National 511 Conference
July 17-19, 2006; San Diego, CA
[Conference Recap] [Marketing Workshop] [New Deployers Workshop]
[Combined Marketing & New Deployers Session] [Opening Session] [Technical Sessions]
In celebration of achieving five full years since the first system was deployed, the National 511 Coalition sponsored a substantive and successful National 511 Conference. The conference, using the theme 511…Where Travel Starts, was held July 17-19, 2006, in San Diego, CA. With more than 230 public and private sector transportation specialists in attendance, the conference hosted more than 50 speakers and panelists who spoke on a range of topics related to 511 systems, such as marketing and outreach, 511 costs, web-based information, 511 content, public-private partnerships, business models and plans, evaluating systems, leveraging 511 investments, customer research, and interoperability. The conference was co-sponsored by AASHTO, U.S. DOT, APTA, and ITS America.
Tuesday’s Opening Session provided attendees an opportunity to hear from a distinguished panel of transportation and ITS professionals dedicated to the success of the 511 as a value-added nationwide service for travelers. Providing insights and praise for 511 systems deployed, as well as hopes and encouragement for systems yet to come were Gary Gallegos of SANDAG, Hamed Benouar of ITS California, John Njord of Utah DOT, Lou Sanders of APTA, Neil Schuster of ITS America, Regina McElroy of the U.S. DOT FHWA, and Melanie Crotty of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
Summing up the conference on Wednesday was a Visionary 511 Luncheon where attendees posed questions to a panel consisting of leaders of the National 511 Working Group about the future of 511 and what the service will look like in 2010 and beyond. The discussion centered on new and emerging technologies and how deployers will use them, as well as generated healthy debate regarding different visions of where 511 may be headed.
[TOP]Monday, July 17; 1-4pm
Back by popular demand, this workshop provides an opportunity for current and future 511 deployers to share information about effective marketing approaches for their 511 services. Launching a new service, identifying and reaching target markets, creative marketing materials – all of this and more will be covered in this half day session. Deployers with mature 511 systems and those with new systems will both find this workshop useful for their marketing plans.
Moderator: Sandy Myers, Virginia DOT
Dena Gray-Fisher, Iowa DOT
Marian Scorza, Florida DOT
Bethany Eller, Utah DOT
Jessica Jones, North Carolina DOT
511 mp3
DOT mp3
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Moderator: Trina Priore, PBS&J
Monday, July 17; 1-4pm
Geared toward potential or new deployers, this will be an interactive session to provide targeted summary information to attendees now becoming involved in 511 development and implementation. Significantly updated for this year’s conference, this session will provide attendees with over five years’ worth of knowledge in one afternoon to support their 511 implementation planning and product development.
The workshop will concentrate on technical institutional and policy issues faced by new and potential deployers and system performance measures. Some general information regarding how a 511 system is planned and executed will be covered as well as issues regarding telecommunications, including new technologies such as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). Also covered will be technical issues such as how menus have been designed and systems have been sized to meet estimated demand.
Speakers: Michael Berman, Pete Costello and Todd Kell, PBS&J
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Combined Marketing & New Deployers Session
Monday, July 17; 4-5:30pm
Attendees from both workshop sessions will come together for a combined discussion on the marketing issues relevant to those deployers who have or will launch a 511 service.
Moderator: Barb Blue, Kansas DOT
Jack Stickel, Alaska DOT
Shauna Callow, Metropolitan Transportation Commission
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Sandy Myers, Virginia DOT
Mel Coulter, Idaho Transportation Department
Tuesday, July 18; 8:30-10am
This session welcomes the conference attendees and sets the stage for the sessions to come. Be informed by leaders of the Policy Committee of the 511 Deployment Coalition about the goals of this conference and an update on 511 nationwide. This session provides an opportunity to hear the leaders of the transportation industry share their views on the growth of 511, its future and its role in transportation management and operations.
