POINTLESS TRAFFIC REPORTS ON RTE

CUCINA

Usual suspects every morning..congestion on the M50 between Blanch and Lucan exit, slow eastbound at Harold's Cross, busy at Dunkettle interchange , slow on Bothar na d'Treabh etc.,etc...

If you switch off RTE ONE to avoid "Shin Aid Knee Cool A Coin," up she crops again a few minutes later on LYRIC, complete with unfunny banter with Marty, and trotting out a repeat script for the supposed benefit of presumably a tiny minority of listeners.

Well, that's the end of my little rant!

dxhound2005

It's the etc. etc.'s I listen out for.

NIMAN

Yeah, and they are on so often. Do those reading them out realise they haven't got a real job?

Bit like a weather report I heard on uk radio today. "It'll be mostly dry today but some areas will have the odd shower".

Really? Without actually mentioning areas of the country, you could say that every day and be right.

Calahonda52

Be that as it may. however one purpose of the regular time slot is that is there to be able to report unusually disruptive traffic jams so its useful to know when to check in, if you don't e use the AA website to get the price of drink.

Jim_Hodge

Be thankful you're not listening to BBC Radio 2 with traffic reports every 20 minutes between 11 and 1.

elperello

Doesn't bother me, it's over in a few seconds.

Can be useful if you are heading in the direction of some problem.

Just one more thing, what's with all the stuff falling off lorries in Tipperary?

Expunge

Am I right in thinking that RTE set up their own traffic service after AA Roadwatch ceased?

They have a panel of voices doing it. I sometimes hear some of them as continuity announcers on Radio1 or reporters at other times.

Where would the information be collated and by whom? It's hardly in house.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121192431#Comment_121192431

That's an interesting question. RTE got a fair bit of stick for their strange relationship with AA Roadwatch in recent years;

https://blog.hereshow.ie/2019/02/heres-how-82-rte-and-the-aa/

https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/rte-must-end-the-broadcasting-of-aa-roadwatch-immediately

RTE rely heavily on car companies for advertising and sponsorship, so they seem to have a car-centric view of the world. They assume that all the right people, all the spendy people commute by car, and the poors on public transport or bikes or on foot just don't count in their world.

The travel news promotes this view.

It does seem to be absolutely pointless. Has anyone used the information given on the traffic news to make choices to improve their journey? Given the availability of motorway signage these days, it is a bit on an anachronism.

dxhound2005

BBC Radio 2 was mentioned. They often read out information received from listeners about traffic jams and road works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87hF1hmXPTA

MarkN

It’s easy money for RTÉ. Run traffic, sell the sponsorship. Lucrative deals with the likes of Hyundai roll in…

yagan

I love hearing about all the Dublin congestion in the morning since we got a work transfer out of there.

HeidiHeidi

I have often thought the same as the OP - the same tailbacks, slow-moving traffic and congestion locations every single day.

The only useful purpose (and one they should expand, and ditch all the usual bottlenecks) is to report crashes/roadworks/road closures etc - unusual things that people might need to work around.

Anyone who is commuting in to a town or city centre from the outskirts will know bloody well that it's basically all jammers!

Trebor176

As a Dubliner it is Live Drive for me for the traffic info. It is, of course, "up to the minute."

But, I agree about RTE. It's the same areas mentioned very morning, and the same issues. It isn't up to the minute either.

The same stretch of M50 southbound always gets a mention. Those on that stretch know already that it is heavy every morning.

tinytobe

I don't see the point of traffic reports on the radio.

Google is by far a lot better and on any smartphone.

Patrick2010

They seem to have the same reports on Newstalk, every morning its delays on Harts corner, canal heading towards Portobello, North Quays, Swords to Whitehall, Dunkettle etc, Everyone who travels those routes know there'll be delays, whats wrong with saying usual delays and just giving out info on unusual incidents.

Arghus

Perhaps the most pointless thing on the radio.

mikeplacebo

Rte appear to have been providing their own traffic service since the roadwatch closed in 2021. Id assume this somehow fits their public broadcasting remit but it likely motivated sponsorship!

When their service commenced Paul Moriarty (radio 1) and Willem McCarthy (2fm and lyric) read the bulletins. A quick google reveals that Willem was producer of livedrive on dublin city fm at the time so the info was likely pulled from the same source. Both were gone by the end of the year and replaced by the usual Rte continuity team which then included Hugh Hick who had previously presented livedrive as well.

