Illinois tollway to deliver traffic info via Twitter

Just in time for Thanksgiving travel, motorists on the Illinois Tollway can sign up for travel information via Twitter, the agency announced today.

Tollway Trip Tweets are intended to provide motorists with information about roadway conditions as incidents occur and alert them to unexpected congestion, the tollway said.

Tollway customers can "follow" each of the four tollways – the Tri-State Tollway (Interstate 94/294/80), Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90), Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) and the Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355) – to receive real-time roadway incident information.

The tollway is warning, however, that Tollway Trip Tweets are an informational service that should be used by customers only when they are not operating a vehicle, and that it is against the law to email, text or tweet while driving in Illinois.

"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," tollway Executive Director Kristi Lafleur said in a press release.

According to the tollway, 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.

As many as three messages per incident will be sent via Twitter, with the final being the conclusion and clearing of the incident from the roadway.

To follow, customers can go to the tollway’s website illinoistollway.com and click on the Tollway Trip Tweets “Follow Us” button. Or, visit twitter.com to set up an account. Then follow Tollway Trip 90 (@I_90_Tollway), Tollway Trip 94/294 (@94_294_Tollway), Tollway Trip 88 (@I_88_Tollway), or Tollway Trip 355 (@I_355_Tollway).

Users can follow all four tollways or just the ones that interest them.

According to the tollway, Tollway Trip Tweets are issued automatically from the agency's Traffic Operations Center, which is staffed daily from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The system uses more than 200 closed-circuit television cameras and 127 solar-powered remote traffic monitoring sensors to provide information about congestion, incidents, road work and lane closures.

Real-time dispatch messages are currently emailed to tollway employees, traffic operations and maintenance personnel, emergency and enforcement agencies and the news media. Those messages will be communicated via Twitter directly to tollway users, the agency said.