Interchange January 2022
Vol. 50, Iss. 1
Want Road Conditions?
Photo: Adobe Stock
Just ask Alexa
The “Traveler Information Skill” application allows Alexa to access current conditions By Mark Horan An application known as the “Traveler Information Skill” has been developed to provide the public with Wyoming road conditions through Amazon Alexa devices. Through a partnership between the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) and Trihydro, an environmental and engineering consulting firm headquartered in Laramie, the public can now use the Traveler Information Skill through any Alexa-enabled technology such as the Echo and Echo Dot. In addition, several car companies such as GMC and Hyundai have integrated Alexa into many of their new models, so travelers can use the information skill to access current road conditions while driving. Once enabled, the Alexa skill pulls travel information messaging from WYDOT’s Transportation Management Center (TMC) database. This means that the same road
information that WYDOT puts out on its 511 website and phone app, such as road closures, winter conditions and road construction, is now available to access hands-free through Alexa. “Alexa is widely used by a lot of people so incorporating WYDOT data into that line of products seemed like a logical first step, but the information can be shared with anyone,” said Shane Zumpf, who leads up Trihydro’s Technology Services and Solutions Business Unit. He noted that Trihydro is currently developing similar skill sets for other platforms. “The Alexa skill set is up and running now, and we’re looking to roll out similar apps for Google’s Android Auto and Apple’s Siri by April or May of 2022,” Zumpf said. Vince Garcia, who oversees the TMC, echoed Zumpf ’s comments. “The information we provide is all public information. So now, for the first time, we’re putting it into a Situation Data Exchange that allows anybody to use that information.”
Garcia noted that there is no fee to use the Alexa skill, nor did the State incur any expense in the design. “The cost of this is nothing, and taxpayers are paying nothing for this. We’re just making the information available, and Trihydro has taken that and turned it into a production system using Alexa. It’s pretty interesting that a Wyoming company has taken this and is leading connected vehicle technology throughout the country,” Garcia said. Currently, Wyoming is the only state that is actively sharing its road information through the system, but Zumpf is hopeful that will change. “The sharing system we designed is set up so that it can support any number of states, and we’re in talks with California and Colorado and a few other states to start getting their data in as well,” Zumpf said. “Our vision for this is that all 50 states will start sharing their data so that the skill can be used nationwide.” Initially, users must install the Traveler Information Skill, either by asking Alexa Continued on page 3
