ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota’s 511 traveler
information system that gives up-to-date information on weather-related road
conditions and maintenance and construction projects now has an improved high
bandwidth site, giving users more continuity and usability with the service,
according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
The 511 system, available online at 511mn.org or by phone at
511, helps motorists make better travel decisions. It offers both voice
response and touch-tone options to request road-specific information.
“The enhanced 511 site will make it easier for
motorists to find out information about events that may affect their travel—whether
it's road construction, weather or traffic incidents. Motorists can also sign
up for text alerts and emails for their customized routes,” said Brian Kary,
MnDOT freeway operations engineer.
The new 511 features include viewing traffic
camera images in an album, allowing users to scroll from one camera to the next
along their route. Also, when users click on an incident, it will be brought up
in an album view with a description and map. The background images fade out. In
addition, pages are now auto-refreshed when new information arrives that affect
the current map view.
“The new site was rolled out in Minnesota and
two other states last week and all went very well,” said Kelly Braunig, MnDOT
511 coordinator.
Minnesota was one of the first states in the country to
introduce 511 in 2002. The high bandwidth was added in 2009. The free mobile
app was launched in July 2013; since then, there have been more than 98,000
downloads of the app.
