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For Immediate Release

511 Phone Service Logs 10 Millionth Call

Free Service Helps Fairfield Resident Get to Work on Time

CONTACT:
John Goodwin, 510.817.5862
Shauna Callow, 510.817.5704

OAKLAND, Calif., April 4, 2006 . . .The Bay Area's award-winning 511 traveler information service reached another milestone last month when Lavonda Prier called in to find out about traffic conditions on Interstate 80 — and became the 10 millionth caller to take advantage of the free service.

“I call 511 every morning, to find out what the drive to work is going to be like,” said the 37-year-old cashier, who travels every weekday from her Fairfield home to the Costco warehouse store in Richmond. “I leave the house around 6 a.m., so I know traffic is going to be heavy. I call 511, ask for ‘traffic conditions,’ and find out if I have to take the side streets to get through Fairfield.”

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) introduced the 511 phone service and a companion Web portal at 511.org in December 2002 to provide timely, on-demand information for drivers, transit riders, carpoolers, vanpoolers and bicyclists throughout the Bay Area. The 511 phone system registered its 1 millionth call in September 2003, and its 5 millionth call in December 2004. The 511.org Web service is expected to pass the 20 million user sessions mark later this month.

Contra Costa County Supervisor and MTC Commissioner Mark DeSaulnier is not surprised by the 511 service’s mushrooming usage. “It’s accurate, it’s timely, it’s comprehensive, and it’s available 24/7,” he said.

511 is a free call from any land line telephone in the Bay Area. The only cost to cell phone users is the deduction of minutes from their plans. The 511 phone system currently handles about 400,000 calls a month. “Simplicity is the key,” explained Marin County Supervisor and MTC Commissioner Steve Kinsey. “The Bay Area 511 system is a leap forward in customer convenience because it’s so easy to use and easy to remember.”

Prier became a faithful caller to 511 after moving from El Sobrante to Fairfield last October. Describing the incident and slowdown information provided when she asks for ‘traffic conditions’ at the first menu prompt, Prier said, “It’s accurate — very accurate. That’s the most important thing for me.”

Prier also uses the 511.org Web site, and went online to sign up for her FasTrak® electronic toll collection transponder, which helps her save time at the Carquinez Bridge toll plaza on the way home from work. “I love 511,” she declared. “I wish I’d started using it a long time ago.”

MTC is the transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

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Note to editors: Digital photos of Ms. Prier are available. To request a photo, please contact John Goodwin of MTC at jgoodwin@mtc.ca.gov or 510.817.5862, or call MTC Public Information at 510.817.5757.

 

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