5-1-1

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5-1-1, initially designated for road weather information, is a transit and traffic information telephone hotline in some regions of the United States. Travelers can dial the three-digit number 511 on traditional landline telephones and many mobile phones.

As of March 2001, at least three hundred telephone numbers existed for travel information systems in the United States. To overcome the confusion caused by this array of numbers, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a national assignment of a single three-digit dialing code, N11. On July 21, 2000, the FCC assigned 511 as a nationwide telephone number for ITS traveler information,[1] along with 2-1-1 for social services. Its use is being promoted by the US Department of Transportation's Intelligent Transport Systems initiative.[2]

The first 511 Traveler Information System to launch was in the Greater Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky area in June of 2001.[3]

Contents

[edit] System creation

The existing national guidelines for the federal 511 system was born from research proposed and conducted at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks through a Federal Highway Administration research grant under the name ATWIS (Advanced Transportation Weather Information System). This original system had a five-digit calling code, #7233, and was known as #SAFE (Pound Safe). Demonstrating the effectiveness of a statewide, and then a multi-state, system for traveler information, #SAFE provided route-specific road weather information to travelers via cellular telephones. As part of the federal mandate on the grant, ATWIS/#SAFE was required to demonstrate a feasibility of being privatized. After several companies were examined for the necessary capabilities and knowledge needed to implement and deploy this traveler information system, Meridian Environmental Technology, Inc. was deemed the only truly capable company.[4]

The system's guidelines were prepared by the 511 Working Group, which contains representatives from a highway association, a public transit association, the Department of Transportation, and the USDOT's vehicle-management technology system, ITS. [5]

[edit] Implementation

[edit] Statewide Systems

While several of the 5-1-1 implementations have been at the local and metro level, an innovation in traveler information systems was achieved in November of 2001 with the first use of 5-1-1 for complete coverage of a state's highway network being launched in Nebraska. Integrating Nebraska's 5-1-1 network into South Dakota's existing #SAFE telephone and road weather information system was immediate and generated the blueprint for developing a commercially viable statewide and interstate traveler information system.[6] Since this first statewide implementation, the Meridian #SAFE model has been used to develop and operate statewide 5-1-1 systems in:

  • Nebraska (2001)
  • South Dakota (2003)
  • North Dakota (2003)
  • Montana (2003)
  • Oregon (2003)
  • Kansas (2004)
  • Nevada (2006)
  • Georgia (August 15, 2007)[7] - This statewide system provides traffic, transit, airport, weather and tourism information in an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) format. Callers are also given the option of connecting to live operators at the Georgia Department of Transportation's Transportation Management Center in Atlanta. Connecting to operators allows users to report accidents or request motorist assistance from the Highway Emergency Response Operators program.
  • Wyoming (mid-September, 2007) - In the summer of 2007, the original vendor was removed and services were redesigned and improved with the 511 pioneer, Meridian Environmental Technology.[8] The effort to redesign and improve service undertaken [summer of 2007] to revamp WYDOT's 511 Travel Information telephone service is paying benefits this winter, based on recent customer feedback.[9]

Some of the additional features that set the Meridian statewide 511 systems apart from their counterparts are:

  • Ability to choose neighboring states that provide 511 information
  • Voice recognition, with the option to revert to touchtone keypad input
  • Ability to choose route-specific information or regional summaries
  • Agency capability to include Alerts (Amber, Homeland, customized)

In addition to the Meridian statewide deployments, several other states have activated 5-1-1 systems, utilizing the guidelines and limited features developed from the original ATWIS/#SAFE model.

[edit] Local Regions

[edit] San Francisco

The Bay Area's 511 logo
The Bay Area's 511 logo
The logo on a road sign
The logo on a road sign

In addition to the phone service, travelers in the San Francisco Bay Area can access transit information on a website, which provides information on mass transit schedules and an interactive trip planner, which will provide an optimal routing between a given origin, destination, and optional time constraints. In addition, 511.org provides information on bicycling, ridesharing, and the toll road system Fastrak. 511.org is a service of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and was designed by the transportation engineering company Parsons Brinckerhoff, Farradyne (now Telvent Farradyne [10]). The system had a fair amount of controversy[citation needed] when it was announced that it would use FasTrak electronic toll tags to track vehicles as they traversed Bay Area freeways.[11]

