TOP STORY: Webcam bid to bed city gridlock

Tauranga's long-suffering motorists are about to have the guesswork taken out of the daily grind of getting to and from work.
By December, commuters will be able to use their computers to access free live pictures of the city's traffic hotspots in order to help navigate their way around town.
The $80,000 initiative by TrustPower will see cameras installed at eight key locations around the city, transmitting images back to the company's website.
Checking the webcam is expected to become a daily habit for thousands of motorists fed up with trying to second-guess traffic.
It will become even more valuable once pressure really comes on the city's roading system from construction of the $210 million four-lane Harbour Link from Takitimu Drive to Hewletts Rd.
TrustPower's involvement arises from the daily dilemma of its commercial manager, Scott Harnett, who commutes from his home in Otumoetai to work at Te Maunga.
Sick of being stuck in ever-lengthening traffic queues, and knowing the technology was already being used successfully on roads in Auckland and Wellington, Mr Harnett floated the idea around head office.
The company realised it was on to a community service winner.
The pictures will help people decide the best way to get home or whether they should delay their departure.
Mobile internet connections to the site will also be possible using new generation cellphones and personal laptops - offering even more immediacy for commuters wanting to view how traffic is flowing.
Mr Harnett's own experience with battling Tauranga's traffic is that leaving work 30 minutes later than normal can translate into a 10-minute difference in getting home.
Privacy concerns are being addressed by the cameras snapping only low resolution images that do not identify number plates or drivers.
The website will show images refreshed about every 15 seconds, rather than moving pictures - ensuring a quicker connection for people dialling into the service.
Mr Harnett said they were close to finalising camera sites and planned to launch the service on November 30.
Courier companies are expected to find the website very handy. In contrast, truckies constantly chat to each other over CB radio about traffic problems.
Bay of Plenty-Waikato heavy transport spokesman Derek Dumbar said truck dispatchers were too busy over the evening peak to keep track of pictures from a webcam.
TrustPower has been negotiating with Tauranga City Council and Transit New Zealand to install the service. The company will install and maintain the pole-mounted swivel cameras and the council has been offered display space along the bottom of the website to encourage people to take a bus or change their departure times.
Transit's regional operations manager, Ian Cox, said it was important that TrustPower's cameras covered all the main routes - otherwise people looking for a quicker way home might descend on a road not being filmed.
Privacy was a major issue for Transit, he said. With six of the eight cameras on state highways, Transit was investigating whether the cameras could also transmit separate confidential higher resolution pictures for its co-ordinated area traffic system.
Transit and the council are working on linking all the city's traffic signals to optimise traffic flows.
Tauranga wireless broadband provider Enternet On Line is supplying the infrastructure and transporting the images back to TrustPower.
Unlike its webcam at Marine Parade, people will not be able to control the traffic cameras.