On January first, two articles appeared: one in South Florida and the other in Lousiana.  Both of these articles had the same message: 511 Doesn't Work If People Don't Know It Is There.

In South Florida, an initial effort by SmartRoute Systems led to a 511 implementation that people didn't want to use once they found it.  In this way it was a blessing that a majority of commuters didn't even know the 511 system existed. 

Harold writer Larry Lebowitz says:

Yet a recent marketing survey conducted for the state Department of Transportation indicates that more than nine out of 10 South Floridians said they knew little or nothing about the telephone and Internet traffic information service. That high percentage also holds true for 511 systems serving Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville.

In New Orleans, cameras have been on the web for quite some time, yet recent commuters stuck in gridlock there seemed unaware:

Cold temperatures iced over a wet portion of Interstate 10 the morning of Dec. 15, between Bonnabel Boulevard and the 17th Street Canal, resulting in a multi-car pile up before rush hour.

Motorists stuck in the gridlock probably did not realize they could have seen the traffic snare before getting on the highway.

One of the issues here is that it's hard to get motorists to integrate the use of ATIS in their daily commute.   Some don't know, but they also aren't making an effort to find out.

If ATIS adds a new task to their day, they will often avoid it.  We are often heartened by the people who bookmark web pages and program in 511 on their cell phones, but these people are not the norm.

I believe that the future of ATIS is to integrate it with other applications that users already have.  This is easy to do, by providing subscription services to specific data streams.  The user, through RSS or XML subscriptions, can then place their traffic information on their desktop, in pop up windows, or in other applications that allow them.

Modern web usage and web design focus on providing widgets that allow people to consolidate their attention.  We have to stop assuming that traffic data is so interesting that people will seek us out.  Increasingly, they will see having to go to our single-function sites as a distraction.

When I ask computer-savvy people why they don't use the ATIS systems we build, invariably they say, "Traffic here always sucks, it doesn't make sense for me to spend five minutes verifying what I already know."  But if I ask them, "What if you just received the information without having to go looking for it."  That they like.