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My Florida 511
What are My Florida 511 Personalized Services?
My Florida 511 Personalized Services use push technology to deliver you real-time roadway updates when you want them without having to call or visit 511 on the Web. When registering for My Florida 511 free personalized services, you can customize your frequently traveled routes. You can also choose the time of day and day of the week you'd like to receive roadway updates and the type or severity of incident you want. My Florida 511 will then send you a text, e-mail or call you based on your customized profile. Standard cell phone minutes and text message charges may apply.
Personalized services available:
Free Customized Routes
- Program routes using roads covered by 511
- Once you dial 511, you receive travel information regarding your customized routes first
- You can ask for routes by name when calling 511
Free Personalized Alerts
- 511 will alert you about unusual roadway conditions
- Program alerts by time, day and severity of conditions
- Receive alerts by e-mail, text message and/or a phone call (cell phone minutes and/or text message charges may apply)
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What do I do if I forget my personalized route names?
While in the My Florida 511 portion of the phone call, simply ask for "help" and the system will read your list of personalized routes. This is also a good way to learn how the 511 system pronounces your route names, so that 511 can understand you when you ask for certain routes.
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How do I register for My Florida 511?
New users must create an account with My Florida 511 to customize routes or receive alerts. When you first access the site, you will be asked to enter the following information:
- Username - A unique name which you will use to log onto My Florida 511. A username can be between one (1) and 30 characters long, with no punctuation or symbols. Your username is case sensitive.
- Password (and confirmation) - You need a password to access your account online. The password must be between four (4) and eight (8) characters long, and may consist only of letters and/or numbers. Passwords are case sensitive. Since My Florida 511 uses Caller ID technology to identify you when you call, you will not need your password when you call.
- Primary E-mail Address (and confirmation) - My Florida 511 will send your password to your primary e-mail address in case you forget it. We will not send you unsolicited e-mails. See our Privacy Policy for more information. If you sign up for e-mail alerts, they will, by default, be sent to this address.
- Secondary E-mail Address (and confirmation) - You may enter a secondary e-mail address where you may receive e-mail alerts instead of, or in addition to, your primary address.
- Primary Phone (and confirmation) - Register the phone number from which you will call 511 most often. This phone must have outgoing Caller ID information for the system to recognize you. Type in the entire number, including area code, using no parentheses, dashes or spaces. For example - 5551230987.
- Secondary Phone Number - You can enter an alternate number from which you may occasionally call 511. The primary number might be your cell phone number and the secondary your home or office phone. Using an office phone number that is not a direct line may not work.
- Language Preference - The My Florida 511 phone and Web system, including your personalized routes and alerts, are available in both English and Spanish.
- Secret Question And Answer - This is the question My Florida 511 will ask you in case you forget your password. You will need to answer this question correctly before the system will send a message to your primary e-mail address containing a new password. The secret question helps prevent others from resetting your password without permission.
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What are the costs associated with My Florida 511?
My Florida 511 is a free resource of FDOT. There is no charge to call 511, use FL511.com or My Florida 511 Personalized Services, though cell phone minutes and/or text message charges may apply.
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Will I have to enter this information every time I log in to My Florida 511?
No. Once you've created your account, you only need your username and password to access the system. You can edit or update your password and information anytime you log in. You can also check the "remember me" box to stay logged in until you manually log out.
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Why do I need to provide a phone number?
Once you create a free custom profile with My Florida 511 Personalized Services, you will hear information about your customized routes first every time you call 511. The system uses Caller ID technology to recognize registered callers. Your custom profiles will be associated with your primary (and secondary, if you register one) phone number(s). Your profiles will only be available from the phone number(s) you register.
If you have Caller ID permanently blocked on either of your registered phone numbers or are calling from an office phone on a private branch exchange (PBX) system, My Florida 511 may not recognize you and will be unable to give your custom profiles.
