Final Report
Model Deployment of a Regional,
Multi-Modal 511 Traveler Information System
Multi-Modal 511 Traveler Information System
2.0 Model Deployment Context and System Description
2.1 Project Content
2.1.1 Arizona's Geographic Context for Traveler Information
The population of Arizona at the time of the 2000 Census was approximately 5.1 million. Geographically, the vast majority of the state is rural, although 88% of the population resides in urban areas.2 Over two-thirds of the state's population is concentrated in two counties: Maricopa and Pima. Maricopa County (3.1 million) is located in central Arizona and includes the City of Phoenix and most of the greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area. Pima County (843,000) is located in southern Arizona and includes the greater Tucson Metropolitan Area. Both the Cities of Tucson and Phoenix are partners in the 511 Model Deployment. The overall population density of the state is about 45 persons per square mile (ranked 36 in the US) compared to the overall average for the United States of 80 persons per square mile. Arizona has grown quickly over the last several decades. Between 1990 and 2000, the population increased 40%. Figure 2-1 identifies major cities and highways in Arizona.
Figure 2-1. Location Map
Arizona is a major destination for US and international tourists. Arizona ranked 13th among US states in travel and tourism, with approximately 550,000 international visitors in 2002.3 Major attractions include the Grand Canyon and over 30 other national parks and monuments; vacation resorts in Phoenix and Tucson; old west towns like Tombstone, Bisbee, and Jerome scattered throughout the state; and the "red rock country" surrounding Sedona. The Grand Canyon National Park alone had over 4 million visitors in 2002.4
Arizona's highway system includes three major east-west Interstate Highway routes: I-8 in the southern portion of the state that serves as one of the major routes between Phoenix and San Diego; I-10 in the central portion of the state that links Phoenix with the Los Angeles area to the west and to southern New Mexico to the east; and I-40 in the north. Both I-10 and I-40 are major international trade corridors. Arizona is traversed by two major north-south interstates: I-17, which links Tucson, Phoenix and northern Arizona, and I-19 which links Tucson with Nogales, located on the international border with Mexico. Several major international border crossings with Mexico are situated in Arizona, including San Luis Rio Colorado (in the west), Nogales (central), and Douglas (east).
Both the Tucson and Phoenix regions are characterized by low-density development and heavy reliance on the personal vehicle for transportation. In both urban areas a very low percentage of total person trips are made by transit—in the Phoenix region the Maricopa Association of Governments, the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the area, estimates that transit trips comprise about 1.2% of total trips. Traffic congestion is significant in Phoenix, but below the levels of the most congested urban areas in the United States, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. According to the 2000 Urban Mobility Study conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), which studied 75 urban areas in the United States, Phoenix ranked 11th based on the "travel time index." The travel time index measures the amount of additional time needed to make a trip during a typical peak travel period in comparison to free-flow speeds. The average travel time index for all 75 urban areas is 1.39. Phoenix's travel time index of 1.40 is just above that average and indicates that a trip that would take 20 minutes at free-flow speed takes about 28 minutes (20 x 1.40 = 28). For comparison, the most congested urban area—based on the travel time index—is Los Angeles with 1.90. Of the ten urban areas that have travel time index values higher than Phoenix, eight of them are between 1.41 and 1.47, indicating that relatively little separates Phoenix from most of the more congested locations.
Tucson is much smaller than Phoenix and is far less congested. With a travel time index of 1.20, Tucson ranks 40th among the 75 urban areas studied by TTI. Although below the average for all 75 urban areas (1.39), the Tucson travel time index is just above the average for urban areas of similar size (1.18).
Both Tucson and Phoenix have well-developed grid networks of major arterial streets at one-mile spacing. Consequently, in both areas there are a number of alternative routes for the portion of trips using local streets. However, both areas were relatively late in beginning to develop their urban freeway systems and there are very few viable alternate freeway routes in these areas.
Many miles of Interstate, State, and US Highway routes in Arizona are located in high-altitude areas that receive considerable snow and ice, thus making winter-weather traveler information important. These high-altitude areas encompass most of northern Arizona, including the Grand Canyon area; I-40, which traverses east-west across Arizona and is a major national freight corridor; Flagstaff; and large portions of eastern Arizona.
