Traffic’s heavy on the highways—and social media

Twitter leads the pack for advisories about gridlock, road closings, weather emergencies

Decades ago, the vision of the 21st century was one of flying cars, with road closings and traffic jams a thing of the distant past.

Guess what. That didn’t happen. What has been modernized is the way state agencies let drivers know about highway hazards—through social media, especially on Twitter.

“The younger generations just don’t get their information from where their parents got their information,” such as radio, TV and newspapers, says Dana Nolfe. She’s the chief public affairs officer at the Rhode Island Departmentof Transportation. “We put the information out in as many areas as we can, so we can hit as many people as possible.”

Twenty-six of 32 states surveyed (81 percent) use Twitter to publicize major traffic incidents or severe weather. At least three other states have joined Twitter since the survey (pdf) , which was conducted by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.