TMC expands to 19 new cities and begins transmitting via HD radio

Clear Channel Radio’s Total Traffic Network today announced that it has begun transmitting traffic data via HD Radio in 48 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas, adding that specially equipped receivers should be available by year’s end. The HD broadcasts will allow for more data and pave the way for additional servcies. GPS Business News speculated on that today, saying:

The larger bandwidth in the HD radio signal is expected to enable additional services including weather forecast updates and regional point of interest (POI) updates. With HD Radio Clear Channel will compete with the Microsoft MSN Direct technology that enables traffic, gas price, weather and movies times on the Garmin Nuvi 680 and StreetPilot c580.

Clear Channel also announced that 19 new cities have been to the Traffic Message Channel data service. They are Albany, NY; Albuquerque, NM; Birmingham, AL; Columbia, SC; Fort Myers, FL; Louisville, KY; Omaha, NE; Portsmouth/Manchester, NH; Richmond, VA; Rochester, NY; Sarasota, FL; Springfield, MA; Syracuse, NY; Toledo, OH; Tucson, AZ; Worcester, MA and Toronto, ON; Ottawa, ON and Montreal, QE in Canada.