If you get the paper, you may have been greeted this morning by a story (and a sticker!) about the new phone in system from the RI Department of Transportation. You can dial 5-1-1 from your cell phone (or an archaic contraption known as a "land-line") and talk to a computer that will, allegedly, tell you about any sort of traffic problems that may await you on state highways. Sounds cool. As luck would have it, I was driving on 95 north this afternoon when I saw the awful glow of brake lights in the distance. Within seconds I was stopped, right around the Jefferson Blvd exit in Warwick. What a great time to try out the 5-1-1! I dialed up the number and a very nice computer answered, asking me to tell it what city I was in. Actually, before it got to ask me that I made the mistake of clearing my throat, which the man in the computer interpreted as some sort of attempt to communicate with him. Not discerning any actual words from my throat clearing, he pleasantly asked me to repeat the city I was in. "Warwick." "You said. Warwick. Is this correct?" "Yes." "There is one traffic advisory in. Warwick. on Route I-95 north. To hear advisories for a specific route, say it now. For instance, say route I-95 north" "I-95 North." "You said. I-95 North. Is this correct?." "Yes" (I love technology, but I hate talking to computers) So the friendly computer told me there was a breakdown in the left lane at the Thurbers Ave exit. Wow, I thought, that's pretty bad to back up traffic for five miles! But I was pretty suped that I could actually know what was causing my auto-frustration in advance of getting to the problem. Meanwhile, we're all inching along until roughly the Park Ave overpass in Cranston, where, on the right side of the road, a flatbed was clearing an accident. Smooth sailing after that. Way to go, 511.

What’s the 511?

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