Montana DOT enhances 511 traveler information service

The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) is working to enhance its 511 traveler information service, implemented four-and-a-half months ago, to make the service more customer friendly. Individuals dialing in will note three major changes in the system:

MDT is adding 800 miles of additional routes so that the database will include more than 8,000 miles of major state-maintained roads.

The department changed the service's milepost references to land-based references. Instead of saying that Interstate 15 is snow packed and icy from milepost a to b, the system will reference the city names.

Road and weather information for North and South Dakota will be added to the 511 system in an effort to facilitate interstate travel. The 511 system, which provides real-time road and weather information 24 hours a day, logged more than 240,000 calls in the first 12 weeks of its inception in January 2003.