Canterbury Road via a service road short-cut.

In the CLC, Porter makes his way on to a surprisingly congestion-free Monash Freeway, turning off at Blackburn Road to slowly head north.
Meanwhile, I'm having a dream run up EastLink, which is almost devoid of traffic. I've got time to take in the farmland on the left, and the Dandenongs to the right. Off at Canterbury Road minus $1.99 in tolls, and on to the destination.

Or so I think. Instead of telling me to turn right into the McDonald's car park, the TomTom makes me loop left through back streets until I am on a road directly opposite the car park entrance. Instead of turning across one lane of traffic, I now have to cross two. Still, I'm there in 28 minutes.
Morley coasts in 30 seconds after I arrive, spotting the meeting point by keeping an eye out for the McDonald's sign. Porter arrives another seven minutes later grumbling about his car's bizarre route choice.

LEG 2
BLACKBURN TO MILL PARK
About 28 kilometres and 33 minutes
This is a tough one as the destination, the McDonald's on University Drive in Mill Park, lies deep in one of Melbourne's newer suburbs. No one is familiar with it.

Again, Morley bolts away, preferring to back-track to Stud Road than cross four lanes of traffic to get back on Canterbury Road. I'm second out of the car park with Porter shadowing me. Crossing Canterbury Road is a trial, as we're stuck behind a loaded cement mixer until it can clear the intersection.

As we make our way up Middleborough Road, Morley is cutting up Blackburn Road, turning left past the railway station and then right up a back street to land on Whitehorse Road and dart across to Middleborough.

It pays off ... just ... and he turns on to the Eastern Freeway a few cars ahead of me. We've lost Porter somewhere. He's chased us on to the Eastern but keeps going, following the sat-nav's advice to take the Chandler Highway.

A short run on the freeway spits Morley and I off at Bulleen Road. We crawl slowly through the busy centre of Heidelberg, past the magistrates court and police station. I've noticed that the green indicator on the SUNAsystem that lets me know that I'm getting real-time traffic updates has dropped off the screen. We're out of radio range, deep in the black hole that is Heidelberg. It's a shame, because I'm stuck in slow-moving traffic and the ever-sharp Morley has extended his lead to half a dozen cars.

From there it's a simple dash onto the Greensborough Highway, Western Ring Road and then Plenty Road to the destination, using cruise control just about the whole way. Traffic is light. Morley is in first at 28 minutes, largely down to a good run of green lights. I'm two minutes behind him. Porter limps in four minutes later after a slow run up Plenty Road via the South Pole.

LEG 3
MILL PARK TO BRUNSWICK EAST
About 16 kilometres and 21 minutes
There's a surprise. As soon as we know the destination, Morley is off like a rocket. He already has a rough idea of where he's headed, and that's enough.

We're all making our way down Plenty Road. I'm blind to slow-moving traffic, as the SUNAsystem hasn't started working again. It needs to warn me about all these trams and slow-moving Ford Focuses.

Morley pulls up alongside me and I glance at my satellite-navigation route. St Georges Road stands out, and my heart sinks and I know I've lost this one.

Turning on to the slow-moving St Georges Road, I see a pair of Audi running lights in the rear-view mirror. It's not Morley. Instead it's a 2.0-litre A4 diesel, a much wiser and more affordable choice of car.

Behind me, Morley is tempted to take Murray Road, but he has stayed on Plenty to hook right into Bell Street before taking a left into Nicholson Street. It becomes Holmes Street, and the site of the McDonald's car park that marks our destination.

His engine has already been ticking cool for three minutes when I arrive after cutting across Thornbury via Normanby Avenue. Porter glides in just seconds behind after crossing via Murray Road.

LEG 4
BRUNSWICK EAST TO YARRAVILLE
About 15 kilometres and 21 minutes

Everyone is quick off the mark this time, with Morley and Porter turning north rather than the south-bound route that I take.

I notice the SUNAsystem is working again. I know that because it begins showing red bars indicating the slow-moving Nicholson Street traffic that I'm stuck with. Duck around a couple of trams and we're on to Brunswick Road. A congestion warning flashes up as I pass over Sydney Road, and another one appears as the line of traffic waiting to turn right on to the Tullamarine Freeway banks up further and further. I drive past a woman in a green dress who has tattoos down her left leg. It's strange to think that with the satellite-navigation system steering me, I have time to notice such detail.

Meanwhile, Morley has ducked down Moreland Road, stopping for a railway crossing. He's aiming for CityLink and a jump along Footscray Road. Porter is slowly negotiating a congested Sydney Road, aiming for Pascoe Vale Road.

