Date:
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Contact:
Laura Merritt, WSDOT Communications, (360) 705-7074 (Olympia)
Sarah Schroder, Information Technology, (360) 705-7762 (Tumwater)
OLYMPIA – WSDOT is improving its network to allow more people to access the WSDOT Web site simultaneously. This year’s Thanksgiving holiday weekend and subsequent snow storm created record-breaking site usage and the demand was so high some people could not get through to view traffic cameras, flow data, travel alerts and weather information.
These improvements will require WSDOT to disrupt internet service twice between10 p.m., Friday, Dec. 8, and 4 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 9. Each service disruption will last 15-minutes each.
“We chose this time to do the work to minimize the Web site service disruption,” said Randy Baker, WSDOT Network Manager. “The weather is forecasted to be mild and usage stats show fewer people access the site during these hours,” he added.
On Sunday, Nov. 26, the WSDOT Web site (www.wsdot.wa.gov) served up more than 14 million page views to people via the Internet. This broke the previous record of 12 million page views on Jan. 6, 2004.
The following Monday and Tuesday also smashed the previous record, but couldn't top Sunday's total because the overloaded network prevented many requests from reaching Web servers during peak hours.
The WSDOT Web site normally serves up an average of four million page views per day yet the month of November has averaged seven million page views per day. The year-to-date total number of page views served up is more than 1.2 billion.
These upgrades will enhance Web site performance but additional funding is needed to meet peak use and the growing demand of this important public safety service.
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Drivers can now get real time traffic and weather information by dialing 5-1-1 from most phones. This new traveler information system builds upon the highly successful Washington State Highway hotline that managed 4.6 million calls each year. Callers can also use 5-1-1 to get statewide construction, mountain pass conditions, and state ferry system information, as well as toll free numbers for passenger rail and airlines. TTY users can call 1-800-833-6388.
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