Traffic and technology: satellite radio

Mel Karmazin, President & CEO of Sirius Satellite Radio was on Charlie Rose last night.

Very interesting, to say the least. Actually, very enlightening.

What does an interview with a media executive have to do with traffic in L.A., you might ask?

Well, for one, Mr. Karmazin talked, among many other things, about his admiration for Ted Turner and for his idea to start a 24-hour all-news cable channel (CNN). I don't know if any of you has realized it yet, but satellite radio is to terrestrial radio what cable TV was to network TV in the 80's: the floodgates of information (e.i., content) are about to open wide on radio like they did on TV when cable came on the scene. The possibilities to disseminate information are enormous. And information (an enlightened public, a well-informed public, and intelligent public) is the key to improving ANYTHING in this country. Traffic can never improve as long as drivers are unaware of what's going on around them in real time.

So I thought: what about a satellite radio channel dedicated to traffic?

I looked on the Sirius website and sure enough, they've got one: SIRIUS Traffic. You need to be subscribed to Sirius satellite radio and you need a compatible navigation system. Other than that, "SIRIUS Traffic provides real-time information on accidents, traffic flow, construction, and road closures for only $3.99/month, when added to your existing SIRIUS Satellite Radio subscription."

If you subscribe to Satellite Radio through SIRIUS, adding traffic might be a good idea.

Traffic is not the only thing that needs to flow for congestion to improve in L.A. and elsewhere. INFORMATION is equally important. And what better way to make information flow than technology?

Technology is one of the key ingredients to any creative solution to the traffic problem. Satellite Radio may well be part of that creative solution. Consider it.