My trip along Brunswick Road - with no sign of the Showgrounds traffic that I expected - ends at Van Ness Avenue in Maribyrnong, which loops along the back of Highpoint shopping centre. A quick figure eight across Geelong Road, and it's a short trip to Somerville Road.

Our notes say the destination - another McDonald's car park - is at the corner of Somerville and Roberts Roads, but it's actually at Williamstown and Somerville Roads. Morley phones up to tell me there's no McDonald's on Roberts Road, but a Hungry Jack's and what appears to be a severe case of mistaken fast-food identity. I tell him to sit tight, believing he's at the right place.

Several minutes later, I turn up at the Somerville Road McDonald's where Porter has already arrived two minutes earlier, recording 30 minutes flat.
We've both punched the street address - 158 Somerville Road - into our systems and arrived at the correct place. I phone back Morley and let him know he's eating the wrong brand of burger.

He shows up in a fluster four minutes later, arguing had the directions been correct, he'd have stitched both of us up by a good three minutes. But the directions worked fine for us. Porter and I claim the victory.

LEG 5
YARRAVILLE TO WEST MELBOURNE
About 7.5 kilometres and 11 minutes

This is it, the battle for line honours in a short cross-city sprint. We're verging on the grand final parade start time, so expectations are that things in the CBD will be as prickly as the still-sore Morley.

We're heading to our Lonsdale Street bunker. Again, Morley is fastest out of the blocks, backtracking to Somerville Road as, in his judgement, Williamstown Road looks a bit dire.

A quick glance up Barkly reveals a major bottleneck, so Morley keeps going to Ballarat Road, turning right into Moore Street and then left on to Dynon Road which flows straight into Spencer Street.

It's his downfall. It's almost lunchtime, so the radio stations have ended their regular traffic updates. He barrels head-first into a gridlocked Spencer Street, reduced to a single lane by building works.

Meanwhile, I'm struggling along the over-dimensional truck route that leads into Footscray Road. A congestion warning flashes up on the satellite-navigation screen, asking if I would like to minimise delays by taking a different route into the city. What the heck, I've nothing to lose here.
It's an interesting choice. The sat-nav pushes me off at Dynon Road, looping up to William Street before heading across to Lonsdale and our destination in 20 minutes. Porter has already been there for three minutes after ducking through Buckley and Napier Streets in Footscray and scooting up Spencer Street via La Trobe Street.

A frustrated Morley limps home in a time of 23 minutes.

GET CONNECTED

The SUNAtraffic management channel works with several TomTom, Mio and Navway portable satellite navigation systems. You can either buy the satellite-navigation system with TMC already bundled into it, or buy a special cradle or attachment for an existing system.

The only downside is that most systems use an external FM radio antenna that, like on our test system, sticks on to the windscreen using rubber suckers. It's an untidy way of doing things.

Subscriptions to the SUNAservice cost between $30-$50 for the lifetime of the device.

More satellite-navigation system retailers are expected to announce the availability of the SUNAsystem at next month's Sydney motor show.The verdictSo there we have it. The SUNAsystem is worth an extra two minutes at best, according to our test.

But it was much later in the day that the system showed its true worth.
Driving along the Monash Freeway, a congestion warning flashed up on the screen just before Warrigal Road, asking me if I wanted to re-route. I decided to trust the machine, as I could see traffic slowing to a stop ahead.
It was a good call. Switching on the radio, I learned that a crash on the Monash outbound had created a huge bottleneck at Stud Road, with an estimated travel time from Kings Way of more than an hour.

In about half an hour, I had skirted the Stud Road turn-off using roads I used before the Monash was built.

And there is the SUNAsystem's biggest benefit. It doesn't help you with the short rat run around town. Where it does help is when you have to make a big call to avoid an even bigger mess.

Instead of frustration and uncertainty, the SUNAsystem helped me to quickly make an informed choice about whether I wanted to sit in traffic or skirt around it.

That's better advice than you'll find printed in any Melway.
CAR 1
Drive route: Red
Vehicle model: Holden Astra diesel wagon
Navigation technology: TomTom XL Traffic
Driver: Barry Park
CAR 2
Drive route: Green
Vehicle model: Mercedes-Benz CLC coupe
Navigation technology: Mercedes-Benz Comand system
Driver: Ian Porter
Car 3
Drive route: Blue
Vehicle model: Audi S5
Navigation technology: 2008 Melway
Driver: David Morley
Table: Point to point