ST. PAUL, Minn. – Motorists using the Minnesota Department
of Transportation’s 511 traveler information system this winter have several
new features to help them know what the state’s road conditions are before they
venture out on the roadways.
“Overall, the 511 traveler information system is getting
better each year and more people are using it,” said Kelly Braunig, 511 program
manager. “These new features will help the traveling public make good decisions
about winter travel.”
She said one million more motorists used the mobile app from
the 2014-15 to the 2015-16 winter seasons. There were also significant
increases in the number of users on the truckers’ and full-featured web pages.
Some of the new features this winter are:
·
Personalize
Your 511 – Motorists can enter up to 20 routes they travel to see where
incidents, such as crashes or construction, are located. Users can also click
on a specific incident to see a camera view. This is available on the
full-featured and truckers’ pages.
·
Smart
511 – This is the same as Personalize Your 511, but for a smartphone. Motorists
sign up online and then enter their phone number to receive information.
·
Citizen
Reporting – Motorists can submit driving conditions to the 511 system along a
saved route. To use this function, users have to have an account through the
“Personalize Your 511” feature. Users take a short online course to get registered.
Motorists are advised to report driving conditions after they reach their
destination. This is available on the full- featured site, but soon will also
be on the truckers’ site.
·
Tell
Me – Motorists receive hands-free and eyes-free audio notifications on their
smartphones about traffic conditions. Users download and open the app before
they start driving. The feature uses motorists’ GPS information.
·
Traffic
Delay – On the traffic map, there is now an orange glow around an icon when
there is a traffic delay due to a crash, construction or other traffic-slowing
incidents. When users click on the orange glow, information will be provided on
delays, travel times and direction of the delay. This is currently available
only for interstate driving and shows a delay within two miles in each
direction of an incident. This feature is on the truckers’ and full-featured
sites.
·
Road
Weather Information System Alert – On the full-featured and truckers’ sites,
motorists will see a red triangle over a weather station icon when weather
conditions such as fog, high winds, rain, ice and snow exist.
Most of the features are beneficial for winter driving, but
they can also be used year-round.
Braunig encouraged people to go to www.511mn.org
to check out how the site and features work. The mobile device app is free to
download.