2.1.2 Traveler Information Services Prior to the Model Deployment
ADOT 511 System
For several years prior to 511, ADOT operated a ten-digit statewide road conditions telephone information system, which they termed the "Voice Response Activated System" (VRAS). ADOT converted that system to "511" in March 2002, keeping the ten-digit number in operation. Before it was enhanced by the Model Deployment, the 511 system allowed users to obtain either highway (state highways and interstates) or transit information (via routing to transit agencies' customer information systems) using touch tone (keypad) menu selections. Information was updated every 5 minutes. Figure 2-2 illustrates the system menu structure prior to the Model Deployment.
Figure 2-2. Pre-Enhanced ADOT 511 System Menu Structure
All transit information requests in the pre-enhanced 511 system were call-forwarded to the transit agencies where they were handled by the agencies' existing system; no transit information was provided directly through the 511 system. For highway information, users entered the route number of the highway and were provided recorded messages describing various "events," including roadway construction, closures, incident reports, weather updates, etc. The user could not request information for only a portion of a given highway. Rather, once a given road was selected, all events pertaining to locations along the entire length of the route were described, in sequence, based on mile post marker. Events were not prioritized; that is, incident-related events were not reported first. Users could also receive reports on local arterial streets in Maricopa County by entering the first three digits of the city in which they wanted information. Historically, however, this feature very seldom had information available, because the local agencies that are the source of that information did not regularly enter information into the system.
Figure 2-3 illustrates the major components of the pre-enhanced 511 system. The ADOT Highway Condition and Reporting System (HCRS), shown in the lower right portion of the diagram, is the database that fed information to the 511 system (and still does) as well as the ADOT traveler information website (not shown). HCRS was developed in the mid-1990s by ADOT principally as a means of coordinating the construction and maintenance activities among various ADOT jurisdictions statewide; the "C" and "R" stood for "Closures" and "Restrictions." However, the potential benefits of providing this information to the public were soon realized, and HCRS was linked to both a website, where a statewide traffic map with various traveler information icons was made available, and a ten-digit statewide telephone traveler information system. That ten-digit phone system and website were co-branded as the "Trailmaster" system.
Figure 2-3. Pre-Enhanced ADOT 511 System Diagram
Information was, and is, entered into HCRS via the Internet from HCRS workstations located at ADOT facilities statewide, including the nine ADOT District Offices and field offices within each District. As indicated in the upper right portion of Figure 2-3, members of the AZTech ITS consortium could also input information to HCRS [including the local traffic jurisdictions and Department of Public Safety in the Phoenix region that compose the regional AZTech ITS consortium]. AZTech was created as part of the Phoenix Region Metropolitan Model Deployment Initiative (MMDI) in the late 1990s. In years past, as part of the I-40 Traveler and Tourism Information System (TTIS) deployment, approximately 20 additional organizations in the I-40 (Northern Arizona) Corridor also had the ability to enter information into HCRS. These agencies included Chambers of Commerce, a private tour operator, Arizona Department of Emergency Management, Grand Canyon National Park, and 911.
HCRS events are entered via an on-screen event form, which includes a number of different fields. HCRS event entries are translated to roadway advisory messages automatically. That is, the information in key fields, including location (type of route, such as "interstate" or "state route;" route number and direction, such as "eastbound") and the subject matter of the event, expressed using International Traveler Information Interchange Standard (ITIS) "category" and "description" information, is pulled from HCRS and converted to a synthesized speech message. The message is then pushed from the HCRS server to the VRAS server that powers the 511 service.
The pre-enhanced VRAS included a server and two T-1 phone line processors, or "boxes" as ADOT refers to them. Each T-1 unit included 24 voice channels or phone lines. Consequently, the 511 system could accommodate up to 48 incoming calls simultaneously.