Gary Gallegos, SANDAG
Hamed Benouar, ITS California
John Njord, Utah DOT
Lou Sanders , APTA
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Neil Schuster, ITS America
Regina McElroy, FHWA
Melanie Crotty, Metropolitan Transportation Commission
- 1A -- 511 Costs
- 1B -- Web-based Information
- 2 -- Content on 511 Services
- 3A -- Public/Private Partnerships and Business Plans and Models
- 3B -- Evaluating Your 511 Service
- 4A -- Funding, Selling and Leveraging Your 511 Investment
- 4B -- Customer Research
- 5 -- Interoperability Issues for 511
- 6 -- Visionary 511 Luncheon
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Tuesday, July 18; 10:30-noon
Research into the costs of deploying and maintaining a 511 system is getting more refined and accurate as deployments become more mature. While the process was at first an exercise in comparing “apples to oranges,” more cost data has allowed us to present a clearer picture of what 511 might, and does cost. Battelle has been responsible for gathering cost data, and will be presenting its most recent draft of the 511 Costs Case Study. Representatives of deployments who have employed different business models will make presentations. NOTE: This session runs concurrently with Session 1B.
Moderator: Lou Sanders, APTA
Carol Zimmerman, Battelle
Gene Glotzbach, Florida DOT
Barb Blue, Kansas DOT
Sam Beydoun, Virginia DOT
Jo Ann Oerter, North Carolina DOT
Bryan Chamberlain, Utah DOT
Session 1B -- Web-based Information
The dissemination of 511 information via website is becoming more common and technologies to support that dissemination more sophisticated. There are many ways to represent 511 information on the Web, and this session will present some of the choices made by deployers. This session will also cover such issues as what information is being delivered on 511 websites and how deployers handle the differences between what can be disseminated via web as opposed to phone. Lessons learned in choosing web design vendors and application hosts will be covered as well. NOTE: This session runs concurrently with Session 1A.
Moderator: Heather Young, ITS America
Sari Radin, Volpe Center
Carol Kuester, Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Myles Hillman, traffic.com
Jim O’Neill, SmartRoute Systems
[Technical Sessions - top ] [1A] [Page TOP]
Tuesday, July 18; 1:30-3pm
Session 2 -- Content on 511 Services
Find out the impacts that telecommunications technology has on 511 services and discover how voice recognition advances, XML and other developing technologies will improve 511 service delivery. The SAFETEA-LU Section 1201 real-time information systems requirement and its relation to 511 will also be discussed.
Traffic content is one of the hallmarks of 511 systems. This session will explore the different types of roadway content and how to integrate traffic sensor data and incident or event reports into roadway data and travel times.
One of the key types of information provided by 511 is public transportation information. This session will also cover all the types of transit information provided today by 511 and also what enhancements are being planned. Innovative weather information presentation and other types of 511 content will also be discussed. Learn about how Clarus data will enable more refined weather products to be developed for 511.
Moderator: James Wright, AASHTO
Jo Ann Oerter, North Carolina DOT
Brandi Hamilton, Montana DOT
Jim O’Neill, SmartRoute Systems
Lisa Burgess, Kimley-Horn & Associates
Bob Rupert, FHWA
Pat Kennedy, FHWA
Meenakshy Vasudevan, Mitretek
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Tuesday, July 18; 3:30-5pm
Session 3A -- Public/Private Partnerships and Business Plans and Models
Learn and discuss which deployments have made successful use of public / private partnerships, and how those partnerships have affected deployment business plans. What companies are willing to collaborate with deployers and what are the terms? How can deployers increase their return on investment through successful partnerships? Are there instances where business plans can and should exclude partnerships? What are the 511 business models of today and the future? These are some of the issues that will be covered in this session. NOTE: This session runs concurrently with Session 3B.
Moderator: Larry Sweeney, Tele Atlas
Bryan Mistele, Inrix
Todd Bell, PBS&J
Peter Dwyer, ICx Transportation Group/Samuel Johnson, SANDAG
David Jannetta, traffic.com
Melanie Crotty, Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Session 3B -- Evaluation Your 511 Service
Evaluating the usefulness of 511 is an important way for deployers to keep in touch with how the system is serving its intended customers. This session will examine the methods by which deployers evaluate system usage, performance and deal with recommendations to improve the service. It is important to consider evaluating your 511 service at the building, maintaining and operations stages of deployment. Lessons learned will be presented, as will specific performance measures used by evaluators. Several high profile evaluations were conducted in 2005; those evaluations will be covered in this session. NOTE: This session runs concurrently with Session 3A.
