Technology used right to make a difference in traffic

Just yesterday, I read this article on Yahoo News about the technology being used on campuses to alert students in case of an eventuality, an emergency or impending danger on campus.

(See Texting, Facebook used to alert students).

How does it work? Simple. Here's a quote from the article:

"NEW YORK - When a masked freshman came to campus at St. John's University with what police said was a loaded rifle sticking out of a bag, the school alerted students via cell-phone text messages within 18 minutes.

And when a suicidal gunman was reported to be on the loose at the University of Wisconsin, the school sent out mass e-mails and took out an ad on Facebook to warn students."

This is American ingenuity at its best. This is what it's all about.

Actually, the campus, St. John's University, "purchased its inCampuAlert text-messaging system from a California company called MIR3 Inc. over the summer." So the system was developed in California.

Here's a good one for you--well, for the powers-that-be, the politicians, and the taxpayers.

Why not set up a system in the whole L.A. area to alert drivers or suggest routes?

Actually, I was driving around L.A. one day a month or two ago, when I heard a radio station, STAR 98.7 to be exact - www.star987.com- asking listeners to sign up for their traffic update to your cell phone via text messaging.

And this website - www.traffic.com- offers all kinds of traffic alerts and ways to get them from a hotline to text messaging.

And -- what'd'y'say, what'd'y'know! -- Rand McNally, the map company, is also getting into the act with traffic alerts direct to your cell phone: www.randmcnally.com/traffic

So it is already in place, it seems, and radio stations and websites like traffic.com seem to be the pioneers here, the frontrunners on using technology to keep the public informed.

Perhaps the L.A. transit authorities could set up the system in conjunction with the radio stations or supplement their existing one.

We've talked about electronic bulletin boards on freeways that display important information. I noticed that there are many of those cropping up everywhere, especially along the 105 and the 605. That's a good sign of improvement. But this system would be (or is?) a lot better. You would get an update right on your cell phone before you leave for your destination or as you get on your way and adjust your route accordingly.

Like we've said over and over on our postings here on this blog, this problem has no single solution but multiple solutions that working together in concert will make an impact on traffic. Technology, used creatively and effectively, must be a key ingredient of that multi-layered solution.

This is the first in a series of posts on how technology--existing technology, not pipe-dream futuristic stuff--can help improve traffic. A lot of the technology is already available. It's up to YOU and the powers-that-be to make it happen...
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