So here we are, in early 2022, and you may have already blown off your New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, get more sleep and be more patient with your in-laws.

OK, you tried. A little. It’s not like it’s life or death or anything.

But ADOT wants to suggest a few resolutions that actually could save your life. With a little help from some of our past traffic safety messages, we urge you to adopt the following resolutions:  

Drive slower, live longer. Slow down. Did you know that speeding is the most common driver violation related to crashes and, historically, is a factor in about a third of all traffic fatalities each year? The faster you go, the less control you have over your vehicle and the less time you have to react to the other guy’s driving error. If not for yourself, then slow down for your loved ones.

Buckle up, buttercup. Wear seatbelts. This simple habit, so easy to acquire with just a little practice, is a proven life safer, often meaning the difference between life and death in a crash. So make it a practice to get in your car, put on your seatbelt, adjust your sunglasses and then start your car.

Designated drivers make the best dates. Don't drive drunk. Impaired driving is a leading factor in crash fatalities. If you know you're going to drink alcohol, designate a driver or make alternative plans to get home safely.

Phone down, eyes up. Don’t text and drive.  It’s against the law to text while driving. It doesn’t matter if you’re making up with a loved one or getting a job offer. None of it matters if you’re not around. 

Move Over when you see flashing lights. If you can do so safely, shift over one lane when you see responders assisting a vehicle on the shoulder of a highway. It's not only the law, but this gives them a safe place to work.  

Don’t dally after a minor crash. It’s the law. If you are in a fender bender with no injuries, the most crucial thing to remember is simple: Get out of the travel lanes. Once your car is safely out of harm's way you can wait for a tow truck or law enforcement to arrive.

Download the free ADOT Alerts and AZ511 apps. To get alerts about unexpected events on your route, and to check traffic conditions before you head out, you’ll want to download these apps here. They will save you time and headaches.

National App Day is Dec. 11, which gives us the perfect opportunity to remind you about ADOT’s apps and their roles in making our lives easier.

According to its description, National App Day “encourages us to explore all the possibilities that apps afford us.” ADOT's apps provide timely information so that motorists can navigate Arizona’s highways safely and efficiently, without worry of driving into an unplanned highway closure.

The ADOT Alerts, AZ511, Broadway Curve and Virgin River Bridge apps are highway travel apps. The fifth app is the Arizona Mobile ID app, which is a digital driver license or state ID card in your smartphone.  

All of these apps are free and can be downloaded from Google Play or the App Store.

Here's a brief overview of each app:

ADOT Alerts app

This is the app to get to avoid a driivng into an unplanned traffic jam. ADOT Alerts provides real-time information about unplanned, major events so that you can make informed decisions. This helps motorists avoid lengthy delays or potentially dangerous situations. The app sends alerts directly to your smart phone concerning major crashes, serious weather incidents and other unplanned unexpected events occuring near your location.

Click here for more information.

AZ511 app

The AZ511 app works in conjunction with AZ511.gov, the Arizona Traveler Information website, to provide the latest information on conditions along the state highway system. It provides information about crashes, severe weather, highway or lane closures, estimated route speeds, and route alternatives. It also offers views from highway cameras, which users to view real-time traffic conditions. Users can also save routes and receive alerts when conditions change.

Click here for more information.

Broadway Curve app

The app provides updates and information about the I-10 Broadway Curve Improvement Project. Users can learn about closures and restrictions, real-time traffic information, detour routes and more. You can also opt-in to receive push notifications about unplanned traffic issues that suddenly arise.

Click here for more information.

Virgin River Bridge app

The app helps drivers stay updated on traffic restrictions for the Virgin River Bridge #1 Replacement project in northwest Arizona. In addition to lane restrictions or closures, motorists will receive updates on width and weight restrictions. And drivers of oversize vehicles are informed about detours using US 93, Nevada State Route 319 and Utah State Route 56.

Click here for more information.

Arizona Mobile ID app

The Arizona Mobile ID (mID) is a voluntary, secure, digitized version of your MVD-issued driver license or ID card that you carry in an app on your smartphone. Everything else is in your phone -- credit cards, house keys, car keys, event tickets, etc. -- and now your ID can be, too. Because mID is a new technology, you should continue to carry your physical ID with you because not all entities are able to verify mobile ID yet. MVD urges people to always carry their physical ID when driving so it can be used in interactions with law enforcement during traffic stops or incidents.

MVD will continue to issue physical, plastic credentials and use of mID is voluntary.

