Now on DRS 3: The story behind the traffic jam

Up to now traffic reports on the radio were simply facts. Since Monday, 3rd October 2011, listeners are hearing more about the background on DRS 3 from Monday to Friday, between 6 and 9 am. Based on traffic information from Viasuisse, the DRS 3 traffic desk investigates and asks for example, why a traffic jam is suddenly kilometres long. For enquiries like this Viauisse also provides support. This new form of traffic Information is a pilot project on DRS 3 and runs until the end of the year.

The aim of the new editorial and presentation concept is to further improve traffic information on the radio. Traffic reports become traffic history. The evaluation of the three-month pilot project will show whether the expanded content of the reports should in future become a fixture in the morning programme on DRS 1 and DRS 3. Once tested, this concept could later be of interest for radio stations in French and Italian Switzerland.

A new cooperation project between DRS and Viasuisse
Improving the traffic reports was always important for Swiss Radio DRS. Content, quality and the time of the broadcast have all been constantly adapted by Swiss Radio DRS in the last few years. But the form of presentation itself has until now never been changed. This is exactly where the new concept takes over.

Impact radio and traffic competence
Swiss Radio DRS insists on journalistically edited traffic contributions and for this counts on the expert support from Viasuisse. Since the middle of 2011 Viasuisse and DRS have been working towards this objective. In the pilot project team are radio-profis Marcel Hähni and Florence Fischer as well as the long-standing editor of Viasuisse’s traffic desk, Christine Zurbuchen. Whether a traffic report has the potential for a story with additional information will be decided in consultation between the DRS 3 Traffic Desk and Viasuisse.

Traffic reporters provide valuable additional information
Traffic reporters are an important source for up-to-the minute information. Consequently instead of just details on travel times, delays and other additional observations, the traffic reporters should directly participate in the transmission. The comments from the traffic reporters reach DRS3 through Viasuisse. Viasuisse is responsible for the traffic reporting contact numbers for the SRF radio stations. The radio stations announce the numbers for traffic reporting more frequently. In this way they want to motivate radio listeners to make an active contribution to the traffic reports on "their" station.

For the first time:

Trafficinformations from 3. of Oktober 2011

DRS DRS Traffic information
SRF Traffic info-App (free download)