Welcome to the new home for my Twitter X bot: @TheDriveOn17 (formerly called "TrafficOn17").

What’s New

Version 2.1 - Fixed a minor glitch in delivery that was preventing twitter feed updates.

Version 2.0 - Reintroduction of the app bot after some extended time away. Minor tweaks to monitoring automation. This release doesn't include drive estimates. That will be (re)-introduced later.

Version 1.2.3 - Resolved a connection issue with traffic data provider that was preventing updates for accidents.

Version 1.2.2 - In light of the recent weather and extra delays, the traffic estimates are now more conservative (meaning that they’ll be longer than than actual travel for most days but also less likely to be inaccurate.

Version 1.2 - After a long hiatus, the estimated driving time feature is back! The previous implementation was based on a traffic API/service that’s no longer available. For now, the time estimates will check every two hours (depending on the popularity of the data and its reliability, I may have it check more often). The status updates will check approximate driving times between Los Gatos and Santa Cruz.

Version 1.1.2 - Minor bug fixes (tweet formatting, blank ETA commute times estimates, etc).

Version 1.1 - Estimated commute times are now published twice a day (7:30 AM and 5:30 PM PST)

Version 1.0 - Initial Release

FAQ

• What exactly is TheDriveOn17? - It’s an automated “twitterbot” that monitors traffic reports in psuedo real-time for accidents on California State Route 17.

• How often is traffic data checked? - Every 5 minutes.

• Will I be notified if/when an accident clears? Not in the current release. Maybe later though.

• Are there any guarantees as to accuracy? Nope, absolutely none. I strive to make the service as accurate as possible and it does pull from authoritative sources like CHP and 511. Ultimately though, this is a free service being managed by a geek in his dwindling spare time. It’s provided “as-is” and there are no guarantees (expressed or implied).

• Where did you get the idea? The idea is inspired by an older twitter service (@hwy17traffic) which hasn’t been updated in years.

• Why are there occasionally duplicate tweets? - The information we get is direct from 511 / CHP. So if they post duplicate info, the bot will too. Sorry for any inconvenience that may incur.

• Why does the ETA estimate only cover between Santa Cruz and Los Gatos? - That’s usually the most common route for commuters.

• Can I get technical support assistance on…? Unfortunately no (sorry).