I am a huge believer in having as much experience as possible, and
thankfully my supervisor understood this and gave me the chance to experience
work in the Traffic Operations Centre.
Starting at 5:30 every morning was
challenging yet rewarding. With supervision,
I was given the chance to write Traffic Media Reports which were published
every 15 minutes to the media and to Main Roads stakeholders. Without the help
of my supervisors I would have struggled to know what to do as it was a
daunting experience viewing all the cameras and watching out for any congestion
or accidents. I made such a good impression that the supervisors at the Traffic
Operations Centre suggested that I stay and complete my Internship at their
department.
I am now interning there permanently and every morning I get to write
the media reports, newsletters and other internal documents such as surveys.
The most exciting thing is that they have also given me the opportunity to make
the public radio announcements of traffic accidents and congestion. I have
never considered going into radio but I am now realising how many opportunities
a communications major can create, and thankfully I am having the opportunity
to experience them all. I feel like a communication degree can open many 'doors' that i didn't even know could be 'opened.'
(Me at the Traffic Operations Centre where i record the traffic media reports)
My intern role is known as the Public Affairs Coordinator, but I have
also had the opportunity to work alongside the operators who are in control of
the traffic light signals. Experiencing this role has allowed me to view ‘green
light corridors’, which allows the Centre to communicate directly to the
police, ambulance and other services in situations such as the transferring of
organ donors.
I also worked one on one with an operator to organise the movement of Asali, a baby giraffe from the Perth Zoo to South Australia (provide new link or photo?).
Without the direction of Main Roads operators, the movement of the giraffe
would not have been as efficient and could possibly have turned into a crisis
as we had to change the initial movement of the giraffe due to bridges and power
lines. We had direct communication with Western Power and the Police Department
to organise power lines to be heightened so the giraffe arrived safely. I got
to write a news article about the transfer of the Giraffe, which was published
internally.
(A photo of Asali the giraffe taken by my Supervisor at Main Roads)
After experiencing everything the Traffic Operations Centre does it has
made me aware of how little the public know about the Centre. Without their
constant communication with the public and other stakeholders the road would be
unsafe and congestion would be far worse.
Personally, I would suggest that Main Roads publically acknowledge the
Traffic Operations Centre more in situations in which they have played a big
role, such as the movement of the Giraffe. The story was shown on every mainstream
news segment, and nothing was mentioned about the assistance the Traffic
Operations Centre had in the movement and how they had created a safe route through
manipulating traffic signals.
So again, I got to see the importance communication has within a large
organisation, as without the constant communication Main Roads has, accidents could
potentially turn into crises. I'm feeling fortunate that i've had the chance to experience different parts of the Public Relations world, so i have a question for you all;
Has anyone else had the opportunity to experience all the different public relations sector in such a short amount of time?
I would love to here your stories!
Until next time,
Caris Dinardo
