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511 Case Study Overview - Utah

511 Case Study Overview - The State of Utah

A minimum of twelve transportation-related phone information systems have been identified to be operating in the state of Utah. Currently, the most relevant in terms of 511 service is the Utah Department of Transportation's (UDOT's) 1-800-492-2400 Winter Road Conditions Hotline which is updated by the maintenance workers at a minimum daily, or as conditions change. This system is currently being upgraded to include much more as detailed below.

511 Vision

Utah is in the process of developing a new Traveler Advisory Telephone system which will integrate the road weather conditions, crashes, congestion, and construction activities into this system. This system will also route calls to the transit and other agencies which provide other types of traveler information which could possibly include National Park Information for the numerous parks located in the southern part of the state. It is also envisioned that traveler information specific to the Olympic activities, such as parking information, will be provided during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.

Utah is also currently developing an Event Tracking System which will allow state and city construction, maintenance and permits workers to enter information about their projects and update the status and impacts of the projects from the field via keyed input from a telephone. This system will be used to provide information to our website and the Traveler Advisory Telephone system.

Ongoing Activities

In addition to the development of the new Traveler Advisory Telephone system, UDOT is currently seeking legislation which will designate UDOT as the lead agency for 511 deployment in the state. Qwest, the largest wireline carrier, is in the process of developing switching software to handle the 511 calls. Their cost information should be available in March and 511 service should be available through them this summer.

Utah will be using Georgia Tech's Human Factors expertise to aid in designing the new Traveler Advisory Telephone system interface in order to make the system as efficient and user friendly as possible. An Advisory Committee with core stakeholders including the Utah Transit Authority, core cities including Salt Lake, Ogden, and Provo, and others will be used to help in developing the system.

Lessons Learned

Being the last of the early adopter states, Utah has benefited much from the experiences learned from Kentucky and Arizona, and by participating in the national 511 Working Group Committee.

March 1, 2001