5-1-1 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

5-1-1, initially designated for road

Road

A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...

weather

Weather

Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...

information, is a transportation and traffic

Traffic

Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...

information telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

hotline

Hotline

In telecommunication, a hotline is a point-to-point communications link in which a call is automatically directed to the preselected destination without any additional action by the user when the end instrument goes off-hook...

in some regions of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Travel

Travel

Travel is the movement of people or objects between relatively distant geographical locations. 'Travel' can also include relatively short stays between successive movements.-Etymology:...

ers can dial the three-digit telephone number

Telephone number

A telephone number or phone number is a sequence of digits used to call from one telephone line to another in a public switched telephone network. When telephone numbers were invented, they were short — as few as one, two or three digits — and were given orally to a switchboard operator...

5-1-1 on traditional landline

Landline

A landline was originally an overland telegraph wire, as opposed to an undersea cable. Currently, landline refers to a telephone line which travels through a solid medium, either metal wire or optical fibre, as distinguished from a mobile cellular line, where transmission is via radio waves...

telephones and most mobile phone

Mobile phone

A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...

s. It is an N11 code

N11 code

An N11 code or N11 number is a special abbreviated dialing telephone number within the North American Numbering Plan, which allows access to special services. Each of these eight numbers prevents 10,000 telephone numbers from being used...

of the North American Numbering Plan

North American Numbering Plan

The North American Numbering Plan is an integrated telephone numbering plan administered by Neustar which encompasses 24 countries and territories, including the United States and its territories, Canada, Bermuda, and 16 nations of the Caribbean...

that are used for special services. The number code has also extended to be the default name of many state/provincial transportation department road conditions websites, such as Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

's 511WI.gov site.

As of March 2001, at least 300 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

United States Department of Transportation

The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...

(USDOT) petitioned the Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

(FCC) for a national assignment of a single three-digit N11

N11 code

dialing code. On July 21, 2000, the FCC assigned 511 as a nationwide telephone number for ITS

Intelligent transportation system

The term intelligent transportation systems refers to information and communication technology that improve transport outcomes such as transport safety, transport productivity, travel reliability, informed travel choices, social equity, environmental performance and network operation...

traveler information, along with 2-1-1

2-1-1

2-1-1 is a special abbreviated telephone number reserved in Canada and the United States as an easy-to-remember three-digit telephone number meant to provide quick information and referrals to health and human service organizations.-United States:...

for social services. Its use is being promoted by the USDOT's Intelligent Transport Systems initiative.

The first 511 traveler information system to launch was in the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky metropolitan area in June 2001.

The first statewide 511 traveler information system was launched across the state of Nebraska in October 2001.

Implementation of 511 service in the United States

Eight states, from Alaska to Maine, pooled resources and expertise to develop the 511 voice-activated phone service for travelers. Led by the Iowa DOT, the multistate consortium received $700,000 from the Federal Highway Administration to help pay for system design and software development. Each state also provided a 20 percent matching fund, boosting total funds to nearly $900,000. In addition to Iowa, the participating states in the consortium (as of 2011) are Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Sacramento Area Council of Governments, and Vermont.

Individual states have the lead role in coordinating 511 deployments. National leadership is provided by the 511 Deployment Coalition. Led by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and including travel information experts from more than 30 organizations, the Coalition has developed voluntary guidelines for state transportation agencies to follow when planning 511 service for their states or regions. Other leading member organizations of the Coalition include the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

National logo
The 511 trade name, slogan, logo design symbol and any combination, including its similarity in sound, appearance or meaning, all provide the identify for the nation's travel information number and distinguish its goods/services.

511 is a service mark of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (registration number 2680779, Jan. 28, 2003).

The logo was designed with the notion that the telephone is a universal, easily recognized symbol. It clearly sends the message that 511 is a telephone-based service. The blue double lines and dotted lines evoke a sense of movement or thoughts about transportation.

Individuals wishing to use the 511 logo must adhere to the national guidelines established by AASHTO. The guidelines are available online at the National 511 deployment website -

Active 511 systems in the United States

Active 511 systems (in order of deployment date) as of January 31, 2010:

Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
Cincinnati, Ohio and Northern Kentucky
Northern Kentucky
Northern Kentucky is the name often given to the northernmost counties in Kentucky...
Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
Southeastern Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
Washington State
Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

statewide
Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

and Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...

area
Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...

and * Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

statewide, except for the southwest region
Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
San Diego
Southwestern Florida
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
California Eastern Sierra
Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
Eastern Massachusetts
Greater Boston
Greater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston. Due to ambiguity in usage, the size of the area referred to can be anywhere between that of the metropolitan statistical area of Boston and that of the city's combined statistical area which includes...
New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
Inland Empire (California)
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

Tennessee

Implemented in August 2006, Tennessee travelers have the option of accessing road and travel conditions at TN511.com or through the 511 phone service.

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) and at 511.ky.gov.

