Thursday, April 17, 2014

Traffic Helpdesk (First Part)



Warned, the authorities did, of the road re-blocking along Edsa this Holy Week. The works had caused a massive gridlock across the city. And it seems nobody paid attention given the surge of rants I read on my Twitter timeline.

"Penitence," someone wrote, when he had to bear travelling for 4 solid hours when it would only take two to reach his destination.

"Between this bus and a snail," another person I follow posted online, "the snail will win the race."

The latter was posted out of amusement. Many of the snippets I read were more of slight annoyance, because these commuters have gotten used to the traffic. A Twitter post that stands out wrote about the account holder's expression of  joy as his colleagues and bosses arrived late for the night shift.

As I pore over the collective experience of the people who were on the ground, there was this stubborn question I wish to raise, given the early warnings and updates about the traffic situation. If I were one of the commuters going home on a Wednesday rush hour, how would I avoid the paralytic snarl across the busiest thoroughfare in Manila?

This idea might actually work.

First to consider before leaving the workplace are the news updates. Is the traffic worse than usual? 

What do other commuters on the ground say about it? 

The answer lies when you type the right keywords on Twitter's search field. 





Knowledge is power, and in many ways, the live updates from the microblog works best when you need instant information for snap decision making. The result of the keywords, which I used on the search field was astounding. 


  



The data available presented opportunities to escape the snarl. But for many, this information is often ignored. Next I will share the alternate routes, which few commuters take when they are supposed to be heading south.


- tobecontinued -



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