Getting Around Traffic, The Internet Way

When you live in New York like I do, traffic is as inevitable as death and taxes. Traffic is frustrating, a total waste of time, and now a waste of gasoline as well. There's just a complete loss of productivity when sitting bumper to bumper on the World's longest parking lot, also known as the Long Island Expressway. What is even more painful is that there are many alternate routes, but it's a matter of having the crucial information in a timely fashion.

For many years I simply accepted traffic, and just compensated for it with plenty of music in the car at all times. While music is great, it is a poor surrogate for reaching my destination faster. I also love those signs that I get to stare at that display “Normal Traffic Conditions Ahead.” I suppose that zero miles per hour at 8 a.m. on a Monday morning is to be expected as “normal,” but this is hardly useful information in the end.

I've tried listening to the local radio stations. They often talk about “The City” (New York City for those that don't live around here), but rarely touch on Long Island. Ditto for the TV stations that don't cover the traffic on “The Island.” There is one FM radio station that gives intermittent traffic info for Long Island, but I often get the info after I've already committed to a route, so it's not that useful. It's also the so called “lite” station and I really don't like listening to it for any longer than necessary.
One day, perhaps, all of this traffic information will be integrated into one useful portable interface. Some of the newest GPS hardware can integrate in real time traffic information. The units get updated through satellite radio, FM radio, or a cell phone signal. This is clearly the future, but this tech is still in its infancy. I'm also not sure how well it works quite yet. Besides, I'm still working on a regular GPS unit, and these higher end units simply exceed the budget.
What about the internet? I heard this website that launched last week from one of the local TV news networks, FOX 5. I clicked on traffic, and found the data I needed. It had a map that could be toggled from roads to a satellite view. The map could be easily zoomed and moved from within the browser window. In real time the accidents come up, and are represented by a red triangle. Construction and flow patterns also get indicated. Now the coolest part is that it is hooked into the traffic cameras. By clicking on the traffic cameras, I can see a live picture of the road in that location. Finally a really useful application for webcams!

I'm impressed, once again, the the internet has the information neatly organized, and accessible in a timely fashion. Now if I can just remember to check my route before I run out the door, I should be all set to drive more and sit in less traffic.

--Jonas