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Idaho part of new North/West Passage multi-state trip planning
and traveler information website

Check the tires. Check the engine. Check the gas. Check the web.

Just in time for the end-of-summer flurry of travel, drivers now have a new online tool to help plan their next road trip: The North/West Passage Operations and Travel Information Integration Sharing (OTIIS) Project.

Roadstosafediscovery.com launched in July 2015.

Between Washington and Wisconsin, Interstate 90 and I-94 are major corridors for commercial and recreational travel. Although individual states provide traveler information — Idaho Transportation Department has a traveler information website at 511.idaho.gov, which will eventually be linked to the new OTIIS site — users now have a corridor-wide tool to extend beyond individual state lines and offer unique trip-planning features. Frequent highway work and extreme winter weather conditions pose significant operational and travel-related challenges.

“The website illustrates the natural evolution from a traveler-information portal centered on one state, to a corridor-based portal that is not constrained by state borders,” said ITD Operations Engineer Robert Koeberlein. “I am confident our customers will find that the website will add a new dimension to trip planning and contribute to improved highway safety and traveler convenience.”

Recognizing the value of coordinated, cross-border collaboration, the Federal Highway Administration’s Multistate Corridor Operations and Management Program selected the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont., to develop, deploy and operate the OTIIS Project.

WTI, the MSU Computer Science Department development team, and team members from Athey Creek Consultants, worked with the eight state departments of transportation along the corridor to research, develo, and test technology solutions to assist with trip planning.

The website provides the ability for commercial drivers and long-range travelers to plan based on current and forecasted information for routing and scheduling decisions. In essence, the system will provide information that can influence positive driver behavioral change.

The North/West Passage Traveler Information website is ready to assist private and commercial vehicle drivers with trip planning. Visit Roadstosafediscovery.com before your next road trip across the North/West Passage to guide you safely to your destination.