Time Warner Cable takes on So. California traffic
January 12th, 2010, 7:20 am · 7 Comments · posted by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
Live traffic maps are common online but on TV? Time Warner Cable launched a TV segment called “Beat the Traffic” filled with live Orange County and Los Angeles traffic reports. It runs during rush hour on Channel 101, a channel that seems to be dedicated to all things Time Warner.
Between 4 a.m. to 10 a.m. and then again from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Channel 101 has a real person, Sabina Mora, detailing traffic flow, accidents and slow downs on area highways every 15 minutes.
Of that 15 minutes, about five are dedicated to Mora telling viewers what’s happening on our roads — something you can listen to while getting ready for work.
Another five minutes or so offer a bird’s eye view of animated 3D maps detailing traffic movement on Orange County, Los Angeles and Riverside County highways. There are no audible traffic reports but elevator music plays in the background, making the slow red zones look so terrible.
The remainder of the 15 minutes is Time Warner ads.
It’s an interesting experiment in an age where many people head to the Web or radio for live traffic reports. I’ve always wondered why there isn’t a traffic channel of our local highways so you can turn on the TV and see live video or photos of the congestion on the Orange Crush.
My 60-second review: While the same information can be accessed online at www.twcbtt.com or on a mobile phone at www.twcbtt.mobi, those alternatives don’t have the nifty helicopter view of animated traffic. Nor do they have icons for the cow spotting in Corona, the Sky Cabin ride at Knott’s Berry Farm or the purple and white car accidents.
I wish there was more explanation on some images, like a cloud of smoke exploding near Los Angeles (see image on right). A fire? Mora doesn’t mention that. And the green color indicating good traffic flow appears to mean traffic is moving faster than 51 mph. And as a Prius owner, I’m interested in traffic flow in specific lanes, which is something Sigalert.com offers.
But it is local traffic and it’s available at no extra charge to Time Warner customers. Now if only I had a TV in my closet where I get ready for work…
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I really don’t like the new service. Comcast used to have Weatherscan (a 24/7 weather and traffic channel for Los Angeles). It was much better than the current setup on channel 101.
So will this mean my costs for garbage digital basic will be going up,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,AGAIN!!!!!!!
Time Warner was charging me 70.00 a month to watch t.v. I no longer pay anyone.
Time Warner increased my fees to $70 a month to watch TV too (no internet or phone) and this was before the recent price increase. I got tired of the constant price increase and dropped them last year. Bought me an digital antenna and happy with over the air TV for free. I get all my locals channel in high quality HD, all free.
Time Warner should stick to crappy magazines.
I used to have them in Sunset Beach. The worst cable service I have ever had in my life. They totally stink. On top of crap service, they were always trying to put bogus charges on my bill. Now they want to tell me how to avoid traffic.. not a chance. I would not trust them to give me directions around the corner.
Time Warner Cable is not part of Time Warner. Do your homework before you start disparaging.
The city of Los Angeles “CityView” channel, which runs on cable channel 35 on Los Angeles systems, used to run rush hour displays of some city maintained traffic map. At best, it wasn’t good for much. At worst, it was a lie. One time the Harbor Freeway was completely blocked for hours. The only traffic movement was of cars managing to get off onto surface streets. When I got home, the traffic map showed it as all green, even though it remained blocked for several more hours. Either the sensors read no movement as meaning no traffic, or the thing was a complete hoax.