511 enhancement enables motorists to report on conditions

What you see is what you get. ITD now offers an opportunity for others to get what you see.

A new enhancement to the 511 Traveler Information system puts highway condition reporting in the hands of those who know the conditions best – drivers. An interactive component, “CARS-Vox,” added in September, enables drivers to report what they experienced on their commutes or drives across the state.

511 Traveler Services coordinator Tony Ernest calls it a new form of “crowd sourcing,” enabling direct input by drivers using the “full feature” option on the 511.idaho.gov website.

“This is new territory for us. It is the first time we have invited the public to submit reports directly to us,” Ernest explains. “In the past, it has been one-way communication to the users, providing observations of maintenance workers. Now we’re asking drivers to reciprocate by sending us information about what they observe.”

The enhancement was developed specifically for ITD by CARS (Condition Acquisition Reporting System) that provides the technology behind 511 systems in 10 states across the country and in one non-state organization – the Sacramento Area Council of Governments.

Utah uses a similar, but slightly different “citizen reporting” system, and Wyoming accepts citizen reports through its operations center and manually transfers those reports into its 511 system, Ernest said. Neither is a member of the CARS coalition, but they use an alternative service to provide similar information.

But Idaho’s version is one of the national leaders. Iowa and Sacramento will join Idaho this winter in introducing CARS-Vox citizen reporting. It is based on pre-selected routes that users save in the full feature (high bandwidth) option on the 511 website. Users who have established a free account and saved routes they commonly travel now have ability to self-report conditions.

How to use the new option, available only on the high bandwidth or “Full Feature” option:

1. Access the “Full Feature” option on the 511 main page (511.idaho.gov).
2. Log into the 511 system by choosing the “sign in” tab at the far right of the full-feature site
3. Select the “Show List Views” button in the upper left of the menu
4. Users can open their preferred routes or create new ones.
5. After routes have been identified and saved, choose “Send us an update” to the right of the specific route.
6. Three options appear: Clear, Patchy and Messy
7. Choosing “Clear” enters information about the route without opportunity for additional comments. Choosing “patchy” or “messy” offers additional options, such as snowy, icy, raining, snowing, etc.
8. A field below those options allows users to post short personal observations.

Before attempting to enter observations, citizen reporters should contact Ernest for a brief overview on using the new option. Reporting the conditions encountered will take a little practice, he advises.

Motorists can break their travel into several smaller segments and provide reports on each. The interactive 511 map enables users to “slide “ or reposition beginning and ending points on the map to expand or contract the segments desired.

Information is clearly identified as a “driver update, and includes a time stamp and an attribution. Drivers can use a pseudonym if they choose. All data input is filtered for inappropriate language and is monitored. It also includes a disclaimer that ITD is not responsible for the accuracy or validity of the citizen input.

To ensure that reports are timely, they are automatically deleted after four hours.

Drivers should access the CARS-Vox system only after completing their trip and never while driving, Ernest insists. While mobile access to the 511 system might be possible, it usually requires faster data transmission speeds and larger bandwidth than many mobile devices can accommodate.

The safest and easiest option is to file the reports from work or home after arriving.

The citizen reporting feature is the latest of many enhancements ITD has made to the 511 system to ensure motorists have the best information available when making travel plans. ITD’s award-winning system remains one of the most robust in the country, based on input and suggestions of its users. It is constantly evolving to better serve travelers.

“Our goal is to make sure drivers have access to timely and accurate information, whether they are commuting to and from work or traveling across the state,” Ernest says.

“The new option supplements reports our maintenance personnel make in the field. No matter how well our employees report on conditions, there are always opportunities to fill in the gaps. That’s what the new feature is designed to do.”

The 511 system is updated immediately whenever reports are entered from ITD employees in the field. That can occur continually during a winter storm event. Even if conditions are unchanged, the 511 reports are updated at least twice daily during the winter and at lease once daily on weekends and holidays. With citizen reporting, updates are constant throughout the day, in near-real time.”

Information also is available through e-mail alerts or text messages if users choose those options.

Published 11-15-13