We heard the city of Auburn had taken the initiative in creating a Web application in order to help people better find their way around the city.
Our first question: Our Auburn?
Are you sure it wasn't some other Auburn? The one in Maine, perhaps?
No, it was, in fact, our Auburn that has created this interesting new device.
We hate to say it, but when we usually think of the city, our working motto has almost always been "Auburn: You can't expect too much."
We're having to rethink our positions a bit here.
By making citizens aware of possible road closures or traffic problems, the application could be useful in cutting down the much-dreaded traffic gridlock that does occasionally plague this lovely village, especially on gamedays.
The application has already had positive results, as it has led to shortened response times for city fire and police forces. In situations where even seconds matter desperately, every little bit helps.
According to city officials, 30 to 50 people a day are using the application, and we certainly hope those numbers will continue to rise.
Since the system is hyperlocal, it allows for faster updates and more up-to-date information than a normal GPS device or Google Earth might have.
The interactive map is relatively easy to use and handles similarly to Google Earth. The navigation problems are slightly difficult to work with at first, but ease comes with continued usage.
We're highly impressed with what the folks in the Geographic Information System division of the Information Technology Department have come up with here.
We are anxious to see where they go from here, and we hope they will continue to improve and build upon the system in place.
We would also like to see them possibly shorten the name of their department, as saying they work for the Geographic Information System division of the Information Technology Department must be quite a mouthful. We're tired from just typing it.
This should be something for the city of Auburn to be proud of, as, to our knowledge, there aren't many towns of our size that can boast of systems like this.
A small town in Alabama using technology like this is a big deal both locally and regionally.
It's not often that Alabama gets to be near the cutting edge of technology, so this is a welcomed and delightful change.
Keep up the good work, Auburn.
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