Published on Saturday, October 22, 2005
in the Capitol News Service

Use of 511 Encouraged

The Florida Highway Patrol is encouraging motorists to use a special traffic hotline to find out about congested evacuation routes, instead of tying up emergency phone lines. You can call 511 to find out about highway traffic in central and south Florida. Authorities say using 511 can help you plan your travels accordingly.

“It allows the public to call without burdening and clogging up the 911 system,” said FHP Spokesman Maj. Ernie Duarte. “Obviously, we like to leave that number for emergency calls so we can get quick assistance to those people who do need emergency response. So if you’re asking about traffic, if you’re stuck in a jam on I-75 or I-4 in central Florida, instead of calling 911, we urge you to call 511 and it will provide information, updated information that will definitely assist you.”

511 was down for a couple of hours for what the Florida Highway Patrol describes as a maintenance issue. But it is now back up. You can also access the 511 system via the internet at .