Resource of the Week
By Shirl Kennedy, Deputy Editor

Are you familiar with 511, “America’s Traveler Information Telephone Number?” It’s not active everywhere in the United States yet, but it’s getting there. 511, basically, is a highway and traffic information system that takes advantage of detailed information on road conditions gleaned from Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). A motorist dials 511, and he or she receives localized basic travel information such as traffic conditions, construction/road closures, weather, public transit service updates, etc.

Personally, I’ve never dialed 511 but I’ve accessed it a number of times online, for the State of Florida, and for the local Tampa Bay area. Actually, there is a lot of stuff like this online; anyone with Internet access need never settle for those skimpy radio and TV traffic reports. Since we are such huge fans of one-stop shopping sites here at ResourceShelf, we commend your attention to a site which aggregates a large collection of links to highway and traffic information…and sometimes more.

Traffic Information–United States
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration
National Traffic and Road Closure Information
Nothing complicated here, folks. A clickable map you can use to get to information for the state of your choice, or use the text listing beneath it. Keep scrolling for links to sites with national information on traffic conditions, weather and road conditions, and regional information. At the very bottom is a link that will take you to a page with direct links to all 50 state transportation departments.

Click the “What’s New” button below and to the left of the map to explore the sites most recently added. There are some national links above that, including pointers to information about the 511 system.

For additional information about intelligent transportation systems, see:
+ Center for Intelligent Transportation Systems at Penn State University
+ Intelligent Transportation Systems at Transport Canada
+ Intelligent Transportation Systems at the University of Washington
+ Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute at the University of Minnesota
+ Intelligent Transportation Systems at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
+ Intelligent Transportation Systems Science Tracer Bullet at the Library of Congress
+ ITS America
And here is an ITS glossary.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 29th, 2005 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.