Re: Formats that would work on AM

[mwaters@wesleyan.edu (Martin J. Waters)]

Roger Kirk wrote:

>>
Finding a traffic report in Boston isn't too difficult if you're willing
to accept:

A.  A wait of up to 10 minutes (on the 3's ?)
B.  A report is most likely an average of 5 minutes old.
C.  Certain parts of a traffic report being guesses, fabrications and
extrapolations.
D.  That if "the area you're travelling in" is not mentioned, that
doesn't mean all is well.

I'm not too sure about "All Traffic, All The Time", but I'd sure like it
on a more timely basis e.g. All the traffic every 10 minutes with updates
As They Happen.  And I want the truth, not the old "well, the State
Police have left the scene, so I'll just report traffic as heavy now and
age the report every ten minutes until all is OK an hour later" syndrome.
 Within the last 2 weeks,  BZ reported an accident on 93 in Salem NH with
heavy traffic.  When I went through, there was ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE of
any slowdowns anywhere.  Yet they were still reporting slowdowns every 10
minutes - even after I was on 495 in Tewksbury.
>>

        I have a different complaint: Even though I grew up in the Boston
area and visit frequently now, the traffic reports all use such shorthand
geographic references that unless you drive a particular road everyday, the
info. often is meaningless. When I hear "exit 22 on 128,"or whatever, it
means nothing to me.  It could be anywhere between Gloucester and
Braintree. How about giving a town and a name of the exit, like "Route 28?"
Of course, the same is true when I take road trips to other cities. As soon
as we're within hailing range of the impending metropolis' all news / full
service station, I listen for traffic reports with roadmap in hand. But the
reports always re are in a secret code language that out-of-towners, or
even a lot of the locals, are never going to understand or be able to act
on. My $.02.
        As for an all-traffic format, you'd need some filler for variety.
How about motor vehicle-related stuff -- car-care tips, reviews of new
cars. Or comedy bits connected to driving. And, of course, car-related
songs. For Massachusetts, you could have helpful-hint, self-improvement
segments on advanced driving techniques, such as "What does a stop sign
mean?"or "Newsflash: The car YOU'RE driving does not automatically have the
right of way just because you're driving it" or "Why following 1.5 inches
behind the next vehicle at 80 miles an hour does not meet the requirement
of following at a safe distance." Overnight, you could run that trucker
show out of WLW.

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