The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) received funds from the ITS Integration Program for a FY 2001 project. The focus of the project is 511 Alaska Travel in the Know, a traveler information system with two functional subsystems designed to provide near real-time transportation system information. The Vessel Tracking Subsystem for the Alaska Marine Highway System, and the Highway Conditions Subsystem will provide important and timely data about a diverse and complex intermodal transportation system spanning extreme terrain which is frequently subjected to adverse weather conditions.

The Vessel Tracking Subsystem will provide near real-time position reporting for the vessels in the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS). The system will also provide for limited e-mail communications between AMHS shore-based staff and all deployed vessels. The system will also transmit data from shipboard weather stations to the National Weather Service.

The Highway Conditions Subsystem will provide real-time reporting of highway conditions, road closures, and maintenance/construction activity. These subsystems will feed the 511 Alaska Travel in the Know depicting road conditions, roadway weather and ferry information generated into maps accessible on the Internet.

In December 2002, ADOT&PF joined the Condition Acquisition & Reporting System (CARS)/511 pooled fund to build a travel information system for Alaska travelers. CARS/511 is a consortium of states working together to build a state-of-the-art 511 system. CARS/511 member states share some capital and operating & maintenance (O&M) costs. CARS is a Web-based database and is used by internal personnel to enter travel advisories. The information is then automatically sent to the 511 telephone and the 511.Alaska.gov Web page for public use. In April 2003, ADOT&PF launched the CARS, the 511 telephone system, and 511.Alaska.gov.

A consultant hosts the Alaska CARS and 511 databases. ADOT&PF pays annual fees to the consultant for these services. Services are not very costly due to the pooled fund concept. The pooled fund consortium purchased their own call center to cut down on long term telephone charges. Alaska's long distance rate varied between 2.3 cents per minute and 3 cents per minute; this charge does not include overhead, phone transfers, hardware, software, etc.

See the table below for capital and annual O&M costs of the Alaska traveler information system.
 

511 Alaska Traveler Information System Components	Lifetime (years)	Capital Costs	O&M Costs 2004	O&M Costs 2005	O&M Costs 2006	Description
511 System	5	$899K				Full 511 deployment includes software, hardware, telephone, IVR, web page, integration of other data from NWS, RWIS, ferry tracking, driving conditions, roadwork, etc. Also includes additions such as private call center, Amber Alert, custom 511 Web page, custom 511 menu options, ferry tracking, NWS forecast integration, RWIS data integration, and custom internal software to input travel information (CARS). Membership fee also included. This is the total capital costs up until June 30, 2007.
Telephone Switch		$22K				This is the cost for having all the telco's in Alaska make the switch to 511. Not all telco's charged for this service fee. One time fee in 2003.
Anchorage Roads Addition to CARS-511		$198.1K				Costs to incorporate area Anchorage roads into the Alaska Travel Information System. See separate table below for cost breakout.
CARS Hosting	5		$13.7K	$11.1K	$10.5K	The contractor hosts Alaska CARS on their server in Portland, Oregon.
CARS Operations	5		$13.3K	$12.2K	$11.2K	Cost for contractor to keep up with ongoing operations of CARS & 511. Shared cost with other pooled fund states.
511.alaska.gov Hosting	5		$20K	$10K	$10K	The contractor hosts 511.Alaska.gov on their server in Portland, Oregon.
Road Condition Quick Entry Interface Hosting	5		$5K			The contractor hosts the add-on module for reporting winter weather condition reporting called “Quick Entry” module. It’s a easy to use tool that aides M&O personnel in entering winter driving conditions without having to access CARS.
CARS Software Maintenance	5		$16K	$16.3K	$15.7K	The contractor provides CARS software maintenance such as updates and fixes.
CARS-511 Host			$1.1K	$12.1K	$12K	The contractor host both the CARS & 511 server. This is our pooled fund share. (In 2005 & 2006 we included Road Condition Quick Entry interface hosting on this line.)
CARS-511 Operations			$3K	$4.9K	$4.6K	The contractor operates the Alaska CARS/511 server and software.
CARS-511 Software Maintenance			$1.2K	$1.9K	$1.8K	The contractor maintains the Alaska CARS/511 server and software.
511 Long Distance (Atlanta Call Center)	5		$12.2K	$9.1K	$10.2K	511 long distance charge. Shared cost with pooled fund states.
Voice Recognition Software	5		$15.6K	$5.6K	$5.1K	Bevocal is the voice recognition software. Shared cost with pooled fund states.
Atlanta Interactive Voice Response Pooled Fund		$49K				Capital funds to develop Atlanta call center.
Atlanta Interactive Voice Response Operations	5		$6.5K	$4.5K	$5.4K	Call center is based in Atlanta at the Bell South facility. The contractor provides ongoing M&O for the call center. Shared cost with pooled fund states.
Ferry Tracking GPS	3		$28.8K	$28.8K	$28.8K	Cost for ferry position reports; $7,200/quarter for nine ferries. The GPS tracking reports come from the ferries security alert system.
511 Data Archive System	5	$41.5				Working with third party vendor to develop 511 data archiving system to allow automated access to 511 historical data.
511/911 Dispatch	3			$55k	$55k	Partnered with Alaska State Troopers to create a 511/911 dispatch to help enter urgent travel advisories after normal work hours.
TOTAL		$1,209.6K	$136.4K	$171.5	$170.3K

As part of the 511 Alaska traveler information system project, the Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) in partnership with the ADOT&PF used ITS Integration Program funds to incorporate Anchorage area roads into the CARS/511 system. Initially, the statewide CARS/511 system only contained information on major routes. This project added the Anchorage roads and associated travel information. MOA personnel enter travel advisories which are then posted on the 511 system. Anchorage area construction events will be posted by the construction division. Total cost to add the Anchorage roads to CARS was $198,146 (see table below for cost breakout). This project was completed in August 2003.