511 Virginia

511 Virginia is a statewide web and phone service that disseminates traffic and weather information on 96 roads throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. The service, sponsored by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), has been in operation statewide since February 2005. The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) has been involved with the development and operation of the service since its inception and currently serves as a data clearinghouse for 511. VTTI collects traffic and travel information from across the state via VDOT, state police sources, and quality controls. They then clean the data in the VTTI operations center, and send that data to designated VDOT contractors who are in charge of disseminating it via phone and web to the traveling public.

As part of the 511 data clearinghouse, VTTI began operating a free subscription email alert system that distributes 511 alerts to the general public. The purpose of this ITS Implementation Center project was to enhance the current email alert system in certain key respects so that it could be offered as a traveler information product to the public. These enhancements included an automated online subscription system, the ability to customize which sections of a particular road were of interest, and the ability to receive alerts formatted for the device that was receiving them.