Tag Archives: traffic

Management Performance Hub Picks Up Speed

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The Indiana Chamber has been a key advocate for Indiana’s Management and Performance Hub (MPH) by recently supporting legislation to codify and fund it so it can achieve more.

MPH is a data hub that can link and aggregate state agency datasets with other data to help improve the performance and outcomes on many issues, including education/workforce, the opioid crisis and traffic safety. Think of it as a depot, where data can be assembled and studied to further outcomes and make better data-driven decisions.

Beyond improving state government performance and enhancing transparency, there is the ability to provide useful information to external partners including researchers, the business community and not-for-profit organizations. There will be an external-facing component of MPH to determine protocol on how this information can be utilized for maximum benefit.

The Indiana Chamber is a member of an advisory group to review guidelines and policies being established by MPH. We are also part of the Indiana Open Data Council to provide advice and guidance as MPH evolves; this includes the state and researcher and community advisors to help further MPH’s goals, scale innovation and increase utilization of the MPH.

For more information about the latest with the MPH, read its newsletter.

GUEST BLOG: Make Your Business’ Web Site Engaging, Intuitive and Professional

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This guest blog about business web site design is the first in a series of informative posts presented by The Web Guys — a web design and digital marketing agency located in Carmel.

As the world becomes increasingly more digitized, a business web site is no longer optional. When looking for information, the average consumer’s first impulse is to head for Google — not the Yellow Pages. In the article “B2B’s Digital Evolution” on Google Think Insights, the author asserts:

New research from CEB’s Marketing Leadership Council shows that potential business customers are increasingly using digital channels to form opinions about major purchases. Today’s business buyers do not contact suppliers directly until 57 percent of the purchase process is complete. The challenge for marketers is to be present in these channels at all times with content that educates buyers and helps guide commercial decisions.

It’s important to realize, though, that not just any old web site will do. A well designed web site will have a higher conversion rate than one with a “one size fits all” approach, especially for younger, design-savvy visitors. Bad design shouldn’t happen to good companies, but all too often a business owner or manager will quickly slap up a sub par web site, bypassing the professional business, content and marketing expertise needed to drive traffic to the site and increase sales.

Web design companies know that in order to be truly effective, business web sites need to meet these three criteria: they must be engaging, intuitive and professional.

Every web site relies on visitor engagement to flourish; after all, it only takes a click of a button to leave a disappointing web site and look for greener pastures. Each company approaches engagement differently — some focusing on graphics while others rely on attention-grabbing content. The best sites usually are a combination of both of these elements.

Getting a visitor’s attention is one thing, but keeping it is quite another. A web site with navigation that takes more than five seconds to understand will confuse and irritate potential clients. Visitors should see a clear, intuitive path through the site. Avoid the trap of “Mystery Meat Navigation” – links that say “Click Here!” without any indication of where they lead. Consistent, clear labeling with call-to-action buttons that direct customers to get quotes, make purchases and contact businesses should stand out on every page.

Even an engaging, intuitive site can fall flat, however, if its design looks unprofessional to users. Consumers approach the Web expecting businesses to have professional, informative websites — not throwbacks to the 1990s. If you’re still relying on flashing animations, ticker tapes scrolling by and black text on lime green backgrounds to catch attention, a face-lift is long overdue.

When hiring a Web design agency to create a web site, business owners should research available options. Find an agency with experience, and ask detailed questions about the design process before committing to a partnership. For Indianapolis and Indiana business owners, working with a local company like The Web Guys enables them to provide optimal content paired with SEO services to reach their target markets.

First impressions are everything — and an unprofessional, confusing site will send potential customers running to the competition. Creating an engaging web site only requires a modest investment of time and resources but will generate traffic and new customers for years to come.

Next month, look forward to learning about the importance of having proper web site visibility on Google, Yahoo! and Bing!

Why Won’t This Traffic Move?

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Trying to get out of town to begin a weekend away? Making a few extra stops to take care of some errands to prepare for Saturday and Sunday at home? Either way, it’s not just perception that those Friday afternoon commutes are a little more difficult than normal.

A new study examines, by metro area, just how tougher it is to get where you want to go after work on Friday compared to the rest of the week. A few of the details from Governing, as reported by traffic research firm Inrix.

The Los Angeles metro area, notorious for its backups, recorded the longest Friday afternoon delays of the 100 areas measured. Average Friday commutes for the region were 44 percent longer than without any congestion, compared to about 34 percent more during peak hours Monday through Thursday. That’s enough to add about 13 minutes to a trip taking 30 minutes without traffic.

