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I love real time traffic updates when driving. But I don’t like what the Department of Transportation has done with WSDOT - 511 - Traffic Updates.

Here’s my gripe, a letter sent to the e-mail feedback address on the Web site:

“I received your contact information off of the following Web site: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/511/ - if you are not the person who I should be writing about this, feel free to pass this on or let me know of an alternate contact.

I heard about 511 service today on satellite radio and am a former user of the old 206-368-4499 number for getting real time traffic updates while driving. The old system allowed me to hit the number ퟙ2ퟘ and then the number ퟙ1ퟘ on my touch tone cell phone to get updates on the Seattle traffic situation while driving. It allowed me to direct the driver of the vehicle I was in (I would call as the passenger) to take less congested routes around accidents, etc. Very handy.

The new system is voice activated, which makes it essentially unusable. Why? Due to traffic noise I cannot get my commands into the system without it ퟙhearingퟘ something else and getting stuck. It also takes much longer to get the needed information íŸÏ I have to ퟙsayퟘ the route number and then wait for it to confirm.

I wanted to suggest that for the use of the system by someone in my situation (driving on the road, in the passenger seat, informing the driver of which route to take while we are on the road), it might be better to ퟙsimplifyퟘ and use less technology, rather than more. Will there be an option for drivers to access this system via touch-tone commands that are not subject to in-car noise? Can we get access to an overview of the main thoroughfares quickly (520, 5, 405, 90) etc without having to recite and be told which route we are asking about?

For me, the extra time and effort required to get the information becomes a safety issue, and it takes significantly longer to get the same information I used to get by dialing 368-4499 and hitting ퟙ21.ퟘ

I do have access to satellite radio updates (channel 220) for Seattle, so I do have a backup, but I thought this might be useful feedback for your other potential users. Thank you for listening. The service sounds like a great idea.”