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Florida Department
of Transportation
ITS Office
605 Suwannee Street, MS 90
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0450
(850) 410-5600
| Florida's First 511 System to be Operational in Mid-2002 |
Florida Statewide 511 Traveler Information Service is the national traffic and traveler information phone number service.
The Florida Statewide 511 Traveler Information Service project is gathering momentum as work continues to convert the existing local and toll-free numbers for South Florida's SunGuide system to the three-digit code. The 511 code will be available for the State's use on May 13, 2002, and it is anticipated that callers will be able to access the system using the code no later than July 1, 2002. In addition, the "I-4 Hotline," which will offer traffic and roadway information for the Orlando metropolitan area, is in the planning and early implementation stages for conversion to 511. FDOT District 5 personnel met with that region's wireless communications carriers' representatives on February 20 to discuss the goals, time frame, and processes to implement this first portion of the I-4 Corridor Regional 511 system.
In addition, the preliminary Florida's 511 Statewide Implementation Plan has been presented and will be distributed for comment in February. The plan adopts the recommendations of the Implementation Guidelines for Launching 511 Services, published by the 511 Deployment Coalition, a partnership of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the American Public Transportation Association, the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), and the USDOT. Among other things, the Guidelines recommend that the cost to place a call to 511 should not exceed the cost of any other local or toll-free call, and that the primary caller interface should be voice recognition rather than a push-button menu.
The plan for implementing 511 services in Florida was presented to the Transportation and Expressway Authority Membership of Florida (TEAM FL) at their quarterly meeting on February 6, 2002. This presentation was the first step in an outreach effort to
involve local and regional transportation agencies in the planning, implementation, and operation of the 511 services throughout the state of Florida. Other potential partners include Metropolitan Planning Organizations, public transportation providers, and commuter assistance associations.
| Florida Recieves $100,000 Grant to Support 511 |
The FHWA has approved a $100,000 federal assistance grant to support the FDOT ITS Office in the deployment of the 511 traveler information service in the state.
For additional information regarding this program, please contact Mr. Gene Glotzbach at the FDOT ITS Office in Tallahassee, (850) 410-5616.
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| Study Complete, Final Recommendations Available |
Currently, FDOT is using four different software systems in our TMCs. The one million dollar plus price tag of individual software system development, operation, training, maintenance, and update will increase substantially with the scheduled deployment of several new TMCs in Florida. As a result FDOT partnered with Michigan DOT to investigate opportunities to better leverage our state resources and create a unifying TMC software platform to ensure statewide integration.
The integrated statewide TMC software system will provide a unifying platform to ensure that technologies can work together smoothly and effectively. The selection of a common TMC software system will allow transportation management centers, toll collection, freeway
incident management, traveler information, vehicle information, wireless microwave, and fiber optic communication to function seamlessly.
Based on demonstrated knowledge, experience and national reputation, the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) was selected to conduct this study. The study included the following tasks:
| • | Visited four existing Florida TMC sites and one Michigan TMC site; |
| • | Reviewed TMC software, hard-ware, and communications; |
| • | Analyzed available software documents; |
| • | Discussed preliminary findings with each TMC manager and respective private sector software developer; |
| • | Evaluated and rated strengths and weaknesses of each TMC; |
| • | Presented study findings and recommendations to District Traffic Operations Engineers and ITS professionals, and |
| • | Formulated both short-term and long-term realistic and achievable software develop-ment recommendations. |
SwRI recommended the interim use of the PB Farradyne MISTTM software currently used by the District Five Orlando TMC with the long-term recommendations for a single, statewide, public-owned TMC software with a library that would be built utilizing the best features of the other existing and new TMC software systems. With this platform, each District can choose the features or options needed in their operations. When improvements are made to the software, they are shared statewide reducing redundancy in effort and improving cost-efficiency. Other recommendations included the development of a statewide concept of operations for software use and deployment, standards for software documentation, and implementing a configuration management process.
For additional information regarding these programs, please contact Mr. Liang Hsia at the FDOT ITS Office in Tallahassee, (850) 410-5615.
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SunGuide Disseminator