English 101 for Traffic Reporters

When you are “on the air,” every second --every syllable-- counts. It’s not like writing for print, where they can always add a few pages by selling more ads.

A minute will never be longer than 60 seconds; an hour never longer than 60 minutes. Make every second count.

So let’s hit the road --or the sky.

It's a "truck." Not "half a truck." "18-wheeler" will do. Even "semi" if you want to be colloquial. But not "semi-truck." The accurate description is "semi-tractor/trailer." In other words, the front portion is the tractor, which pulls the trailer in back. And the driver or operator of it is a trucker, truck driver or teamster. But not a "semi-truck driver. (What's the other half of him doing?)

“Downtown” is an area. It may be a small area or it may be a large area. Ditto the intersection of 12th Street and Main. If traffic is heavy (or even especially light), the intelligent listener can guess that your statement applies to all of downtown --not merely to the pinpoint on the map. While a collision did occur in the middle of the intersection of 12th Street and Main, traffic all around is bumper-to-bumper. No need to say “avoid the area of 12th Street and Main” when a simple “avoid 12th Street and Main” will do. Save your breath.

On a larger scale, think for a minute about how silly (and wasteful of breath) it is to say “the Greater Chicagoland Cook County Metropolitan Area.” How about “the Greater New York City Tri-State Metropolitan Region” or even “the Gulf Coast Region”? Or “the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and suburban areas”?

“Shoulder” is the paved or unpaved area to the right of the road. It’s not “the right-hand shoulder.” It’s the “shoulder.” If it’s truly a one-way road, with no other one-way road in the opposite direction, I suppose that there can be a “right shoulder” and a “left shoulder.” But not “right-hand shoulder” or “left-hand shoulder.”

“Median” is the paved or unpaved space that is in the middle of two roadways going in opposite directions. It’s not “the left-hand median.” It’s “the median.”

“System” is another weak and wasteful word. What is the difference between “highways” or “freeways” and “the highway system” or “the freeway system” --other that three syllables!?!

“The” is a “specifier,” as opposed to “a” which is a “generalizer.” For example, “He lives in a house on Main Street” is a general statement. “He lives in the house on Main Street” tells us something specific. Either his is the only house on Main Street, or something is coming up to specify precisely in which house on Main Street he lives.
It could be that “he lives in the house on Main Street that is blue.” It could be that “he lives in the blue house on Main Street.”

You could even put “the” in front of Main Street --if you are going to get more specific. For example, “he lives in a house on the Main Street hill.” Or he once lived in a house that is now the Main Street overpass.

Get it?

So why, when talking about --not so much when writing about-- highways, do people use “the” so often? “Take 101 for five miles” saves 12.5% of your voice compared to “Take the 101 for five miles.”

Is it a “California” thing? Is it a “generational” thing?

Now, if you mean “the 101 tunnel” as opposed to “the 101 overpass,” then “the” fits just fine, thank you. It’s a specifier. But we can still do without the “the” in “he took the 101 as it climbs into the mountains” or “there was an accident on the Eastbound 101.”