Other Traveler Information Systems
Aside from the 511 telephone system and the customer service telephone lines at the major transit operators, the other major public traveler information dissemination tool in Arizona was the ADOT traveler information web site, as indicated in the upper center portion of Figure 2-3. At about the same time that ADOT converted their ten-digit telephone information number to 511 in March 2002, they co-branded their existing traveler information web site, adding the 511 logo and making the site reachable via either http://az511.com or the previous address of http://azfms.com. The ADOT traveler information web site draws information from the same data engine as the 511 system: HCRS. The pre-enhanced web site5 contained three types of information, as shown at the top of Figure 2-4. The main page contained still images and live views from closed-circuit television cameras located on freeways throughout the Phoenix area. A color-coded map of the Phoenix freeway system contained congestion and construction information. A statewide map contained "clickable" icons showing highway closures, restrictions, accidents, and weather information. Figure 2-5 shows the Phoenix area color-coded freeway conditions map. Figure 2-6 shows the statewide roadway conditions map.
Figure 2-4. ADOT Traveler Information Web Site Main Page
Figure 2-5. ADOT Web Site Freeway Conditions Map
Other sources of traveler information in Arizona include traditional commercial broadcast radio and television, which feature peak hour traffic condition reports oriented toward urban area commuters. As part of the AZTech MMDI, cable TV traffic information was established in four jurisdictions in the greater Phoenix area. Traveler information is also provided on websites operated by a number of Independent Service Providers in the Phoenix area, including the Travel Advisory News Network (http://traffic.tann.net/) and Tele Atlas/Metro Networks (http://www.aztech.org/traffic2.htm). Both services were initiated as AZTech partnerships and both provide regional traffic maps containing information provided by ADOT, and are similar in format to the ADOT Phoenix region traffic map that is available on the ADOT AZ511 website. Figures 2-7 and 2-8 present the Phoenix region traffic maps from the Tele Atlas and Travel Advisory News Network websites.
Figure 2-6. ADOT Web Site Statewide Traveler Information Map
Figure 2-7. Tele Atlas/Metro Networks Phoenix Region Traveler Information Map
Figure 2-8. Travel Advisory News Network Phoenix Region Traveler Information Map
2.2 511 Model Deployment Enhancements
2.2.1 Planned Features for the Model Deployment
The plan for the Model Deployment included numerous enhancements to the existing ADOT 511 system. The planned enhancements can be divided into three major categories: information content enhancements, telephone system interface enhancements, and other enhancements.
Planned information content improvements included a wide range of new data types, including information on arterial streets; downtown Phoenix events and parking; airport information; additional weather information (including information from the state's Road Weather Information System); and information from Utah. Planned system interface improvements included converting to voice recognition, with the previous touch tone option retained as an alternative; a complete redesign of the menu system to accommodate new data types; roadway segment and region-based reporting of roadway conditions rather than only at the roadway level; and reporting of roadway conditions based on named roadways (e.g., "Maricopa Freeway") rather than only route numbers (e.g., "I-10"). Other planned enhancements included a premium service partnership, marketing of the 511 system, and enhanced system performance monitoring capabilities. Table 2-1 lists and describes the various planned Model Deployment enhancements.