Similarly, San Francisco motorists sat in traffic an average of 35 percent longer on Friday afternoons, extending a 30-minute trip by more than 10 minutes.

Morning commutes aren’t as bad because motorists usually head straight to work without making stops on the way.

Areas with many workers living far outside a city can experience significant congestion when all flee the office early. The study cited Bridgeport, Conn., which recorded the nation’s fifth-longest Friday afternoon delays, as an example.

The Washington, D.C., area’s Friday morning commutes are less congested than any other weekday, likely explained by the large number of federal employees who work from home that day. But with many traveling for the weekend, the area’s Friday afternoon commute still ranks among the nation’s worst.

For some cities, the added delay on Fridays may be more noticeable than others. Portland, Ore., had the largest percentage difference in delays of any area measured by Inrix, with a 30-minute trip taking 3 minutes, 13 seconds longer on Fridays than average times recorded for Monday through Thursday rush-hour traffic.

Bloomberg Takes on Gridlock in NYC: Well, He Has Ambition…

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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has tackled some tough issues during his tenure, but now he’s seriously considering taking on the city’s traffic problem, according to Newsweek. If you’ve ever been to the Big Apple, you’ll realize this task is about as easy as riding in a subway car with 150 people in July — and not coming out with your suit smelling like onions.

What’s interesting is that his solution is not to build more roads, but rather, shut some of them down:

In general terms, traffic is caused by too much demand (from vehicles) meeting too little supply (roads). One solution is to increase supply by building more roads. But that’s expensive, and demand from drivers tends to quickly overwhelm the new supply; today engineers acknowledge that building new roads usually makes traffic worse. Instead, economists have suggested reducing demand by raising the costs of driving in congested areas. The best-known example is the "congestion pricing" plan London implemented in 2003. Drivers now pay about $11 a day to drive in the central city. According to one study, the program has reduced traffic by 16 percent.

In 2007 Bloomberg proposed a congestion-pricing plan for New York, but last year state legislators rejected it as an elitist move. In response, Bloomberg began tinkering with the city’s roads in ways that required no legislative blessing. He banned vehicles from Park Avenue for three Saturdays in August 2008. He closed two lanes of traffic on Broadway below 42nd Street. "Bloomberg is taking the position that as long as it’s within the two curbs, it’s [city] property and he can decide how to use it," says Sam Schwartz, the city’s former traffic commissioner.

These pilot projects fit in with a larger counterintuitive theory that’s gaining traction with urban-planning wonks: that closing roads can reduce congestion. During the 1990s, a British transit engineer named Stephen Atkins read about how San Francisco congestion decreased, rather than increased, after an earthquake knocked out a key freeway. He observed the same phenomenon in other cities that closed roads, too. "In a lot of places, the traffic was not just displaced—a lot of it disappeared," he says. In a 1998 study he commissioned, researchers studied 60 cases of road reductions and found that when roads were closed, drivers took steps to avoid the area. In economic terms, closing roads raises the perceived costs of the trip (because drivers anticipate hassles), reducing demand.

Hat tip to Chamber staffer Tony Spataro for the article.

Ohio Woman Sends Michigan Bill for Gas Wasted in Traffic

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Drivers were recently stuck on Michigan’s I-275 for 50 minutes and Carol Greenberg, well, she ain’t happy. The Ohio woman sent the Michigan Department of Transportation a bill for $16 to compensate for the estimated gas she burned while waiting for the traffic jam to open.

Most noteworthy was this paragraph:

Mrs. Greenberg said in an interview that the delay was doubly unpleasant for her Maine coon cat, Sammy, who howled through the entire experience in a pet carrier in the back seat.

Man, that is one irritated kitty. But you can glean that just by looking at the article’s photo. I’d imagine he was later quoted as saying:

"I’m just a little fired up right now,"  Sammy stated, while bathing himself. "I was in Michigan to test for allergies, so I wasn’t feeling too terrific with all this grass flying around. Then I have to deal with traffic when all I want to do is get home and scratch my post … Oh, and ‘meow.’ Is that what you wanted? You wanted me to say something cat-like for you so you can be all cute and put it in the paper? Well I won’t dance for you people anymore. You know what, this interview is over. Get that recorder out of my face (hiss)! Carol, show Bob Woodward here the door."

Moral of the story: Gas prices are creating even more of an impetus for states to ensure that drivers — and their passengers — can move along interstates in an efficient manner.