GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) – News of any road worries from wrecks, weather or construction along the state’s busiest roads is now a toll-free call away.
North Carolina motorists can dial a new 511 hotline to find out information about travel conditions. The information is accessible through an automated menu and provides updates on road closings and traffic congestion on most major state roads, weather and state rail and ferry operations.
The 511 hot line will let travelers know of traffic, construction or weather delays ahead of time, so they can steer clear of trouble, said Jo Ann Oerter, the state’s 511 project manager.
“It lets you know about it before, so you can alter your route,” Oerter said.
For example, recorded reports for Interstate 40 reported 12 potential trouble spots early Tuesday, from construction that reduced eastbound traffic to one lane just east of the Tennessee line to construction in the westbound lanes in Durham.
The system will help drivers avoid backups, even offering detours.
The Federal Communications Commission set aside 511 in 2000 as a number that could be easily remembered and used nationwide to find travel information. North Carolina is the 22nd state to provide 511 service.
Federal Highway Administrator Mary E. Peters said the goal is to expand the system nationwide, with 50 percent of the country’s population having access to it by the end of next year. The state and federal government can’t build enough highway lanes to keep up with rising traffic, so they are putting more emphasis on technology such as 511 to use existing highways more efficiently.
N.C. officials acknowledge the new system won’t always carry the latest traffic news. The state already quickly reports when crashes have blocked a lane, but officials say it’s much harder to keep track of the dozens of road projects that change daily and delay drivers.
Tim Boland, a state engineer working on 511 in the Charlotte area, concedes that the system will help drivers as long as the state feeds it up-to-date traffic news.
Boland says the state is hiring someone to make daily checks on construction sites. Congestion and collision news will come from freeway cameras, state troopers and the state’s traffic-management office north of uptown.
The system offers a voice-recognition feature that will allow drivers to name a highway. Then a female voice will read a list of current problems on that road.
And she will quiz drivers. “Did you say I-77?”
“Do you want more details?”
Drivers can interrupt the report and skip ahead to another traffic problem by saying “Next.”
Southeast Venture Conference, February 29 – March 1, 2012 at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, VA – Where Smart Money Meets Smart People.
www.seventure.org
© 2004, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.