I find it very repetitive in the mornings, 2fm has an awful irish-english hybridized bulletin to boot. No tolerance for the current drivetime presenters so i cannot comment on the evening, probably the same. They should really exclude Con Colbert et al from the new and stick to anything actually disruptive rather than padding it out for no reason but like other posters have mentioned google maps gets the job done now roadwatch closed for a reason!

mikeplacebo

deleted

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121193924#Comment_121193924

I often listen to the same roads, interchanges etc come up on a daily basis, and be relieved that on my commute I could sometimes drive for 30min and not see another car.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121193947#Comment_121193947

Exactly.

I mean who listens daily and thinks, "oh my, the Dunkettle Interchange is slow today, that must be a first?".

dxhound2005

I heard around 20 roads and places this week which have not been mentioned in the thread. Today, Ballymun and Loughlinstown, Kilsheelan and Carrickonsuir. Also roads in Wicklow and Wexford, where there were delays due to accidents.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121198794#Comment_121198794

But noone is disputing that these are the types of roads getting a mention, not the same 4 or 5 for the last handful of years.

dxhound2005

They gave Spancil Hill and Delgany a mention today.

AndrewJRenko

Are you sure that you're not mixing it up with the coverage of the Clancy Brothers?

https://songoftheisles.com/2013/02/20/emigrants-farewell/

iseegirls

Bring back 2FM Hector's Road Of The Day. That was groundbreaking morning listening

irishgeo

They should beef up it and get a lad in a helicopter to give reports on the traffic. Call it the eye in the sky.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121204473#Comment_121204473

Maybe if they could find a guy called Arnie Pye too?

Ger Roe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121204473#Comment_121204473

That idea brings back memories. Mike Hogan, in Ciaran Haughey's helicopter, doing traffic reports for Dublin in 1986 on the pirate station Q102. Not just banal time lagged traffic reports, but on the spot observations and suggestions on alternative routes based on the unique vantage point. It was an early use of personal mobile communication technology too.

'Fiat and Q102 - Eye in The Sky'

https://pirate.ie/archive/full-recording-q102-dublin/

Enrico Palazzo

Indeed pointless. South Circular Road in Dublin (The Phoenix park end) used to get a rare mention, then they narrowed down lanes, introduced cycle paths that barely anyone uses and now SCR appears in almost every single report. Is anyone, apart from the road users of course, concerned? Apparently not.

robo

I think these traffic reports need to be shelved - with only big things reported like part of the M50 closed off the other evening or other roads closed suddenly.

I use my Sat NAV in the car now all the time to tell me of any changes, traffic disruption etc - I just wonder how accurate the radio traffic reports (with 90% of same roads) is nowadays

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121212651#Comment_121212651

Is there monitoring of how many cyclists are using the cycle paths. Can I get the numbers anywhere?

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121214203#Comment_121214203

Barely anyone uses? Apart from the steady stream of parents and students heading into the Gaelscoil you mean?

Just because cyclists don't line up with long queues of 80% empty vehicles doesn't mean that cycle lanes aren't being used.

Enrico Palazzo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121214203#Comment_121214203

There are several cycle lane monitoring points around Dublin and you can access the readouts on https://data.gov.ie/dataset/dublin-city-centre-cycle-counts/resource/d3dc292c-1612-4474-8218-c0bbddce77b0?inner_span=True

Enrico Palazzo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121214320#Comment_121214320

I am not sure what you are referring to, but I drive there at different times of day and see very few to few cyclists. My conservative guess is that there is at least 50 cars passing for every bicycle or scooter and that's daytime. Driving further down the road towards the Grand Canal the traffic on the cycle lane increases at least tenfold and yet it's still hardly packed, which you can already verify using the link I posted above - see the Grove road station counts.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121214203#Comment_121214203

Is there monitoring of how many drivers are using the roads?

eggy81

Ive began working in Dublin City centre again for the first time since 2018. Working in the Dublin bus depot in Summerhill. At the moment getting the train from my midlands town to Heuston and Luas to abbey street and walk rest of the way. It’s great to not have to drive. I think there should be a train early enough to get us into town for 7am rather than 7.30 but other than that we are loving the not driving part of this. Project is wiring the bus depot for chargers to charge120 electric busses. Moving into depot behind Connoly station after this one. Wonder how wide the electrification of the bus fleet will spread and how soon. Perfect for city runs though. Each charger is pulling 11kva apparently. We are wiring 16 charge points in Summerhill currently. There’s only 1 point there previously for the hybrid busses.