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CNN Live At Daybreak
Traffic Help on the Way
Aired August 21, 2003 - 06:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I know you're dreading that commute this morning. Traffic is hell wherever you live, but help is on the way. We're not kidding.
Live to the worst junction in all of Atlanta, that place where I- 85 and 285 come together. We like to call it Spaghetti Junction here in Atlanta.
And CNN's Julie Vallese -- so tell us about this study.
JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Carol, Atlantans know this junction really pretty well. It was two years of planning, but now Georgia Tech has their study under way and they hope to find ways to cut everyone's commute.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VALLESE (voice-over): Americans' love affair with cars has led to something no one particularly likes, traffic. From L.A. to New York and everywhere in between, rush hour has turned into hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically the road network or the transportation system as a whole has not been able to keep up with that population growth.
VALLESE: The 19 miles Jennifer Ogel (ph) travels in Atlanta can take 20 minutes or close to an hour.
JENNIFER OGLE: I'm in a 35 minute lovely ride.
VALLESE: She is a researcher at Georgia Tech in the first of its kind travel study. Five hundred cars throughout Atlanta will be equipped with a trip data collector, recording more than one million trips over the course of a year.
OGLE: This actually gives us information on exactly where someone goes.
VALLESE: Where they start, where they stop along the way and where traffic slows them down. Early research has already identified road blocks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can identify the times where you don't want to arrive at a specific portion of I-75. You don't want to arrive at this intersection on the freeway between the hours of 7:00 and 8:05. VALLESE: Besides telling commuters how they can shave 10 minutes off their drive, researchers hope data will also make roads safer, more efficient and give concrete ways to plan for the future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VALLESE: Now, earlier studies have shown that the people of Atlanta drive farther, faster and harder than anywhere else in the country, so while this is a good starting point to look at traffic and commuting, to correct commuting problems elsewhere, more studies will need to be done in more cities nationwide -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, Julie, you're brave to be standing where you are. That's all I have to say. So get out of there.
Julie Vallese reporting live from Spaghetti Junction in Atlanta.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 21, 2003 - 06:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I know you're dreading that commute this morning. Traffic is hell wherever you live, but help is on the way. We're not kidding.
Live to the worst junction in all of Atlanta, that place where I- 85 and 285 come together. We like to call it Spaghetti Junction here in Atlanta.
And CNN's Julie Vallese -- so tell us about this study.
JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Carol, Atlantans know this junction really pretty well. It was two years of planning, but now Georgia Tech has their study under way and they hope to find ways to cut everyone's commute.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VALLESE (voice-over): Americans' love affair with cars has led to something no one particularly likes, traffic. From L.A. to New York and everywhere in between, rush hour has turned into hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically the road network or the transportation system as a whole has not been able to keep up with that population growth.
VALLESE: The 19 miles Jennifer Ogel (ph) travels in Atlanta can take 20 minutes or close to an hour.
JENNIFER OGLE: I'm in a 35 minute lovely ride.
VALLESE: She is a researcher at Georgia Tech in the first of its kind travel study. Five hundred cars throughout Atlanta will be equipped with a trip data collector, recording more than one million trips over the course of a year.
OGLE: This actually gives us information on exactly where someone goes.
VALLESE: Where they start, where they stop along the way and where traffic slows them down. Early research has already identified road blocks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can identify the times where you don't want to arrive at a specific portion of I-75. You don't want to arrive at this intersection on the freeway between the hours of 7:00 and 8:05. VALLESE: Besides telling commuters how they can shave 10 minutes off their drive, researchers hope data will also make roads safer, more efficient and give concrete ways to plan for the future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VALLESE: Now, earlier studies have shown that the people of Atlanta drive farther, faster and harder than anywhere else in the country, so while this is a good starting point to look at traffic and commuting, to correct commuting problems elsewhere, more studies will need to be done in more cities nationwide -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, Julie, you're brave to be standing where you are. That's all I have to say. So get out of there.
Julie Vallese reporting live from Spaghetti Junction in Atlanta.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
