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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

March/April 2006

511 Driving Times Doubles Coverage Area

MTC and Caltrans Team Up With Private Sector to Install New Traffic Sensors

Sign-O-the-Times Motorists can access 511 Driving Times free of charge from their home phone or mobile phone, online at 511.org and while en route via changeable message signs. (Photo: Bill Hall, Caltrans)

MTC has roughly doubled the size of the coverage area for its popular 511 Driving Times service, with the addition of data for some 300 miles of freeway around the Bay Area. 511 Driving Times delivers free, on-demand information about point-to-point travel times on the Bay Area’s freeway network via the phone at 511, or the Web at 511.org. Driving time estimates for select destinations — such as airports — are also displayed on strategically placed electronic freeway message signs around the region.

The 511 Driving Times service debuted in March 2004 with coverage of Interstates 80, 680 and 880, and has been expanded several times since to more than 600 miles of coverage. The system taps data from FasTrak® toll transponders, Caltrans’ network of subpavement sensors and incident logs from the California Highway Patrol to tell motorists the current travel time between cities or major landmarks in the Bay Area.

In the case of the 511 phone line, the service provides callers with the travel time for a preferred route plus one alternate. On the Web, up to five route options are offered.

Sensor New solar-powered road sensors
keep tabs on freeway flows.
(Photo: Speedinfo Inc.)

The latest system expansion was made possible when MTC and Caltrans made a concerted effort to fill in gaps in the data collection network along area freeways. The two agencies installed 40 additional FasTrak® toll-tag readers and upgraded the system of subpavement sensors. And, they joined forces with SpeedInfo Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., to install 285 solar-powered radar traffic sensors along the remaining stretches.

“This is a prime example of the public and private sectors working together to expedite the deployment of intelligent technologies in the Bay Area,” said Melanie Crotty, director of Traveler Coordination and Information for MTC.

MTC is now planning the final phase of deployment, which will expand the 511 Driving Times network by another 150 miles to include nonfreeway roadways. Targeted roadways include State Route 37 in the North Bay; 19th Avenue and Lombard Street in San Francisco; and several expressways in Santa Clara County.

“We’re in the process of figuring out the most efficient and economical way to instrument these other roads,” said MTC Planner Benjamin McKeever.
— John Goodwin & Brenda Kahn

511 Driving Times coverage map
At 511.org, motorists can check out traffic conditions in real time, view a detailed map of the 511 Driving Times coverage area and request travel time estimates.

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