| Type of Enhancement | Enhancement | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Information Content | Tucson and Phoenix Local Street Data | Pre-enhanced system contained very little information and what was included was input by ADOT based on police radio scanner monitoring. |
| Information Content | Transit Major Service Disruption Information and Call Transfer Capability | To include a 2-minute voice recording where major service disruptions can be noted and an option to transfer to the Phoenix or Tucson transit agencies' customer service lines. |
| Information Content | Phoenix Bus Rapid Transit Estimated Arrival Times | Estimated arrival times for some of the Phoenix-area bus rapid transit stops. |
| Information Content | Phoenix Arterial Street Travel Times | Travel times for four North Phoenix arterial streets paralleling I-17. |
| Information Content | Data Quality Enhancements | Various enhancements, including refinement of landmarks and terminology used in HCRS and operator training. |
| Information Content | Phoenix and Tucson Airport Info. | To include a 2-minute voice recording where conditions can be summarized and other sources of information referenced and the ability to transfer to Phoenix and Tucson airport customer service lines. |
| Information Content | Grand Canyon Info. | To include information on travel conditions impacting park visitors, including roadway and parking conditions, information on shuttle services, etc. |
| Information Content | Segment Weather Info. | To utilize a new National Weather Service (NWS) data product—2 kilometer grid weather reports—to provide weather information for Arizona roadway segments. |
| Information Content | Downtown Phoenix Special Events and Parking | To include enhanced information on downtown Phoenix special events and parking information, including possibly data from the Downtown Phoenix Parking Management System, such as real-time parking occupancy information. |
| Information Content | Sharing Data with Other States (Utah) | To include exchange of roadway condition data with the Utah Department of Transportation. Utah data to be included in roadway segment reports for Arizona roadway segments near the Utah border. |
| User Interface | Regional Roadway "Quick Reports" | To provide a region-based (e.g., "Central Phoenix" or "East Phoenix Valley") summary of major roadway conditions. |
| User Interface | Roadway Segment-Based Reporting | To provide roadway information at the segment level (e.g., "I-10, California Border through Phoenix") rather than the previous route level (e.g., "I-10), in which every incident on an entire route, statewide, was provided. |
| User Interface | Roadway Info. Accessible Via Roadway Name | To provide roadway information for named roadway segments (e.g., "Maricopa Freeway") rather than only by route number (e.g., "I-10"). |
| User Interface | Voice Recognition | To provide a comprehensive voice recognition interface (with touch tone backup) rather than the former touch tone only system. |
| Other | Premium Service Partnership | Establish a partnership with a commercial information provider to provide one or more 511 premium (for fee) services, such as customized information. |
| Other | Marketing | Implement a 511 marketing program consisting of a media kit and press releases; 50 static highway signs throughout the state; dynamic message sign references to 511; public service radio announcements; printed materials (rack cards, pamphlets); and promotional items (key chains, etc.). The pre-enhanced 511 system was not marketed. The only media exposure it received was during the initial conversion from the former 10-digit number to 511 and when ADOT and Department of Public Safety personnel referred the public to 511 during wildfires in June and July 2002. |
| Other | Improved System Performance Monitoring | Establish the ability to preserve a wide range of data (such as phone server log files); tabulate useful data (e.g., tally selections for various menu items); and generate reports. |
2.2.2 System Features Available for the Evaluation
From the beginning, the Arizona 511 Model Deployment was envisioned by both the FHWA and by ADOT and their 511 partners as "pushing the envelope." As indicated in Table 2-1, wide-ranging enhancements were planned for the Model Deployment, including many new types of data to be provided by organizations not previously involved in the Arizona 511 system. The enhancements also involved a complete overhaul of the menu system and user interface, introduction of a 511 marketing program, and partnership with a commercial information provider. Despite the ambitious goals, not all of the planned 511 enhancements were completed in time, or in a manner, to support the evaluation activities identified in the Evaluation Plan document.6
Part of the reason that several of the Model Deployment enhancements were delayed and were not operational within the evaluation period is that the enhancements were implemented in a phased manner. Mid-way through the implementation process, in approximately July 2003, ADOT recognized several factors that made completion of all of the enhancements unlikely by the time of the planned enhanced system roll out in the fall of 2003. Data availability was a key factor. Several types of new data, including data from other states, segment weather, and estimated bus arrival times, were not going to be available in 2004. Staffing resource constraints were another factor. ADOT and consultant personnel were fully engaged in implementing the fundamental user interface enhancements and were unable to move forward simultaneously on the other enhancements. In view of these factors, ADOT determined that the on-time roll out of the major user interface enhancements could be jeopardized by continued attempts to move forward on all enhancements. As a result, ADOT decided to explicitly phase the enhancements, postponing several until 2004 or 2005. Most of those enhancements were not available for evaluation. As discussed in Section 8.0, this phased approach also meant that 2004 included both operations and continuing implementation, which has implications in differentiating implementation and operations costs.