Moderator: Barb Blue, Kansas DOT
Bentley Mitchell, Utah DOT
Carol Kuester, Metropolitan Transportation Commission
David Lively, Caltrans
Scott Cowherd, Virginia DOT
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Wednesday, July 19; 8:30-10am
Session 4A -- Funding, Selling and Leveraging Your 511 Investment
Relevant to both the new and the experienced deployer, funding will be discussed in this session. How have other systems found the money to deploy and maintain 511? Which deployments have created innovative ways to fund 511? Learn from your colleagues about how new and mature systems are funded.
Selling the idea of 511 and its potential benefits to skeptical decision-makers internally can be a challenging one. 511 is not specifically funded through legislation and convincing those who make policy to invest in the system can take an enthusiastic champion. Come to learn from colleagues how 511 was pushed through the channels at other DOTs and deploying agencies.
Once a 511 system is up and running, how does a deployer get the best return on investment? Learn in this session how others are taking data from advanced traffic management systems and using 511, wireless devices and other means of dissemination in a synergistic manner. Perhaps the most promising aspect of 511 to the public sector is the possibility of premium and value-added services ability to fund part of the 511 investment. Find out what services are being offered today around the country and how they are faring and what some companies are planning for the future of 511. NOTE: This session runs concurrently with Session 4B.Moderator: Bob Rupert, FHWA
Denise Inda, Nevada DOT
Alex Power, Texas DOT
Sam Beydoun, Virginia DOT
Darrell Bingham, Arizona DOT
Bryan Chamberlain, Utah DOT
Session 4B -- Customer Research
Learn the latest updates in customer research. 511 has been in operation since 2001. What have we learned about what the customer wants, and how deployers gather that information? The findings of customer research including focus groups and online and phone surveys will be presented in this session. Panel members will describe updates made to their systems because of customer feedback, both positive and negative. NOTE: This session runs concurrently with Session 4A.
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Wednesday, July 19; 10:30-noon
Session 5 -- Interoperability Issues for 511
When 511 was assigned in 2000, it was made clear that the ultimate goal was a seamless nationwide service. With 24 statewide deployments operational and many more planned for the next two years, interoperability becomes more and more critical. Data transfer between systems, call transfers, application sharing and proper routing of 511 calls all fall within the purview of interoperability and will be covered in this session. Emerging guidelines for 511 co-branded websites in terms of content, presentation, etc. will also be discussed. Learn about evolving ITS standards such as SAE J2354 and TMDD 3.0 developments and their applicability to 511.
The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users was signed by the President on August 10, 2005. SAFETEA-LU authorizes the Federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit from 2005 to 2009. However, what does it mean for 511? Come hear the experts on what this bill does and does not provide in relation to 511.Moderator: David Zavattero, Illinois DOT
George Schoener, I-95 Corridor Coalition
Gene Glotzbach, Florida DOT
Barb Blue, Kansas DOT
Joel Markowitz, Metropoilitan Transportation Commission & Standards Handout
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Wednesday, July 19; noon-1:30pm
Session 6 -- Visionary 511 Luncheon
The closing session of the Conference will allow attendees to pose questions about where are we headed with 511 and what the service look like in 2010 and beyond. What new technologies are in the pipeline and how will deployers use them? Bring your spirit of debate to this session to hear vastly different visions of where 511 is going. Be informed by leaders of the Working Group of the 511 Deployment Coalition about the results of this conference and where the 511 industry — and the Coalition — goes from here.
Moderator: Rick Schuman, PBS&J
Barb Blue, Kansas DOT
Les Jacobson, Telvent Farradyne
Pierre Pretorius, Kimley-Horn & Associates
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