Click here for details about this new feature.

For more ADOT reading about apps, check these out blogs and releases: 

• Smartphone app helps with I-15 Virgin River Bridge project traffic
• Faceoff: AZ511 versus ADOT Alerts apps
• AZ511 app a habit worth picking up 

Because ADOT apps can change our lives every day, we think it appropriate to celebrate them all year, not just National App Day.

On June 4, two wildfires ignited about 60 miles east of Phoenix and forced the closure of highways in the Globe area.

News was happening quickly and additional highways were closed to allow firefighters to battle a blaze that has been as big as 165,000 acres. 

So, how were you, the motorist, supposed to know State Route 77, US 70, State Route 170 and parts of US 60 were closed because of the fire? What if, for example, you were already on your way to a destination in the now-inaccessible fire zone? 

Fortunately, the Arizona Department of Transportation offers you a number of free-of-charge options to inform you about highway conditions. 

1. ADOT Alerts app and @ArizonaDOT on Twitter: 

If you download the ADOT Alerts app, you will receive emergency alerts on your cellphone about closures such as those caused by the Telegraph Fire. 

Do you follow us on Twitter @ArizonaDOT? Twitter provides immediate information about significant condition shifts. You can even ask questions and get a quick response. But, don’t turn to Twitter while driving; either pull off the highway or ask a passenger to check it for you. 

2. Dynamic Message Signs 

If you forgot your phone, or it needs a charge, you can always look up and read ADOT’s overhead message boards. These large signs provide emergency messages as well as safety information and travel times. With 18-inch-long, illuminated characters, it should be easy to see a sign warning you miles in advance that a highway is blocked.

3. The Arizona Traveler Information System: Call 511, download the AZ 511 App and visit the AZ511.gov website.

Did you know we have a phone number you can call to check road conditions? Calling 511 will give you immediate information about unplanned crashes or closures. It also has a host of additional uses, including providing directions and information about parks while also allowing you to report those littering on the highway. 

Be in the know before you go and check your AZ 511 App or the AZ511.gov website. You will find information about closures, crashes, construction, plot a route or be informed there’s a problem on your route. Among the array of tools at your fingertips is the camera icon, which allows you to view ADOT's network of cameras across the state.  

The app is the smartphone version of the website. Before you head out, check your route with one of these tools. 

4. Facebook and azdot.gov

Facebook provides news about sudden highway changes as well as features stories, photo layouts and in-depth articles about a variety of ADOT topics. We suggest checking our Facebook page when you are not behind the wheel of a car. 

For expanded information about closures, constructions, detailed looks at major news and projects, read our news stories and blogs on azdot.gov. 

5. Email updates

For information about construction and other projects sent right to your inbox, subscribe to email notifications. You will find out about upcoming road closures and other planned events.

So, in short, if you are already on the road, the ADOT Alerts app, AZ 511 app, Twitter and overhead message boards will alert you to problems. Before you head out, check out AZ511.gov or call 511. And for deeper dives about closures and other topics, read azdot.gov. If you want to know about upcoming projects, subscribe to email updates at azdot.gov/Subscribe.

Over the past few years, ADOT has made a couple of travel apps available to drivers. If you’ve searched for “ADOT” in your app store and wondered the difference between the AZ 511 and ADOT Alerts app, we have the answer!

AZ 511 app

Both are apps most drivers will want to have on their phone. The AZ 511 app is one you’ll open more regularly and should be checked before you leave home. The ADOT Alerts app is a “set it and forget it” type of app.

When you get in your car, the AZ 511 app will show you routing options based on travel time before you leave your driveway. You simply enter a destination and it displays travel times and route options for both everyday and one-time trips. In hands-free mode, you’ll get verbal notifications of upcoming incidents or roadwork as you drive.  

ADOT Alerts app

The ADOT Alerts app is for unplanned, high-impact incidents along the state highway system. These might include closures due to crashes or long backups on an interstate because of a high volume of traffic. Notifications of incidents are based on your vehicle’s location at the time of the incident. You can also set up a “watched location” for areas where you always want to receive notifications.

An earlier blog post will give you more in-depth look at the AZ 511 app and this blog post gives you some statistics about the ADOT Alerts app and how it was used during a winter storm. You can also visit this webpage to get links to both apps. 

