About this app

Get the most current and relevant Pennsylvania traffic information on your smart phone without ever taking your eyes off the road or your hands off the wheel with 511PA, brought to you by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). 511PA provides real-time, hands-free traffic advisories for every PennDOT roadway in Pennsylvania, and for major roadways in neighboring states of NJ and WV, with more to come.

You simply turn on the application before you start your journey. 511PA uses your phone’s built-in GPS and the vast data in the PA, NJ and WV travel information system (go to the app's settings screen to enable non-PA advisories) to determine when you are approaching congestion, an accident scene or some other traffic disruption.

When there is an incident or slowdown nearby, 511PA broadcasts an advisory. There is nothing to read, nothing to click, nothing to scroll through. You just leave your phone in the center console or on the seat beside you and focus your attention on the road ahead.

By default, 511PA broadcasts advisories from within a 10-mile radius, but you have the option to reduce or expand the range to as little as one mile or as many as 500 miles. 511PA will automatically repeat advisories every 20 minutes while you remain within range of the incident, but you can change the setting to hear the advisories more or less frequently. You also can elect whether to hear advisories from all directions or just from the direction you’re traveling, and you have the option of filtering out different types of advisories by state or type of roadway.

The application gives you audio player controls for Play, Pause, Stop, Skip, and Replay All. These controls should not be used while operating your vehicle.

If you place or receive a phone call while a travel alert is playing and do not have a plan that allows simultaneous data and voice, the alert will pause, and will resume playing when the call has ended.

You don’t need to register to use the app. 511PA operates anonymously. We don’t receive or record any identifying information about you or your phone. By default, the app will report your device-determined speed and location to our servers. The data generated by collecting that information is useful. It can help improve our ability to provide real-time information about what is happening on our roadways. But if you would rather not participate, you will be able to opt out simply by clicking a radio button on the settings page whenever you launch the app.

The application is based on Information Logistics’ patent-pending "Open Microphone Platform," which is a queue-driven streaming technology platform used in combination with your phone's built-in GPS.

IMPORTANT – This application is intended to be launched while the user is not operating his or her motor vehicle. User agrees to use the Application responsibly and to avert any interaction with mobile devices while driving a motor vehicle. User understands and acknowledges that the Commonwealth Motor Vehicle Code states that ‘No driver shall operate a motor vehicle on a highway or traffic way in this Commonwealth while using an interactive wireless communications device to send, read, or write a text-based communication while the vehicle is in motion.'

New features

- Button freezing bug fix
- Permission description/reason updates

App Permissions

Allows an application to record audio.
Allows read only access to phone state, including the phone number of the device, current cellular network information, the status of any ongoing calls, and a list of any PhoneAccounts registered on the device.
Allows an application to write to external storage.
Allows an application to read from external storage.
Allows an application to modify global audio settings.
Allows access to the vibrator.
Allows using PowerManager WakeLocks to keep processor from sleeping or screen from dimming.
Allows applications to connect to paired bluetooth devices.
Allows applications to access information about Wi-Fi networks.
Allows applications to open network sockets.
Allows applications to access information about networks.
Allows an app to access approximate location.
Allows an app to access precise location.
Allows applications to discover and pair bluetooth devices.
Allows applications to change network connectivity state.
Allows an application to receive the ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED that is broadcast after the system finishes booting.