In 2006, the Bay Area's transit coordinator signed an $11,000,000 four-year contract with defense contractor Science Applications International Corporation to operate the local 511 system.[12]

[edit] San Diego

Users of the San Diego area have access to road, transit, and other information via the phone and web. They can access transit information on a website, which provides information on mass transit schedules and an interactive trip planner, which will provide an optimal routing between a given origin, destination, and optional time constraints. In addition, 511sd.com provides information on bicycling, ridesharing, and the toll road system Fastrak. 511sd.com is a service of the San Diego Association of Governments, and was designed by the company ICx Technologies and PB Farradyne (now Telvent Farradyne [13]).

[edit] Northern New England

The Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine departments of transportation co-operate a 511 line, and each state operates its own website with information from all three states.

[edit] Tennessee

Implemented in August of 2006, Tennessee 511 uses an automated voice response system, meaning callers are guided through the menu through a series of requests. Callers can ask for specific roadways or regions, and the system will provide information about traffic incidents, closures and other important roadway conditions. Travelers have the option of accessing road and travel conditions using the Web at www.TN511.com or through the 511 phone service.

[edit] Kentucky

In Kentucky, 511 services cover traffic and weather conditions, and can also be heard on the radio on the AM dial (the Travelers' Information Station) in that state. 511.ky.gov

[edit] Elsewhere in the United States

Similar services are operated in other cities and states; for example, the Minnesota Department of Transportation operates a website for traffic and road condition information. Florida is claimed to have the most-used 511 system in the nation, on a per capita basis.[14]

Washington and Oregon both operate their own 511 system. The Washington State 511 system has an option to transfer to the Oregon 511 system to help users in the Portland area to access the right system for them.

[edit] Canada

Nova Scotia has a 511 system. In January 2005 the Intelligent Transportation Systems Society of Canada (ITS Canada) consortium filed an application to assign 5-1-1 for a similar purpose in Canada. It proposed that in addition to traffic, the number would report weather, which also has a major impact on traffic, particularly in a country with such harsh winters. The application was approved by the CRTC in Canada on July 28, 2006. [15]

[edit] References

  1. ^ 511 Guidelines Version 3.0 5 (Sep 2005). Retrieved on 2007-04-07.
  2. ^ "FCC designates 511 traffic information number" (Sep 2000). Civil Engineering 70 (9): 12. 
  3. ^ "511 Deployment Status", USDOT. Retrieved on March 3, 2008
  4. ^ "Final Report of the Operation and Demonstration Test Of Short-Range Weather Forecasting Decision Support Within an Advanced Transportation Weather Information System (#SAFE)", FHWA ITS Documents April 2006
  5. ^ 511 Guidelines Version 3.0 8 (Sep 2005). Retrieved on 2007-03-15.
  6. ^ "Final Report of the Operation and Demonstration Test Of Short-Range Weather Forecasting Decision Support Within an Advanced Transportation Weather Information System (#SAFE)", FHWA ITS Documents April 2006
  7. ^ "Dial 511 for transportation information", Atlanta Journal Constitution, August 15, 2007. Retrieved on 2006-08-15. 
  8. ^ "WYDOT suspends 511 to make service improvements", Wyoming DOT News, July 3, 2007. 
  9. ^ "Revamped 511 Travel Information service increases customer satisfaction", Wyoming DOT News, February 11, 2008. 
  10. ^ Telvent Farradyne corporate site (2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-15.
  11. ^ FasTrak Application and License Agreement, Toll Tags: section, last subsection: You agree that the Toll Tag may be read to provide anonymous traffic flow data to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s ‘511’ project, a real time traffic information service. No information identifying a FasTrak account, person or vehicle using the Toll Tag will be collected by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission or ‘511’.
  12. ^ San Francisco re-ups SAIC unit for 511 (Oct 2006). Retrieved on 2007-03-15.
  13. ^ Telvent Farradyne corporate site (2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-15.
  14. ^ "Central Florida 511 system nation's most used", Orlando Business Journal, August 4, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-15. 
  15. ^ Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (28 July 2006). Telecom Decision CRTC 2006-44: Applications for assignment of the 5-1-1 access code. Government of Canada. Retrieved on 2006-11-15.

[edit] External links

[edit] Region-specific 511 sites

[edit] General information

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