Most of the enhancements shown in Table 2-1 that have been implemented were rolled out by ADOT on December 17, 2003, when the enhanced service was launched, and were included in the evaluation. Also included were two unplanned enhancements, which were not part of the original Model Deployment concept but were identified during design and implementation as desirable features. Those consist of the addition of a call transfer capability to the Arizona Office of Tourism and expansion of the transit menu system to include all of the regional/rural transit providers throughout Arizona.
Ultimately, 7 of the 17 individual planned Model Deployment enhancements shown in Table 2-1 were either not operational or not fully operational (i.e., not all features operational or utilized) during the Model Deployment evaluation period and therefore not available for evaluation. Several of these 7 enhancements were completed in the sense that a capability for new data input was established by ADOT, but not fully operational because agencies did not input data. The marketing enhancement is another example of a partially completed enhancement. All of the planned activities were completed within the evaluation time frame except for installation of the 50 static 511 road signs statewide, which was deferred until later in 2005. A few of the enhancements have simply been delayed, usually due to unavailable data, and are still planned for implementation. The estimated bus arrival times and segment weather information are examples of these types of enhancements. Only one enhancement has been formally canceled, the premium service partnership. In that case an effort was made but no viable partner was identified. Table 2-2 summarizes the status of each of the planned enhancements relative to the evaluation. Figures 2-9 and 2-10 show the post-enhanced Arizona 511 menu system.
Figure 2-9. Post-Enhanced Menu System
| Enhancement | Fully Complete & Operational within the Evaluation Period | Completed & Operational After the Evaluation Period | Not Currently Complete & Fully Operational | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Information Content | ||||
| Tucson and Phoenix Local Street Data |  |
ADOT's plan to increase their capture of arterial street incidents through more intensive monitoring of law enforcement scanners was carried out. However, inputs by cities and counties have been negligible. Inputs by the Tucson region are pending (training has been completed as have necessary map updates); Phoenix area agencies are making a limited number of inputs. | ||
| Transit Major Service Disruptions and Call Transfer Capability | | The original plan called only for Phoenix and Tucson Transit, but the menu system and call transfer capability have been extended to include all regional/rural transit providers statewide. | ||
| Phoenix Bus Rapid Transit Estimated Arrival Times | | Transit currently unable to provide data. Enhancement not implemented and unavailable for evaluation. | ||
| Phoenix Arterial Street Travel Times | | Data collection system completed and now being tested; not available for evaluation. | ||
| Data Quality Enhancements | | Enhanced 511 data entry operator training and 511 message preview function to see how entries will be conveyed on 511. | ||
| Phoenix and Tucson Airport Information | | Phoenix has used the 2-minute message recording capability but Tucson has not. | ||
| Grand Canyon National Park Information | | All necessary technical elements are in place (menu changes and voice-recording capability). During the evaluation period, the Park was not entering any information but now intends to. | ||
| Arizona Office of Tourism Call Transfer | | An unplanned enhancement requested by the Office of Tourism. | ||
| Segment Weather Information | | Came on-line after completion of evaluation. | ||
| Downtown Phoenix Special Events and Parking | | There has been no discernable change in data capture techniques or the type and volume of information in the system. | ||
| Sharing Data with Other States (i.e., Utah) | | Under development. Not available for evaluation. | ||
| User Interface | ||||
| Regional Roadway "Quick Reports" | | |||
| Roadway Segment-Based Reporting | | |||
| Roadway Info. Accessible Via Roadway Name | | |||
| Voice Recognition | | |||
| Other | ||||
| Premium Service Partnership | | No viable private partnership proposal was received. | ||
