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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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Trafficking in traffic and a nod to Hawaii
We've come a long way from helicopter traffic reports.
Now your car can tell you how much longer you will be in traffic.
Total Traffic Network, a service launched by Texas-based Clear Channel Communications Inc. has expanded to Honolulu.
It is completely separate from the traffic reports you hear on the radio, or mobile phone or e-mail alerts.
Total Traffic Network supplies "data to Garmin for their (global positioning system) and to BMW," and many others, said Chuck Cotton, vice president and general manager of Clear Channel's seven Honolulu radio stations.
Traffic data is aggregated based on how long it takes cellphones to get from one cell site to the next and is plugged into a map. "That's what makes the map interactive," he said.
Maps and data are sent to subscribers' in-car or hand-held navigation devices.
"But the data that we use to populate our traffic information and our sftraffic.net, that's all done here, by people," Cotton said. The Web site is a sponsored service of the station.
The Total Traffic Network information reflects congestion, but "what we show on our Web site is actually events, (such as) an accident on the H-1 and Pali Highway."
Eventually the two will be integrated, he said.
Roy represents
The September issue of
Bon Appetit magazine has arrived, leading your columnist to wonder which Hawaii eateries would be featured.
Exactly none.
However, the "Western Insider" on page 91 at least acknowledges Hawaii's culinary presence.
Asked about some favorite spots, chef and restaurateur Roy Yamaguchi told the magazine of the ahi poke at Fort Ruger Market; the oxtail soup and tripe stew at Jack's Restaurant; pau hana at Pearl nightclub; unusual ingredients at Chinatown's Oahu Market and the luau at Paradise Cove.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4747, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at:
erika@starbulletin.com