TrafficWatch System is an on-line computer system that links to the Traffic Police and the Meteorological Service Department, delivering timely and accurate traffic and weather information. To ensure that all on-air reports are responsive to actual traffic situations, taxi drivers were recruited under the 'Friends Of TrafficWatch" scheme to provide feedback on traffic conditions along major roads and expressways. This information is then collated and disseminated to all 13 MediaCorp Radio stations via the TrafficWatch computer system to the motoring public.
TrafficWatch History
Before the founding of TrafficWatch, messages via the Traffic Police were relayed to the MediaCorp Radio stations by faxes. This was a manual practice whereby staff of the Radio Technical Centre (RTC) delivered the faxes to the individual stations. This did not provide for interaction with the public and during peak hours, the process takes about 10 - 15 mins. During the rainy periods this was further delayed to about 20 - 30 mins.
TrafficWatch Centre was officially launched on 12th March 1997 to enable the speedy dissemination of traffic and related information to the motoring public. This proved to be a resounding success as the Radio is the most mobile and accessible form of relaying information to the public. MediaCorp Radio caters to more than 2.3 million adults each week thereby adding importance to TrafficWatch being a reliable source of traffic information.
TrafficWatch hotline was set up for the listeners. Initially catering to only the listeners of ONE FM (now Gold 90.5 FM), the station recorded 124 calls for the month of September 97. Subsequently when the Hotline number was made known to listeners of all MediaCorp Radio stations, the number of calls increased to a total of 364 calls per month. Currently, over 2000 calls per month are received by TrafficWatch Centre.
Our People
Along with the full timers: Mr Haris Bin Hussain, Ms Patricia Lim and Ms Chua Wee Choo, are our part-timers: Mr Sa'at Senian, Ms Margaret Suganda, Ms Dewi Masrina & Mr Kejenthiran S/O Thanabalu
TrafficWatch operates from 7 a.m. - 9 p.m., Monday to Saturday.
Our Achievements
- Supports all MediaCorp Radio stations.
- Receives traffic reports from cab drivers of the 8 taxi companies under the "Friends Of TrafficWatch" (FOTR) Scheme and more than 30 listeners of MediaCorp Radio stations
who are also regular callers to the TrafficWatch centre volunteering traffic info.
- Establish ourselves as a reliable source of traffic info, receiving an average of 85-90 calls per day.
- Celebrates the 11th Anniversary of TrafficWatch on 23 August 2008 with a buffet lunch & lucky draw for about 178 cabbies.