Georgia

This statewide Georgia Navigator

Georgia Navigator

Georgia Navigator is an Advanced Traffic Management System used in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is operated by the Georgia Department of Transportation , and was first activated in April 1996, just before the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.Most of the system is installed in metro Atlanta, where...

system provides traffic, MARTA

Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority or MARTA is the principal rapid-transit system in the Atlanta metropolitan area and the ninth-largest in the United States. Formed in 1971 as strictly a bus system, MARTA operates a network of bus routes linked to a rapid transit system consisting...

/GRTA and other public transport

Public transport

Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...

, rideshare, Clean Air Campaign

The Clean Air Campaign

The Clean Air Campaign is a not-for-profit organization that motivates Georgians to take action to improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion....

, Atlanta

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport , known locally as Atlanta Airport, Hartsfield Airport, and Hartsfield–Jackson, is located seven miles south of the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States...

and Savannah

Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport

"Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport , formerly Savannah International Airport, Travis Field and Chatham Field, is a joint civil-military airport located northwest of Savannah, Georgia just off Interstate 95, between Savannah and the city of Pooler, Georgia...

airport, Amtrak

Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

, Greyhound

Greyhound Lines

Greyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...

, weather and tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

information in an interactive voice response

Interactive voice response

Interactive voice response is a technology that allows a computer to interact with humans through the use of voice and DTMF keypad inputs....

(IVR) format. Callers are also given the option of connecting to live operators at the Georgia Department of Transportation

Georgia Department of Transportation

The Georgia Department of Transportation is the organization in charge of developing and maintaining all state and federal roadways in the U.S. state of Georgia. In addition to highways, the department also has a limited role in developing public transportation and general aviation programs...

's Transportation Management Center in Atlanta. Connecting to operators allows users to report traffic accidents to the Georgia State Patrol

Georgia State Patrol

The Georgia State Patrol is the highway patrol agency for the U.S. state of Georgia. The GSP has statewide jurisdiction with the exception of federal military installations...

or local police

Police

The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

or sheriff

Sheriff

A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

s, or request motorist assistance

Freeway service patrol

A freeway service patrol, alternatively known as a motorist assistance patrol, roadway service patrol, or a courtesy patrol, is the umbrella term for a variety of programs implemented by government agencies, typically state Highway Patrols or Departments of Transportation, to reduce traffic...

from the Highway Emergency Response Operators

Highway Emergency Response Operators

The Highway Emergency Response Operators program is a freeway service patrol operated in metro Atlanta, USA by the Georgia Department of Transportation . It is a part of GDOT's Office of Traffic Operations. Both the program and the individual vehicles are typically referred to by the acronym HERO...

(HERO) program. Callers can also connect to adjacent states' 5-1-1 systems, including North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

's.

In January of 2011, the Georgia Department of Transportation launched a mobile application on the iPhone platform to provide iPhone users with a mobile option for up to the minute traffic information found on the website. The application also provides special offers and other information about businesses and organizations who participate in the program.

Georgia actually had a system for years before this, using only live operators, and the code

Vertical service code

A vertical service code or VSC is a special code dialed prior to a telephone number that engages some type of special telephone service...

*DOT (*368), which could not necessarily be used by those mobile phone users who were roaming from elsewhere, as these codes are specific to each phone company. A local 404

Area code 404

Area code 404 covers Atlanta and its immediate neighbors, roughly within Interstate 285.Originally, it covered all of Georgia when the area code system was first created in the 1940s and implemented in 1951. On July 1, 1954, area code 912 was assigned to southern and middle Georgia...

number in metro Atlanta

Metro Atlanta

The Atlanta metropolitan area or metro Atlanta, officially designated by the US Census Bureau as the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ninth-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States...

and a toll-free 800 number were used for these and landline calls, and still serve as backup for mobile providers that fail to connect.

New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation

New Hampshire Department of Transportation

The State of New Hampshire Department of Transportation is a government agency of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The NHDOT is under the executive direction of Commissioner of Transportation George Campbell. The main office of the NHDOT is located in the J.O...

has implemented a service that helps commuters and travelers access information regarding weather-related road conditions, construction and congestion, via the Web or mobile device 24/7. The site can be found at www.511nh.com. New Hampshire is part of an 8-state consortium that is sharing the cost to design and develop the system.

New York

511 New York, established and administered by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), is a free, one-stop, all-encompassing phone and Web service www.511ny.org offering information on transportation services and conditions throughout New York State. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As of October 2011, this number is also the in-state number for the MTA of New York

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the U.S...

.

511 systems started out primarily as phone services in other states; 511 New York builds upon the success of other systems and includes a comprehensive Internet Web portal and real-time alerts sent to e-mail and mobile devices via 511NY.org. Other hand-held, mobile and in-vehicle electronic devices eventually will be supported. The phone service is an interactive voice system reachable by landline and cellular phones and is operated by a user’s voice or phone keys. A personalized, free subscription service can provide alerts of major incidents and can be customized to provide alerts by region, county and travel corridor.
Basic service was launched in the New York City metropolitan area in late 2008. Statewide coverage and more sophisticated services will be added throughout 2009. On 511 New York, you’ll get dynamic information on traffic and weather conditions; a transit trip planner spanning multiple service providers with information on schedules, routes, fares and park-and-ride lots; carpool, vanpool and ride-share referrals; tourism links, bicycling information and more. The traffic information includes congestion, incidents, traffic camera images, travel speeds and times, highway construction work zones and special, planned events. The system offers a critical, single-point information source during transportation emergencies.

