Local residents can see current road conditions, track every snow plow in the region, in real time
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) District 10 reminds motorists that they can track its 163 snow plow trucks and check road conditions along their 6,961 snow lane miles in Armstrong, Butler, Clarion, Indiana and Jefferson counties, in real time, online, from the comfort of their own homes, or through the 511PA app.
PennDOT’s District 10 has 163 snow plows ready to go in the event of a storm (broken down per county: Armstrong has 31 plow trucks, Butler, 42; Clarion, 22; Indiana, 42; Jefferson, 26) and all those trucks are now equipped with Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) systems, which use in-truck technology to log and share data in real-time for that truck. By using the feature called, “Where’s My Plow,” and selecting the “Plow Trucks” icon, drivers can track any individual snow plow, down to the minute, online or from a smartphone. Users can also see the last time a specific state route was plowed.
Users can click on the “Check My Route” button, which contains another popular feature for commuters who wish to check a route’s roadway conditions. After clicking the button, users then enter the start and end locations for a route. Once entered, users can see updated plow information for each state road on their commute.
As per alerts and notifications, 511PA can send email and SMS text notifications to travelers who sign up for Personal Travel Alerts. This feature allows users to tailor notifications to only those roadways in which they’re interested and when (users can specify to receive alerts only on weekdays, for instance).
Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 950 traffic cameras.
511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices. The 511PA mobile app can be downloaded from Google Play or the iTunes store. Also, users can find the app by clicking or scanning the QR codes at the bottom of the www.511PA.com/mobileapp.aspx webpage.
Article submitted by PennDOT