| Marketing | | The only incomplete elements are the 50 static road signs throughout the state, which are being installed now. | ||
| Improved System Performance Monitoring | | Not all data analysis and reporting functions have yet been utilized but many new capabilities have been established and many of them have been used by ADOT. | ||
Figure 2-10. Transit Portion of Post-Enhanced Menu System
A useful way to assess the extent to which plans for various new data types have been realized—and thus establish context for the evaluation analyses—is to examine the data content of the 511 system during the one-year Model Deployment operational period (January – December 2004). Data are input to 511 via one of two mechanisms: through HCRS entries from an HCRS workstation (available to non-ADOT agencies via the Internet), or by recording a digital voice message (a .WAV file). The voice messages are recorded remotely, by dialing into the 511 system and leaving, in essence, a voicemail message that can then be added to the 511 system. HCRS logs provide an excellent record of HCRS data entry by inputting organization and type of entry. Unfortunately, although .WAV logs exist, they are not parsed and it was not possible to analyze them. The alternate source for information on agencies' input of .WAV data is anecdotal information from ADOT and the agencies that were provided .WAV recording capability. Table 2-3 identifies the planned HCRS and .WAV new data enhancements and summarizes their status and data sources.| Input Source | Enhancement Status | Data Analyzed |
|---|---|---|
| HCRS | ||
| Tucson and Phoenix Local Street Data | Implemented | HCRS logs |
| Downtown Phoenix Special Event and Parking Information | Implemented | HCRS logs |
| Phoenix Arterial Street Travel Times | Implemented | HCRS logs |
| Grand Canyon Information | Implemented | HCRS logs |
| Other States' Data | Not Implemented | None available |
| Phoenix Estimated Bus Arrival Times | Not Implemented | None available |
| Voice Recordings (.WAV files) | ||
| Transit Major Service Disruptions | Implemented | Anecdotal reports from agencies |
| Phoenix and Tucson Airport Information | Implemented | Anecdotal reports from agencies |
As indicated in Table 2-3, several planned enhancements with new data were implemented; the capability was established for agencies to input the information, either via HCRS or .WAV recordings. However, analysis of pre- and post-enhancement HCRS logs and anecdotal information from ADOT and the .WAV-enabled agencies indicates that in several cases these capabilities were not utilized, or not utilized significantly, by the agencies.
Table 2-4 compares pre- and post-enhancement HCRS entries by inputting organization. Appendix A provides additional background information on HCRS event classifications. Overall, the number of HCRS entries has increased considerably. However, various ADOT entities account for the entire increase; inputs from new organizations associated with the Model Deployment (Grand Canyon, cities and counties) are negligible. Figure 2-11 presents the percentage of entries by organization. The vast majority (about 70%) of all HCRS entries continue to be made by the ADOT Traffic Operations Center in Phoenix. The negligible quantities of post-enhancement data input by non-ADOT agencies indicate that these organizations have taken very little advantage of the new 511 data input capability, and interview data from the local agencies support this conclusion. There are a number of reasons that agencies feel they have not been able to input 511 information (see Section 7.0).
As indicated in Table 2-4, it is clear that Model Deployment plans to significantly increase the volume of arterial street information entered by cities and counties have not succeeded. However, results are much more encouraging relative to ADOT. ADOT's role in entering more arterial street incident information (Model Deployment plans included more intensive monitoring of police scanners) can be gauged by considering the number of ADOT HCRS entries by type of road. In 2002, ADOT entered just 234 entries pertaining to arterial streets, accounting for just 2% of total entries. After the Model Deployment (2004) that number jumped to 2,763, accounting for 14% of total entries. This indicates that ADOT followed through, and was successful, in their plans to increase arterial street incident data capture.