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Routes are custom trips you create on My Florida 511. They include the segments -- predetermined segments of 511-covered roads -- of routes you travel going to or from a particular location. When you dial 511, the system will recognize your registered phone number and give you the option of hearing about traffic conditions along your routes first. When creating a route, choose:
- Name - My Florida 511 gives you a choice from 10 different pre-named routes. You may also create your own route names using letters, numbers, symbols and spaces.
- Roadway - Choose the roadway on which your route begins.
- Start and End Points - Designated points closest to where you will enter and exit the selected roadway while driving your route.
- Save Segment - Click "save segment" to add the segment to your route. If you are done with your route, click "Create Route." Or you may continue to add additional roadways and segment to your route in the same way you added the first.
Only North American English words will be recognized when used as route names. Other words may be pronounced using common North American English or Spanish phonetics or will be spelled out. To use a custom-named profile, you must pronounce the name in the same way that the system does.
While connected to My Florida 511, you can say, "help" to hear a list of your available standard and custom-named profiles. This list will allow you to hear how My Florida 511 pronounces your custom route names.
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How do I access my routes when I call 511?
When you dial 511, Caller ID technology will recognize your phone number and access your routes. You will be prompted to say the name of the route for which you want traffic information.
If you choose to create a custom-named route, you will have to assign it a name. My Florida 511 will recognize the pronunciation of the name in the most common North American English phonetics. Names should be entered in North American English using only standard letters (alphabetic) and spaces. The names are not case sensitive.
You can access a list of your custom-named routes anytime when you call 511 by saying, "help." My Florida 511 will narrate a list of your saved routes. To make using the custom-named routes easier, listen to how My Florida 511 pronounces the names so you can speak the route name in a way the system with recognize them.
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What information will My Florida 511 give me about routes?
My Florida 511 will give you the same information on your routes as the regular 511 system gives on individual route segment, but by customizing your routes you will have more immediate access to the information that affects your travel when you call 511. The information includes travel times, incidents and crashes, construction, lane closures and severe weather affecting traffic.
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What should I do if I want information that is not included in any of my routes?
You can bypass your customized profile and go directly to the Statewide Florida 511 system by saying "Florida's 511" at any time.
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Alerts can be sent to you via e-mail, text message or phone call to let you know when an incident affects your customized routes. There are three types of alerts you can sign up for:
- Region & Roadway Alerts - Alerts reporting incidents affecting the flow of traffic within a certain Florida region (Panhandle, Northeast Florida, Central Florida, Tampa Bay, Southwest Florida or Southeast Florida) or along the roadway you choose
- Route Alerts - Alerts reporting incidents along any of your My Florida 511 personalized routes
- Floodgate Alerts - Alerts announcing roadway, regional and statewide emergencies -- such as wildfires, hurricanes, AMBER Alerts, Silver Alerts or LEO Alerts -- within a selected region of Florida
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How can I customize an alert?
When you create an alert, you'll need to specify the following information:
- Severity - Select the level of severity you want an incident to attain before you are alerted. Severe incidents have caused lanes to be blocked for more than two hours, or have caused total road blockage on the reported road. Moderate incidents have blocked one or more lanes for between half an hour andtwo hours. Minor incidents have blocked one or more lanes for less than half an hour. Incidents which 511 doesn't have enough information to categorize yet are marked as unknown.
- Event Type - This selects what type of alerts you wish to receive: congestion, crashes, construction, severe weather or special events. This only applies to regional, route or roadway alerts.
- Alert Days - You must select which day or days of the week you wish to receive this alert.
- Start and End Times - Select what time of day you would like to start and stop receiving this alert. Any alerts of the appropriate type that are active between the start and end times will be sent to you. Any applicable alert active at your designated start time will be sent to you.
- Delivery Type - You can receive an alert via e-mail, text message or phone call. Standard text message charges and cell phone minutes may apply.
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Why can't I sign in to My Florida 511?
