Tennessee DOT Launches New 511 Travel Information Service

511 Designed to Make Travel Safer for Everyone in Tennessee

Governor Phil Bredesen and Transportation Commissioner Gerald Nicely announced the launch of the new Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) statewide 511 traveler information system on Monday, August 14, 2006. Tennessee 511 serves residents and travelers as a convenient gateway to valuable information about travel conditions anytime via the phone or internet.

By dialing 511 or logging on to www.TN511.com, commuters and travelers throughout Tennessee now can access accurate, real-time road and weather conditions including traffic congestion, incidents, construction, and closures. Travelers can find out about their routes before leaving on a trip, whether across town or across the state.

“We hope Tennesseans and visitors alike will begin to rely on this remarkable new technology whenever they travel around our state,” said Bredesen. “This is a convenient informational tool that can help drivers avoid the frustration of traffic tie-ups and, more importantly, make their travels safer.”

Callers simply dial 5-1-1, then request the information they need. The voice-activated system can alert callers to major closures on the interstate, U.S. routes and state routes, weather information, Amber Alerts, links to neighboring state 511 systems, and TDOT’s Record-A-Comment phone line 24-hours a day.

“Tennessee 511 is another resource TDOT provides to help travelers make good decisions,” added TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely. “"We believe that this system has been well planned and carefully tested. It is an important investment for our department to make for the people we serve.”

TDOT has added the Tennessee 511 voice-activated system to TDOT SmartWay (Tennessee’s intelligent transportation system), which already provides camera links, traffic information, and weather-related road conditions online on TDOT’s homepage, and has linked the 511 phone service with the SmartWay information on the Web.

Tennessee’s 511 service is part of a nationwide effort to provide consistent and reliable traveler information. Tennessee is the 24th state to launch a 511 system since the initiative began in 2000. Tennessee is the first state to launch a comprehensive system that includes interstates and state routes. The nationwide 511 system has logged over 55-million calls since its inception and is available locally to over 93-million Americans. For more information about 511 deployment, visit www.deploy511.org.