Community Corner

Holiday Travel 2012: Tollway Tweets the Traffic

The Illinois Tollway has created accounts on Twitter, which will offer real-time information on incidents and traffic congestion.

Once upon a time tweeting was something only birds could do. Now, tweeting is the way to find out information and stay up to date on what is happening anywhere in the world.

With the increased use of social media and cell/smart phones, the Illinois Tollway is taking to Twitter and tweeting to provide drivers with information for each of the four tollways, the Tri-State, Jane Adams Memorial, Reagan Memorial and Veterans Memorial tollways.

Travelers have the option of following each of the tollways on Twitter and receiving real-time roadway incident information, according to the Illinois Tollway.

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“The Illinois Tollway is committed to providing valuable information to meet our customers’ needs, especially during one of the busiest travel holidays of the year,” Illinois Tollway Executive Director Kristi Lafleur said in a news release. “Tollway Trip Tweets will help us connect with our customers in a new way and, hopefully, give them the information they need to be able to plan their trips based on what’s happening on the road.”

The tweets will provide information on roadway conditions as incidents occur, providing updates on congestion, according to the tollway.

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Tweets will include real-time information about the type of incident, the location by nearest crossroad and milepost and the subsequent impact on traffic, such as lane closures, the Illinois Tollway said. As many as three messages for each incident will be sent using Twitter, with the final tweet being the conclusion and clearing of the incident from the roadway.

Tollway Trip Tweets are issued automatically from the agency’s Traffic Operations Center – Traffic and Incident Management System (TIMS), which is staffed daily from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. 

To follow Tollway Trip Tweets, visit the Tollway’s website and click on the Tollway Trip Tweets “Follow Us” button. Or visit www.twitter.com to set up an account. Then follow:


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