Those on my team at the Arizona Department of Transportation know I am hesitant to brag on our success as a group of communicators. It's not that I'm not proud of our achievements or excited at the recognition we receive. It's just, for me, our role is to promote and explain what ADOT does and highlight the people who make it happen. It's never about us.

But that is a disservice to the accomplishments of the ADOT Communications team.

ADOT is a member of the Committee on Transportation Communications of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Yeah, that's a mouthful – we just call it TransComm. It's here where states compete in a peer-reviewed skills contest, with more than one hundred annual entries stretching from video, public involvement, events and other public relations tactics supporting transportation communication across the U.S.

This year, we brought home four TransComm awards: Best News Release (introduction of the innovative wrong-way driver detection system), Best Mobile App (ADOT Alerts), Best Internal Blog (the employee-focused "Inside Lane Online") and an individual award for Video Producer John Dougherty. This isn't a brag list – it's an illustration of the great work a team can accomplish when it's focused on customer needs/interests, service to the community, and working to always make the next project better than the last.

We are fortunate to have the encouragement of ADOT leadership and the resources required to support the mission of the agency. Across the state, we are working harder to collaborate with the community, provide graphics and maps and fliers that make sense and are easy to read, generate news coverage to help explain the what and why of our projects, encourage drivers to think about safety, and engage our employees in a culture of continuous improvement. And that's just a slice of what we do and where we find success. And here's the best part: We are not alone in this mission. Communicators at state transportation departments across the nation are working on these same public relations objectives.

The spirit of service is strong within ADOT Communications. That's what motivates us, and it is what helps us support an agency on a continual rise. Bringing home "hardware" is great but, for me, it only validates my commitment to serving the people of Arizona.

By David Rookhuyzen / ADOT Communications

We launched our ADOT Alerts App in 2017 to keep drivers as informed as possible about highway closures on their routes so they can plan accordingly. Thousands more Arizona drivers showed they valued that technology last week as a heavy winter storm dumped snow and rain across the state.

Last week, 6,000 people downloaded the free app, which is available for iOS and Android at ADOTAlerts.com. For the entire month of February, 8,000 people came on board, compared to average increases of 2,500 users per month in 2018.

During the storm, we constantly updated an alert to reflect which highways were closed due to winter weather and which had reopened after our crews cleared snow and ice.

Using geofences, the ADOT Alerts App sends notifications to smartphones when a nearby state highway has an unplanned closure due to an event such as a crash and or heavy weather, when a construction project will close a major freeway for an extended period and when a major route such as Interstate 17 north of the Valley is seeing extreme delays.

The app does not require a user to register or log in to use. You can learn more about it on our website.

By Steve Elliott / ADOT Communications

Late Monday night, a crash closed westbound lanes of the Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway in Tempe. In addition to sharing that information in other ways, including ADOT Twitter, a public information officer sent an alert so those with the ADOT Alerts smartphone app would get the information in the area most directly affected by the closure – mostly along Loop 202 but also along stretches of the Loop 101 Pima and Price freeways.

I-17 Alert

Last Thursday, with afternoon rush hour starting, a crash closed northbound lanes of I-17 near Cordes Junction. The alert in this case went to a much wider area, including most of the Valley as well as Prescott, the Verde Valley and even Flagstaff.

So why do some alerts go to much wider areas and some to narrower areas? And why does a crash causing a backup during rush hour in the Valley not result in an alert while an off-hours closure leads to an alert?

I'll share some guidelines we're using as well as ways you can customize the app so you receive alerts for areas you aren't in and know how to adjust hours when your phone won't ping with an alert. But in the interest of transparency, I'll start by saying that every highway closure and traffic tie-up is different and those who make the ADOT Alerts app work, including yours truly, are learning and making improvements as we go. Starting off, we erred toward sending alerts to very large areas. Now, many alerts are going to much more targeted areas.

Let's start with closures versus traffic backups. In general, we use the ADOT Alerts app when a major highway is closed, when a major highway has a backup that's expected to persist and when a lesser-used highway has an unplanned closure in both directions that's expected to last for quite some time. We consider that sonar ping that comes with each alert a very big deal, so we're reserving it for the right situations and the right places, as defined by geofences that will vary by situation.

If a heavily used highway such as I-17 between Phoenix and Flagstaff or I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson is closed or has a major backup that's expected to persist, we will alert a large area, including places on expected alternate routes.

If a freeway in the Phoenix area is closed during rush hour, we will alert a very large area of the Valley because many people are affected. Outside of rush hour, if a freeway in the Phoenix area closes or has major delays that are expected to persist, we'll generally send the alert to a narrower area aligned with freeways.