The most common reason for not being able to sign in to My Florida 511 is that your browser is not set to accept cookies. A cookie is a small text file that may be used, for example, to collect information about Web site activity.
Most Web browsers allow you to control cookies, including whether or not to accept them and how to remove them. The "Help" menu on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or how to disable cookies altogether. However, cookies allow you to take full advantage of some of the Web site features.
You must leave cookies turned on to sign in and use My Florida 511. If cookies are turned on in your browser and you are still unable to sign in, contact technical support at fl511@dot.state.fl.us.
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How do I delete my account?
To delete your My Florida 511 account and discontinue use of personalized service, click on the "Edit Account" link and then the "Delete" button. You will be asked to confirm the deletion before the account is removed from our system. You will still be able to use the Statewide 511 system, but won't get information on custom profiles or receive alerts.
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What do I do if I can't access my account to change or delete it?
If you cannot access your My Florida 511 Web account because you have forgotten both your password and secret answer, simply e-mail the My Florida 511 help desk at fl511@dot.state.fl.us. Since we do not have access to your confidential password and secret question and answer, we will have to delete the existing account. You will then need to create a new account to begin or continue using My Florida 511.
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What if I have more questions?
I have an Internet phone (Voice Over IP/VoIP). Will I be able to access My Florida 511?
Some Internet telephony (VoIP) providers are compatible with 511. The service uses the address you register with the provider (primarily used to identify your location for 911 or E911). When you call 511, your provider will route the call to 511.
Not all VoIP carriers are able to identify your registered location to 511 yet. Vonage is the first VoIP carrier to do so, and cable companies which provide VoIP (or digital phone) may also provide this service.
If you are able to access 511 in Florida from your VoIP phone, you will be able to use My Florida 511 from that phone as well. Since My Florida 511 recognizes you by your registered phone number, once you're connected to Florida's 511, you will have the option to hear your customized routes first.
To see if your provider is compatible, dial 511 from your VoIP phone and see if it connects you to the Statewide Florida 511 system. If it does, you will be able to access the My Florida 511 features from that phone. You can also contact your VoIP provider and ask if their service is compatible with 511.
If you cannot access 511 from you VoIP phone, contact the 511 help desk at fl511@dot.state.fl.us and tell us which service provider you use. This information will help us to get all VoIP carriers to work with 511.
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My cell phone does not have a Florida area code. Can I access Florida's 511 and My Florida 511?
Yes. When you call 511 from a cell phone, the system identifies you by the location of the cell tower or switch which first picks up your call. If you are in Florida during your call, you will most likely be connected to Florida's 511. If you're calling 511 from near a boarder with another state, you may get connected to the other state's 511 system. If this happens, simply request a transfer to Florida's 511.
The My Florida 511 system then uses Caller ID technology to identify you and access your custom profiles. If you have not set up an account, you will simply be connected to 511.
Not all cellular carriers provide Caller ID information from their customers. If your Caller ID information does not show up on another phone when you call, you will not be able to use My Florida 511. You can still use Florida's 511.
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I want to call from my office but the system doesn't recognize me or gives me the wrong routes. What's going on?
Many offices use Private Branch Exchange (PBX) phone systems. Typically, when a call is placed from a phone on a PBX system, Caller ID registers the system's main phone number or the first available outside line instead of the direct phone number for the individual. Users who register a phone number on a PBX system may be unable to access My Florida 511, or may access the account of another user who registered the main number.
Since two users cannot register the same primary or secondary phone numbers, co-workers should not register their office's main number as this could cause confusion.
To test whether your office phone will work with My Florida 511, call your cell phone or another phone equipped with Caller ID and note what number appears on Caller ID. If it is your direct line, your office phone number should work with My Florida 511. If not, we recommend you not register your office phone and instead use a cell phone or home phone number.
Some companies have their Caller ID permanently blocked. If your company is one of them, My Florida 511 will not recognize you when you call from your work phone due to the fact that Caller ID will show the call as either "unknown" or "restricted."
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