Leveraging 511 Telephone Traveler Information Systems for Public Transportation

This paper documents how U.S. transit agencies have, and have not, participated in the 511 traveler information telephone systems that are operational throughout the United States. This project investigated the reasons for the lack of more pervasive and meaningful participation by transit in 511 systems, dispelled the myth that 511 participation will place significant financial or other burdens on most individual participating transit agencies, and concluded that 511 participation is a highly cost-effective strategy for most transit agencies. The project is approximately 75 percent complete. Remaining activities include developing a check list of considerations that individual transit agencies can use in deciding whether, and how, to participate in 511 systems; interviewing 511 system administrators to understand why they have or have not included transit in their systems; and conducting a focus group with transit riders to understand their perspectives on 511.