"Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic." - Dan Rather
It's been raining here in Northern California. And with the rains come slick roads, which in turn can cause crashes. And while we hope that none of those crashes are of a serious nature, even a fender bender is often all it takes to create some serious traffic congestion.
Many of us (most?) have GPS in our cars now, but what if you want to know the traffic conditions before you head out the door? Here are five websites and apps to help you get where you're going -- without being blocked by traffic.
One of the most widely available sites is 511. You'll have to perform a search for it because its precise name varies depending on where you live. The easiest way to find it is to search for "511 traffic" and then see what's available for your area. Some sites are hosted by local government, others by a private company. Many of the 511 sites are transit-friendly, integrating all available modes of transit into their trip planners including rail, bus, cycling and walking. They even include ferries in some regions.
If there isn't anything for your particular area, just search using your city, state or zip code, followed by the word traffic. For example, if you search for "Texas traffic" you'll find a good sample of traffic sites for Texas, some geared to specific metropolitan areas.
A quick word about apps. The descriptions are written to deliberately make every app sound like you might as well just give up if you don't have that app and to make it even more irresistible. It is FREE!! (Or 99 cents -- or some other number ending in 99 cents.) While that's a deal, take just one minute and look at the reviews for any app before you download. And while you're at it, check the release date and the date of the last update -- especially when looking at traffic apps. It doesn't take long for roads to change these days. Search for "traffic apps" or "best traffic apps" and you'll find lots of suggestions.
My all-time favorite traffic app is "CHP Traffic." This is about the best use for 99 cents that I've ever found. I like this app so much that I have actually gifted it to people. Based on information accessed directly from the California Highway Patrol (CHP), it uses a live feed from their dispatch center, which can also be viewed on the CHP website. While there is not an Android version of this particular app, the CHP has added a mobile version of their traffic site, so you do have that as an option. There is even a handy glossary to help you decipher any police codes you may encounter under the drop-down menu on the top right corner of the page, labeled "resources."
Another decent traffic app available for multiple platforms (iPhone, Android, BlackBerry) is Inrix. But beware: While it starts out as a free app, if you want to use the routing function to figure out how to go from point A to point B, it's going to cost you a hefty $24.99 for the upgrade. On the other hand, the "incidents" function, which is part of the free app, works great, provided you know how to get around the reported incident.
Topping the charts right now is Waze, a "social GPS and traffic" app available for all smartphone platforms. Waze is easy to use and has good tutorials. The downside for me was it wanted me to check in on Facebook and Twitter, telling people where I am and where I'm going. I sometimes think people just don't need that level of detail about my life.
Finally, we have Beat the Traffic, which is free with lots of ads, or for $3.99 you can dump the ads and just watch the traffic. This is also available for all smartphone platforms as well as having a website. Once you've downloaded it, go to "settings" and set it up the way you'd like it. I think one of the most pertinent settings is listed last, that of "incident severity," which has settings for low, medium and high.
How about you? Do you have a favorite website or app that helps you get where you are going more quickly and with fewer, if any delays?
Follow Lori McCoy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/therealmclori
My daily commute takes me 65 miles, crossing L.A. each way. The best thing that I have ever found is the map program already included in the iPhone. It has the option of showing traffic conditions. Green is good, yellow is sluggish, and red is... well... best to avoid the red as much as possible. I just zoom out to show the area I travel and decide which freeway(s) have the least congestion. It has saved me countless hours sitting in traffic.
Even if traffic is bad all the way around it really helps knowing what to expect, rather than wondering... I just settle in for the duration and enjoy the drive best I can. It sure takes a lot of the stress out of commuting for me. Doesn't hurt at all that it's absolutely free.
Since the article was about apps, I presumed the presence of the phone was implied. My bad.
Allow me to submit the idea that most people live too far away from their jobs to commute by bicycle, quickly, efficiently and safely. A bicycle ride around the neighborhood or to a local park is fine, but not to work, especially in the summer, unless you like smelling like a goat all day, or enjoy compound fractures and a trip to the hospital. I hope this cogent message has stimulated your brain.
There are to many people with to many gadgets in the car. They have their music blaring, moving to the beat, reading their cell phone messages, looking all around the place talking about the scenery, Then there's the kids misbehaving in the car. To many distractions cost people valuable time.
When cars starting hitting the road in the 40' and 50's everyone took driving very seriously. And it was "my father's car." Even the kids took riding in the car very seriously.
Once 1960 hit, and Elvis swiveled his hips on the Ed Sullivan Show, it was time to ROCK ' N ROLL! And few people have paid attention to the road since. Yeah, a lot of people said that rock and roll was going to ruin the next generation. And so it has for many.
To many people do nothing but listen to music and watch it on MTVB or their computer. WHAT is that going to get them in life? So they can be cool and have social conversations with others?
The people that are driving to slowly, are inconsiderate, but the police cannot arrest them.
You only need a local Waze account to send and receive traffic updates based on your driving speed. The app does not make it mandatory to select social networking or update your status on facebook. Facebook update is only a recent ad-on for Facebook addicts. You can chose to update further details en-route to help fellow Wazers without social networking. Derived from Tom-Tom this is the best interactive traffic avoidance app I have see yet, which can be used in any part of the world that has wazers :) It updates traffic based on multiple factors, like you and fellow wazers driving speed and direction base on GPS update.
Don't move to Los Angeles.
It has one important prerequisite: before using this app, ditch your infernal combustion engine entirely. Replace that dino-fuel-burning, bone-crushing, flesh-tearing, city-uglifying, sprawl-worsening, Saudi-royal-family-enriching, terrorist-funding, war-incentivizing, planet-frying, perspective-limiting, freedom-constraining, absurdly inefficient machine with a far more elegant device for translating human effort into kinetic energy. These lovely little contraptions have been around longer than cars, and they'll be around long after the petroleum economy and the auto-dependent way of life are just horrible memories.
(It helps to live in a place where the design of public space allows people to use methods of transportation other than the most destructive one ever invented. If you live in one of those unfortunate places that requires people to operate Murder Vehicles or be second-class citizens, there are two reasonable options, not exclusive of each other: move, and/or work to change your community's design, governance, and operations.)
Not to mention but back then before the car, we also used to ride horses, and look at all the mess & care required for that to be used.
As it happens, there's a great piece in today's Slate by Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic, who's done a lot of impressive research and reporting about transportation modes. It'll put a few more of the human costs of car dependence in perspective. Check it out (http://www.slate.com/articles/life/walking/2012/04/why_don_t_americans_walk_more_the_crisis_of_pedestrianism_.html).
The alternative to car dependence isn't a Luddite trip back in time to the era of horse dependence; it's recognizing that the future calls for reconfiguring our spaces and our habits so that more of our movement depends on our own power. Some places are more ready for post-automotive life than others, but when petroleum is eventually priced at levels that reflect more of its real non-subsidized social and environmental costs -- and as the stuff gets harder to extract profitably, that rise toward a higher price is as inevitable and unavoidable as gravity -- every place is going to have to make some adjustments. Better now than later, don't you think?
Your car is never your friend. Neither are the fossil-fuel industries. You have more ways of freeing yourself from them than you may be aware of.
One correction: INRIX Traffic is available for Windows Phone 7, as well as iPhone/iPad, Android and Blackberry, as you mention.
See: http://www.inrixtraffic.com
Thanks,
Kevin
Kevin Foreman, VP, Mobile Applications,
INRIX Inc.