For all of the SoCal natives out there I am sure everyone has been stuck in traffic on one of our beloved freeways out here at one time in their lives. Some times you can catch a traffic report on your radio when your already in the middle of your commute. I switched to satellite radio so this helps me catch traffic updates before I get too far along in my drive. I have been using different websites for a while but the two best I can think of are these two CalTrans and Sigalert . I try to check them anytime I have my computer in front of me before I hit the road. You can see if your primary route is going to be slow or stopped and you can plan another route to your destination. Here is an example shot of the map on Sigalert. If you move your mouse over the red, yellow, and green indicators it will tell you the speed in that area and reason for the backup in most cases.

Enjoy your drive…