| Organization | Annual Average 2000-2002 |
2004 | Change | Percent Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unidentified | 36 | 0 | -36 | -100% |
| ADOT Phoenix – TOC | 10,039 | 13,709 | 3,670 | 37% |
| ADOT Phoenix – Other | 290 | 1,434 | 1,144 | 395% |
| ADOT Tucson | 62 | 199 | 137 | 221% |
| ADOT Yuma | 56 | 195 | 139 | 248% |
| ADOT Globe District | 185 | 532 | 347 | 188% |
| ADOT Safford District | 105 | 313 | 208 | 197% |
| ADOT Flagstaff | 458 | 1,183 | 725 | 158% |
| ADOT Kingman | 338 | 675 | 337 | 100% |
| ADOT Holbrook | 548 | 1,017 | 469 | 85% |
| ADOT Prescott | 55 | 323 | 268 | 487% |
| Cities and Counties | 15 | 48 | 33 | 213% |
| Other-DPS | 33 | 0 | -33 | -100% |
| Grand Canyon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Other-Out of State | 6 | 0 | -6 | -100% |
| Total | 12,226 | 19,628 | 7,402 | 61% |
Figure 2-11. HCRS Entries by Organization as Percent of Total Entries
Examining HCRS entries by type of entry provides another means to gauge realization of planned new data enhancements. Table 2-5 compares pre- and post-enhancement HCRS entries by type. The number of entries related to interstate traffic incidents and level of service (traffic congestion) has increased significantly, although no specific Model Deployment enhancements focused on these data. Very little data has been entered pre- or post-enhancement pertaining to downtown Phoenix special events and parking (which would appear in the "Activities" or "Parking" categories), or travel times. Although total weather-related entries ("weather", "winds", "winter storm codes" and "temperature" in Table 2-5) have increased by about one-third, there were no Model Deployment enhancements completed within the evaluation period, or other known changes in procedures, that would explain this overall increase. The reduction in "weather" entries reflects the fact that ADOT began phasing out this category during the analysis period, replacing it with the other weather-related event types. Figure 2-12 indicates that the increases in incident and level of service information have been significant enough to shift the overall roadway data composition of the 511 system. These two categories of real-time information have replaced planned event (construction and maintenance, i.e., "lane restrictions" and "road maintenance") as the most prevalent types of information.
| ITIS Category | Average Annual: April 1998-Jan. 2003 |
2004 | Change | Percent Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Activities | 14 | 21 | 6 | 43.6% |
| Closures | 1,442 | 1,478 | 36 | 2.5% |
| Dangerous Vehicles | 2 | 1 | -1 | -57.1% |
| Delays/Cancellations | 16 | 69 | 53 | 334.6% |
| Environment | 55 | 69 | 14 | 25.6% |
| Exceptional Loads | 16 | 6 | -10 | -62.3% |
| Headways | 0 | 0 | 0 | No Change |
| Incidents/Accidents | 1,705 | 6,903 | 5198 | 304.8% |
| Information | 218 | 740 | 522 | 239.6% |
| Lane Restrictions | 3,355 | 2,782 | -573 | -17.1% |
| Level of Service | 183 | 3,948 | 3765 | 2056.4% |
| Obstruction Hazards | 920 | 509 | -411 | -44.6% |
| Parking | 0 | 0 | 0 | No Change |
| Road Conditions | 370 | 71 | -299 | -80.8% |
| Road Maintenance | 1,829 | 652 | -1178 | -64.4% |
| Temperature | 11 | 0 | -11 | -100.0% |
| Traffic Equipment Status | 412 | 160 | -252 | -61.2% |
| Traffic Regulations | 16 | 2 | -14 | -87.6% |
| Travel Times | 1 | 0 | -1 | -100.0% |
| Weather | 399 | 97 | -302 | -75.7% |
| Winds | 156 | 329 | 173 | 111.2% |
| Winter Storm Codes | 1,104 | 1,790 | 686 | 62.1% |
| Total | 12,226 | 19628 | 7402 | 60.5% |
Figure 2-12. HCRS Entries by Type (Entry Code) as Percent of Total Entries
According to anecdotal information from ADOT and the .WAV-enabled agencies, only the Phoenix airport has made any significant use of the voice recording feature in 2004. The airport has used the feature extensively, maintaining a current summary of airport information on 511 throughout the year. Neither the Tucson airport nor Tucson transit agency made much use of the .WAV feature. In late 2003 to early 2004, ADOT recorded very basic placeholder messages for these agencies, which simply noted that additional information could be obtained by transferring to those agencies' customer information lines. Tucson transit (SunTran) reports at least one attempt to update their .WAV file in 2004, but they apparently have not used the feature with any regularity. Phoenix transit (Valley Metro) began recording .WAV files in mid-2004, but those messages generally only referred callers (via the call transfer option) to the Phoenix transit customer service line. Aside from references to the call transfer options, apparently little to no meaningful information (e.g., transit major service disruptions) was input to 511 in 2004 by Phoenix transit, Tucson transit, or the Tucson airport.
