Technology Improves Traffic Reports

"...Decades after radio stations put spotters in helicopters, new methods of gathering and disseminating traffic data are emerging, methods that combine roadside sensors, automobile navigation systems, and wireless connections to provide real-time customized traffic information.

"'Charlie in the Chopper is a marketing guy,' said Doug Finlay, chief executive of SpeedInfo. 'He says traffic's heavy on 128.' And you say, 'Boy, am I glad I'm not there.' He's not providing information, but entertainment."

"But WBZ-AM (1030) general manager Ted Jordan said he's not concerned that the new technologies might threaten BZ's 'Traffic on the 3's' franchise, the traffic reports that air every 10 minutes through much of the day."

"As long as I can remember, people have been predicting the end of AM radio," Jordan said. "Television was going to kill it, then FM radio. But AM just kept morphing."