511 NY – “Get Connected to Go” is the umbrella brand of The New York State Department of Transportation for traffic, transit and travel information.

The 511 New York theme line is: Get Connected to Go. The tag line is: New York State’s Official Traffic and Travel Info Source. The credit line is: A Free Service of the New York State Department of Transportation.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's state wide 511 launched on September 1, 2009. The system provides up to date information on all the states interstate highways.

Wyoming

In the summer of 2007, the original vendor was removed and services were redesigned and improved using Meridian Environmental Technology. 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.

Some of the additional features 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)

San Francisco

In addition to the phone service, travelers in the San Francisco Bay area

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

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

Toll road

A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...

system Fastrak

FasTrak

FasTrak is the electronic toll collection system used in the state of California in the United States. The system is used statewide on all of the toll roads, toll bridges, and high occupancy/toll and express toll lanes along the California Freeway and Expressway System.As with other ETC systems,...

. 511.org is a service of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and was designed by the transport

Transport

Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...

ation engineering

Engineering

Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

company Parsons Brinckerhoff

Parsons Brinckerhoff

Parsons Brinckerhoff is a professional services firm with 14,000 employees in 150 offices providing construction and operation management, planning, design, engineering, program management, strategic consulting, environmental and sustainability services for clients and communities in the Americas,...

, Farradyne (now Telvent

Telvent

Telvent is an information technology and industrial automation company specializing in SCADA, GIS and related IT systems for pipeline, energy utility, traffic, agriculture and environmental monitoring industries. Their customer base is worldwide, but concentrated in Spain and North America...

Farradyne). The system had a fair amount of controversy when it was announced that it would use FasTrak

FasTrak

electronic toll

Electronic toll collection

Electronic toll collection , an adaptation of military "identification friend or foe" technology, aims to eliminate the delay on toll roads by collecting tolls electronically. It is thus a technological implementation of a road pricing concept...

tags to track vehicles as they traversed Bay Area freeways.

In 2006, the Bay Area's transit coordinator

Metropolitan Transportation Commission (San Francisco Bay Area)

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is a regional planning, financing, and funding government agency in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was created in 1970 to coordinate the transit systems in the area's nine counties...

signed an $11 million four-year contract with defense contractor Science Applications International Corporation

Science Applications International Corporation

SAIC is a FORTUNE 500 scientific, engineering and technology applications company headquartered in the United States with numerous federal, state, and private sector clients...

to operate the local 511 system.

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

Toll road

system Fastrak

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

Telvent

Farradyne ).

Elsewhere in the United States

Similar services are operated in other cities and states; for example, the Minnesota Department of Transportation

Minnesota Department of Transportation

The Minnesota Department of Transportation oversees transportation by land, water, and air in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The cabinet-level agency is responsible for maintaining the state's trunk highway system The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT, pronounced "min-dot") oversees...

operates a website for traffic and road condition information. Central Florida is claimed to have the most-used 511 system in the nation, on a per capita

Per capita

Per capita is a Latin prepositional phrase: per and capita . The phrase thus means "by heads" or "for each head", i.e. per individual or per person...

basis.

Washington state 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 metropolitan area

Portland metropolitan area

The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area , also known as the Portland metropolitan area or Greater Portland, is an urban area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered around the city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S...

to access the right system for them.

Implementation of 5-1-1 service in Canada

The Intelligent Transportation Systems Society of Canada (ITS Canada) has brought together a consortium, the Canada 511 Consortium, to help get 5-1-1 service up and running in Canada.

In January 2005 the consortium filed an application to assign the 5-1-1 access code in Canada. It proposed that in addition to traffic, the number would report weather

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

Canada

on July 28, 2006.

In March 2007, an article in Computing Canada said it was up to each individual province whether or not to launch a 5-1-1 system, but that not all provinces were eager to proceed.

In May 2008, an article in ComputerWorld Canada claimed that the 5-1-1 initiative "appears to have lost momentum".

Active 5-1-1 systems in Canada

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, and the Yukon Territory each have 5-1-1 systems. British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

began loose implementation of 5-1-1 service in late 2009/early 2010. BC 5-1-1 service is available to Telus, Telus Mobility and Telus MiKE clients at this time.

Most provinces and territories without 5-1-1 systems have other road information hotlines, accessible by dialing various phone numbers.

Region-specific 511 sites

General information

US Department of Transportation 511 website, a source of official information
511 Deployment Coalition, a United States 511 advocacy group
Canadian 511-related news updates
Contact info for the Canada 511 Consortium

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.