If a lesser-used highway has an unplanned closure that's expected to be extended, we'll have a focused alert for that area, aiming to include decision points where drivers can take alternate routes. Here's the geofence map and alert text for a recent closure of State Route 95 in both directions between Quartzsite and Parker. Our goal in this situation: telling drivers that SR 72 was an alternate route.

Quartzsite Alert

The highlighted area in the map that comes with an alert (and appears when we post the alert to ADOT's Facebook page) shows the geofence we've set for the alert rather than the location or extent of the closure or other situation. The headlines and text with alerts provide locations and other critical information, so it's important to check those when you or a passenger can do so safely.

Now, if you want alerts for a particular area, even if you might not be within the geofence we create for an alert, hit Settings at lower right of the home screen and then Watched Locations. You can define locations there.

The app also has quiet hours defaulting to 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. You can change those (Settings > Alert Settings) so you only get pings during the hours you wish. You'll still get alerts without the sound during quiet hours.

The app supplements our current ways of communicating traffic conditions, especially ADOT's widely followed Twitter account, @ArizonaDOT,as well as ADOT's Facebook page at facebook.com/AZDOT. Leading into affected areas, we also share critical information via overhead message boards.

We're excited about the ADOT Alerts app hope you'll consider downloading it for iOS or Android by visiting ADOT Alerts. Like everything else we do at ADOT, we're committed to making the ADOT Alerts app as valuable as it can be for our customers.

You can learn more about the ADOT Alerts app in the video below.

By John Halikowski / ADOT Director

The Arizona Department of Transportation has developed an app that is available now on mobile devices and is free. “ADOT Alerts” will help you avoid unplanned and lengthy travel delays, and other serious highway hazards like wrong-way drivers.

I am excited our ADOT Alerts app will help us quickly get critical information directly to motorists. With that information, travelers can make a decision to take a different route or stop somewhere for a bite to eat or stay where they’re at, and can avoid sitting in a long backup because of an unplanned event like a serious crash that closes a highway. ADOT Alerts will also help motorists know about public safety issues, like wrong-way vehicles or severe weather affecting state highways.

ADOT Alerts uses geofencing technology to send alerts to mobile devices in affected areas and in advance of roadway decision points, giving travelers plenty of time to choose an alternative route or delay their travel plans. All alerts are sent by a public information officer at ADOT’s Traffic Operations Center to ensure the alerts are accurate, critical in nature and appropriately targeted to a geographic area.

The app can be downloaded free of charge in Apple’s App Store and Google Play. Search for “ADOT Alerts” in the respective app store. Users do not need to sign up, register or create a log-in to use the app; you remain 100 percent anonymous.

The introduction of the ADOT Alerts app is just one more way ADOT is working to promote highway safety and reduce frustrations for drivers. I want drivers to be informed about issues, knowledgeable about options, and up-to-date on hazards. ADOT is indeed making transportation personal.

Go to ADOTAlerts.com for more information.

This post originally appeared on ADOT Director John Halikowski's
LinkedIn page. He has led the agency since 2009.

By Caroline Carpenter / ADOT Communications

So you’ve downloaded the ADOT Alerts app and been entered for a Dutch Bros. gift card, but you’re not sure if you’re receiving alerts or you’ve missed an alert. Below are five tips to customize the app to your needs.

1. Make sure you’ve enabled location services on the app. We use geofencing to send the alerts to a targeted area. Enabling location services will ensure you get alerts meant for your location. The app can be especially helpful when you’re driving across the state and want to avoid major traffic incidents.

2. In the app settings, enable push notifications. This will allow you to receive notifications without having to open up the app. You’ll receive updates on unplanned major traffic incidents on your cellphone without having to do anything!

3. If you want to receive updates on additional locations, there is a setting called “watched locations." It will allow you to receive alerts for specific locations in addition to your current location. You can add location notifications under “settings” in the ADOT app.

4. If you think the app hasn’t notified of you of an alert, there are a couple of things you can do. First go into settings and send yourself a test alert under “verify system functionality.” If you still think something is wrong, you may contact the ADOT app developer via email in the settings tab.

5. Make sure you set preferences in the ADOT app alert settings. You can decide if you want quiet hours, what sound you’d like to hear when an alert is issued and what type of alerts you’re interested in receiving.

Visit ADOTAlerts.com for more tips and info about the app and links to download it.