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The
other day, I was enduring what is seemingly a much more
common event these days...the traffic jam or as I like
to call, Hell, 7th level. It's was the worse kind of
traffic jam. I can't see anything up ahead. The cars
aren't moving at all. It's close to where I'm trying to
get. Like I said...7th level. The frustrating part is
the not knowing. Is it going to 5 minutes or 30
minutes. Did the cause just happen or is it almost
resolved? In today's world, how is this lack of
knowledge tolerated? Hopefully, we can shed some light
on this black box of traffic confusion with the Zipper
local news app.
Having just watched the Ted conference speech on
Google's automated cars, I look forward to the future
when there are fewer accidents and less traffic in
general. I'm all for it and any loss of driving
pleasure or control is lost on me. I would much rather
be napping, reading, or writing than making those small
corrective motions on a steering wheel back and forth.
It's Chinese water torture of the hands via motion.
Unfortunately, that's a few years off and we have
traffic today. Some sites are able to give general
guides (red is bad, green is good) to current traffic
conditions but they won't tell you what happened 3 miles
up ahead on the freeway to bring it to a complete
standstill. We need more local information in
real-time. If it's a really bad wreck, I turn around
and go back. I might take back streets or let my
friends know I'm going to be late for our game. I need
information to this. Detailed info. Enter the Zipper
smart phone application for local traffic.
The
whole point is that the Zipper is local and by local, we
mean where ever you happen to be. If you're travelling
in another city, just switch to "Current Local" to pick
up it's info. There's even a Traffic category pre-built
so you can quickly find what you need. Most people
follow the same general commutes on most days so you can
go a step further by creating your own public (does not
require a passcode to access) traffic channel for that
particular area. It could be freeway or general area.
For example, say you live in South Pasadena and work in
Long Beach. You might create a 710 Hwy Location for
anyone to comment on and read. This handles the big
part of your commute. In case you're wondering,
yes...I've meant many a God-forsaken hours on that
freeway in that said commute. How would this
"Location" when combined with the Traffic channel
(essentially, we're applying two filters to all the
local news and local traffic information on the Zipper)
be used?
For
every major traffic issue, there's someone (or a few
people) that see exactly what the deal is followed by
100's if not 1000's of people who do not. The goal of
the Zipper is to given those few that know the ability
to "pass on" the information to anyone interested back
in that long snake of semi-parked cars. Is the jam the
result of a traffic accident or just too many cars (both
of which are equally possible on the 710? If a wreck,
when did it occur? Just happened is quite different
"they're letting people through now". At least this
way, you can plan your route accordingly. Otherwise,
you're stuck in the netherworld of not knowing, a very
bad place to be.
So
run a quick search on the Zipper in your local area.
Someone might created an existing thread for the 710 (in
my example). Fine, you can access it and even make it a
favorite. If you have information, make sure to add it
for others and this is the grand Zipper social
contract. Information (traffic in this case) from
everyone to everyone. Of course, make sure not to post
or read while driving. Of course, it's you're stuck in
traffic, there may be no where to go anyway. For other
situations, we'll have to wait for robotic cars so we
can post/read with impunity. In between naps. |
