Gov. Phil Bredesen and Transportation Commissioner Gerald Nicely recently launched the new Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) statewide 511 traveler-information system. Tennessee 511 serves residents and travelers as a convenient gateway to valuable information about travel conditions 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.
After dialing 511, callers enter a voice-activated system where they can hear information on major closures on the Interstate, U.S. routes and state routes; weather information; Amber Alerts; and link to neighboring state 511 systems. Callers also have the ability to leave messages on TDOT's Record-A-Comment phone line 24 hours a day.
"Tennessee 511 is another resource TDOT provides to help travelers make good decisions," said 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.
To learn more about the nationwide 511 deployment program, visit www.deploy511.org.
