Travel Midwest Site News

The TravelMidwest mobile app will no longer be supported. In its place, the TravelMidwest.com website has been upgraded to improve its functioning on mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets:

• A “Use my location” feature has been added to the maps and my travel preferences pages. On map pages, the “Use my location” feature will allow you to center the map on your device’s current position. You will be asked for permission to access your device’s GPS location. On the my travel preference page, the “Use my location” feature automatically populates the report locations with all expressways within a 5 mile radius of your device’s location.
• Several changes were made to the Trip Map pages to allow them to work on mobile devices. The trip information dialog can be shown or hidden by the user. The mile marker, congestion, average speed, incident severity, and construction severity columns are hidden on mobile devices. They are shown when the user taps on a row in the trip report table with a mobile device.
• Announcement pages (High Priority, Construction, News Items, Transit and Weather) layout has been improved for mobile devices. 
• The travel time report has been modified to work on mobile devices. The congestion indicator, average travel time, and length columns are hidden on mobile devices. The details for each travel time row can be retrieved on mobile devices by tapping on a row of the table. 
• The incident report has been modified to work on mobile devices. The description, mile marker, status, and source columns are hidden on mobile devices and can be viewed by tapping on a table row. 
• The construction report has been modified to work on mobile devices. The mile marker, severity, source, and description columns are hidden on small screens. The details for each construction report can be retrieved on small screens by tapping on a table row. 
• The detectors report has been modified to work on mobile devices. The occupancy, volume, and source columns are hidden on mobile devices. The details for each detector can be retrieved on mobile devices by tapping on a table row.
• The truckers report has been modified to work on mobile devices. The congestion, average travel time, and length columns of the Travel Time Watch Zones are hidden on mobile devices but can be viewed by tapping on a table row. The description, mile marker, status, and source columns on the Major Incidents table are likewise hidden on mobile devices. The mile marker, severity, source and description columns on the Major Constructions table are hidden on mobile devices. The filter announcements form width was modified to work on mobile devices. 
• The special event report has been modified to work on mobile devices. The mile marker, severity, source, and description columns are hidden on mobile devices and can be viewed by tapping on a table row. 
• The weather stations report has been modified to work on mobile devices. The precipitation and readings time columns are hidden on mobile devices and can be viewed by tapping on a table row.

As part of its effort to provide more valuable and concise real-time traveler information to the motoring public, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announces the availability of the Travel Midwest Alerts System (TMAS). The TMAS is a free service which provides email notifications for up to date traffic information on user-selected trips along the expressways in the Travel Midwest coverage area.  The TMAS replaces the less comprehensive Illinois Traffic Alert System (ITAS) legacy product that was initially deployed in 2006.

The TMAS provides users the capability to select one or more trips using the Travel Midwest Trip Report and then create an account to receive traffic information along that trip. The email format, the days and times on which the user receives alerts, and the type of traffic information for each trip are customizable. The user can also give a period during which alerts will not be sent (e.g., for a vacation) and a speed threshold so that alerts are sent only when the speed is below that value. Once a user has created an Alerts System account, trips and their alert preferences can be added, modified, or deleted at any time. The customized trip option provides a valuable enhancement for both regular commuters and the discretionary traveler.

For more detail on defining trips and registering for email alerts, see the Travel Midwest Trips and Alerts Help page.