Traffic info via RSS

Residents of any urban area live and die on traffic info, but this is especially true here in LA. Yahoo now offers RSS feeds of traffic conditions that simply show up in your RSS reader instead of forcing you to go after them. I know I am going to be checking this feed each time I leave the house.

The setup is a bit manual right now, but not beyond the average computer user. If anyone needs help, drop me a comment and I will make up the URL for you.

Vehicle traffic conditions RSS

Now you can check the best route home from your RSS reader - Yahoo! offers traffic conditions data via RSS.

The URL to add to your newsreader looks like this:

http://maps.yahoo.com/traffic.rss?csz=10013&mag=4&minsev=2

Edit the URL to add your information:

• czs is your zip code


• mag is the level of ‘magnification’ (3 = 4 miles, 4 = 10 miles, 5 = 40 miles)


• minserv is the minimum severity of the traffic condition (1 = minor, 2 = moderate, 4 = major, 5 = critical.)

Useful! (Hey, developers - anyone want to whip up a quick page that generates this link without manual URL hacking? Send it in - tips at lifehacker.com.)

Traffic Conditions Data [John Resig via Waxy]

(Via Lifehacker.)