4/17/2012
Upgraded 511 options expand personalized access to highway information
BOISE - The Idaho Transportation Department recently completed an upgrade to the 511 Traveler Information website that takes the delivery of personalized highway information to a new level.
ITD began testing technology in late March that enables travelers to receive information about highway conditions, delays and closures through automated alerts from Twitter. The system now is available for public use.
The 511 Traveler Service website's "splash" page (511.idaho.gov) provides information about how to sign up for e-mail messages and text alerts and includes a link to the Twitter registration page, explains Tony Ernest, the manager of ITD's 511 system.
To take advantage of e-mail and text alerts, users establish a free account that allows them to designate route preferences. Once registered, they receive direct messages about their chosen route. The new Twitter option does not require accounts on ITD’s 511 site, but users must be registered with Twitter to receive “tweets.”
Twitter reports are available on a county basis. Users can designate one or more counties for which to receive notices about incidents that might impact their travel. They also can choose a statewide option that delivers information about blockages or closures and active Amber Alerts.
ITD has delivered condensed versions of news releases or other notices through Twitter since June 2009. Recent changes to the system enables direct notices that do not require a person to create each message. Tweets are generated automatically when new information is entered into the 511 system, Ernest explains.
The three new information delivery systems – e-mail, text messaging and Twitter alerts – reflect ITD’s commitment to keep motorists safer and better informed of highway and weather conditions. Providing that information on a timely basis allows motorists to make wise travel decisions, Ernest says.
“We’re trying to get critical roadway information to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. We want to make it available in a format that is the most useful.”
ITD joins only Minnesota and Iowa on the CARS (Condition Acquisition Reporting System) 511 coalition that offer automated Twitter feeds. Idaho’s system is continually evolving and improving, Ernest says. It remains one of the most robust, feature-laden systems in the country.
Since the 511 Traveler Service website and phone system are intended to improve safety, motorists are encouraged to check for conditions before operating a vehicle or entrust a passenger with the task. It is unsafe to check mobile devices while driving, and will become illegal for drivers statewide on July 1.
For your own safety, check before you go.
In February, ITD also introduced new options that let travelers monitor average traffic speed on Interstate 84 between Caldwell and the Gowen Road Interchange and from the Wye to downtown Boise using the high bandwidth site for computers. A detailed map for those sections of interstate shows the relative congestion at any given time.
The map shows two “bands” along the interstate to indicate eastbound and westbound traffic lanes. The bands are displayed in one of three colors, according to the relative highway speeds:
• Green for free-flowing traffic
• Yellow for moderate congestion (speeds of 20-40 mph), and
• Red for heavily congested problem areas (20 mph or slower)
Slowly dragging the computer mouse over those bands also shows the current, average speed of vehicles traveling east or west.
The color-coded option, which can be turned on or off at the discretion of users, is available for all highways within ITD’s jurisdiction.
Users who want congestion reports will find the road condition option automatically de-selected on the 511 map.
ITD also improved access to highway reports for commercial vehicle operators earlier this year, adding a new high bandwidth version of the trucker’s page. It loads faster on computers that have access to high-speed Internet.