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Your local traffic report . . . from hundreds of miles away

Started by cpzilliacus, November 05, 2012, 08:47:02 AM

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jeffandnicole

Traffic reports are heavily geered towards the regular, local listener.  Imagine if you listened to a traffic report every day when you commute.  Would you want to hear "Travel time is XX minutes, normal time is 8 minutes" every 10 minutes, every single day?

Same thing with route numbers or names - the reports are going to use what the local area likes to hear.  There are thousands of regulars listening to the report on a daily basis.  Even in the examples we've provided above, you drove thru the city ONCE. 

Honestly, bluntly, they don't really care about you, the one-time visitor.  They're not going to piss off everyday listeners (who account for their ratings) to accommodate someone that is spending an hour in the area.  For most visitors, they're not going to know how to detour around the area anyway.  Even if they have a GPS, once they leave the highway, the GPS will route them back towards the highway anyway.

Another example (true in areas that still don't require an area code to be dialed). When a commercial provides a phone number, they often give the 7 digit number.  They're not trying to reach every traveler coming thru - they're trying to reach the locals.

These stations know that most people traveling thru are not listening to the traffic reports...or the commercials.  They're listening for the music.


1995hoo

The sort of points you make are the same reason why you'll often not hear a road mentioned even when the traffic there is in a stop-and-roll* situation or the like: Some local traffic reporters figure that there's no reason to spend time talking about a backup if it's the same backup that occurs every day, so they'll only mention it if something unusual happens like a bad accident that blocks some lanes or the like.

But as I said on the first page of the thread, that's one reason why I listen to the XM reports when I travel to or through other cities. Their reports aren't necessarily written from the local perspective. Sometimes that can be a problem, but sometimes it can be useful.


*"Stop-and-roll" meaning the type of traffic where you're mostly stopped and almost all your movement comes from just easing off the clutch and rolling forward and then stopping again. I used to hear this term a lot on the traffic reports in Raleigh, usually referring to I-40 between the Durham Freeway and Wade Avenue or the Beltline near Glenwood Avenue, but I have never heard it used elsewhere.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

agentsteel53

Quote from: 1995hoo on December 18, 2012, 02:30:42 PM

*"Stop-and-roll" meaning the type of traffic where you're mostly stopped and almost all your movement comes from just easing off the clutch and rolling forward and then stopping again. I used to hear this term a lot on the traffic reports in Raleigh, usually referring to I-40 between the Durham Freeway and Wade Avenue or the Beltline near Glenwood Avenue, but I have never heard it used elsewhere.


not many people drive manual transmission.  I wouldn't want to commute with one every day in shitty traffic!
live from sunny San Diego.

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1995hoo

Quote from: agentsteel53 on December 18, 2012, 02:56:17 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 18, 2012, 02:30:42 PM

*"Stop-and-roll" meaning the type of traffic where you're mostly stopped and almost all your movement comes from just easing off the clutch and rolling forward and then stopping again. I used to hear this term a lot on the traffic reports in Raleigh, usually referring to I-40 between the Durham Freeway and Wade Avenue or the Beltline near Glenwood Avenue, but I have never heard it used elsewhere.


not many people drive manual transmission.  I wouldn't want to commute with one every day in shitty traffic!

I've never owned a car with an automatic. I find them quite difficult to drive, actually, because I'm not used to the "kickdown" thing (with a manual, when you want to accelerate hard like that, you downshift). In DC-area traffic my right leg gets more tired from working the brake pedal constantly than my left leg does from working the clutch!
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: agentsteel53 on December 18, 2012, 02:56:17 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 18, 2012, 02:30:42 PM

*"Stop-and-roll" meaning the type of traffic where you're mostly stopped and almost all your movement comes from just easing off the clutch and rolling forward and then stopping again. I used to hear this term a lot on the traffic reports in Raleigh, usually referring to I-40 between the Durham Freeway and Wade Avenue or the Beltline near Glenwood Avenue, but I have never heard it used elsewhere.


not many people drive manual transmission.  I wouldn't want to commute with one every day in shitty traffic!

I have never owned a vehicle with an automatic transmission either.   And I drive a lot in lousy D.C.-area traffic.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

roadman

The term most Boston-area traffic reporters use to describe "stop and roll" conditions is "pockets of traffic".  And, for some reason, they are really enamored with stating "in the clearing stages" instead of "being cleared" when a wreck or breakdown is about to be removed from the highway.
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)

bsmart

I started using the term 'slinky mode' when describing the long line of traffic that surges and stops.  It reminds me of the look of a slinky where you stretch it out on a floor and pull bac a section and let go and watch the surge travel down the slinky (Which is what slinkies were originally created for)

codyg1985

Quote from: Jim on November 10, 2012, 11:57:42 AM
The Clear Channel news/talk stations seem to share many traffic reporters at least among northeastern cities.  I've heard the same voices I hear on WGY in Albany on other stations in New England.  And one morning not too long ago, a traffic reporter read off what was clearly a Binghamton area report on WGY.  A quick google search shows that this is not just a northeastern trend or a Clear Channel trend.

In northern Alabama there is one traffic reporter for the Clear Channel stations that serves both Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Huntsville. I'm not too fond of those reports simply because by the time it makes it to the report, in all likelihood the accident has been cleared (at least in Huntsville). I would absolutely love to see better uses of VMS signs everywhere that would use the sensors on the road to determine if there is a slow down ahead and warn of that far enough in advance so that traffic can get around it. There are many states down here that put in a slew of VMS signs but only display messages like "Buckle Up" or "456 people have died so far, don't be next."
Cody Goodman
Huntsville, AL, United States



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