| TranStar Press Release | |
Houston TranStar Launches New High Tech Traffic Alert System |
Sep 28th, 2004 |
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 28, 2004 Contact: Artee Jones – Executive Public Information Officer 713-881-3244 or email: ajones3@houstontranstar.org THE HOUSTON TRANSTAR PARTNERSHIP OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES HIGH-TECH PERSONALIZED TRAFFIC ALERT SYSTEM TO BETTER INFORM MOTORIST OF TRAVEL CONDITION ON AREA FREEWAYS “System Provides Real-Time Traveler Information to the Public” (Houston, Texas) ----- Today, Houston TranStar, the Transportation and Emergency Management Center for the Greater Houston Region, officially launched its high-tech personalized traffic alert system for motorists in the greater Houston region. The personalized traffic alert system was designed by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), a Houston TranStar valued partner agency, working in conjunction with the Texas Transportation Institute. It is designed to provide subscribers of the system with real-time traveler information that enables them to make better, more informed traveling decisions and possibly avoid traffic congestion. The personalized traffic alert system has been available on our award-winning website located at www.houstontranstar.org as a demonstration project for well over a year and has enjoyed a surprisingly well received reception with almost 3,000 subscribers taking advantage of the information provided. Subscribers of the system receive notifications or alerts on any device capable of receiving e-mail or text messages, including personal computers, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDA’s) and text pagers. In addition to this, the system allows subscribers to customize their alerts profiles detailing times, locations and incident severity. Data from Houston TranStar’s state-of-the-art traffic management system serves as the source for the personalized traffic alerts. As traffic operators housed on the control room floor at Houston TranStar monitor travel conditions on Houston area freeways and HOV lanes, they update information about incidents into the system. This information is then monitored by automated traffic alert notification software that detects changes in the incident information and generates alerts in the form of e-mails to subscribers of the system. Subscribers of the system can expect to receive alerts each time the status of the incident changes. Typically, an incident status will change twice for each incident – once upon verification of the incident and once when the incident has been cleared and travel conditions return to normal. According to Jack Whaley, Director of Houston TranStar, “The members of the Houston TranStar partnership are excited about making this new system available to the general public. Motorists in the greater Houston region now have an opportunity to receive real-time information on travel conditions before most people allowing them the opportunity to make better more informed traveling decisions”. For more information about the new personalized traffic alert system or to schedule a demonstration of how the system works, please contact Artee T. Jones, Executive Public Information Officer for the Houston TranStar partnership at 713-881-3244 or email: ajones3@houstontranstar.org. -30- _________________________________________________________________________________________ Recognized nationally and internationally as a model for agencies combining resources across modal and political jurisdictional boundaries, Houston TranStar is a unique multi-agency partnership comprised of the City of Houston, Harris County, the Texas Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County. Together, this unique partnership is responsible for coordinating the planning, design, operations and maintenance of transportation and emergency management functions in the greater Houston region. |
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