Press Releases

For Immediate Release

Bay Area's New 511 Telephone Service a Hit with Travelers

Strong Demand Prompts MTC to Explore Adding Capacity

Contact:

Randy Rentschler
510.817.5780

Joe Curley
510.817.5847

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 23, 2002...The Bay Area's 511 traffic and traveler information service has been a hit with local travelers, who have been calling in unprecedented numbers. Launched earlier this month, 511 saw more than 10,000 calls on its first day alone, reflecting a huge jump in usage over the Bay Area’s previous traveler information line, 817-1717, which had an average of just 2,000 calls per day. Demand has remained high throughout the past two weeks, and the 511 system has performed so well that the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) will explore the possibility of expanding the service to accommodate more callers. MTC project managers expect to be able to upgrade system capacity within the next few months.

MTC introduced the 511 service, with a companion Web portal at www.511.org, to provide up-to-the-minute, on-demand information for transit riders, drivers, carpoolers, vanpoolers and bicyclists throughout the Bay Area. The first comprehensive service of its kind in California, the Bay Area’s 511 service has served as a model for other regions that will be launching 511.

"The large number of calls on the 511 system shows how much the Bay Area needs a single, convenient source of travel information," said MTC Chair Sharon Brown. "Especially now that we’re in the storm season, 511 has been a great service to local travelers."

The 511 phone service currently accommodates about 100 simultaneous incoming calls. Since it was launched, callers have used the system more than 100,000 times, with call volumes significantly spiking during inclement weather. The number of calls has consistently topped 5,000 each weekday, despite a database problem that caused the 511 system to go down for a time on Sunday, Dec. 15, and Monday, Dec. 16. The database error was corrected by 10 a.m. on Dec. 16, and the system handled more than 5,700 calls that day. Call volumes for each day since the Dec. 6 launch of the 511 system are as follows:

MTC expects call volumes to continue rising as more Bay Area residents become aware of 511, and especially as new features are added to the service. An enhanced online transit trip-planning tool and estimated driving times — available both on the phone and on the Web — are expected in the coming months. Call volumes also are likely to increase as additional telephone service providers make 511 available to their customers. "SBC and most cellular carriers already provide access to 511," noted Brown. "And we expect Verizon to be coming online soon. In the meantime, I use my Verizon phone to call 817-1717 and it forwards me right into the 511 system."

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

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