Castle Rock is leading the effort to enhance traveler information in the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont through an innovative partnership between the public and private sector.

Tourism plays a vital role in the New England states as visitors from all over the country and world come to savor the unique culture, atmosphere and natural resources the region offers. The rural nature of the region requires some creative solutions to ensure that travelers are able to obtain the latest information weather, road condition and travel information.

To provide that information to the public and other agencies, a start-of-the-art event collection system is needed. The Condition Acquisition and Reporting System (CARS) will allow participating agencies to connect staff in remote parts of the region to a centralized operations center and enable them to view, create and edit situation information as conditions change.

Winter weather conditions can be quite severe in the region and the participating states required that advanced weather prediction information be provided to maintenance operators to stay on top of storms. FORETELL provides up to 30 hours advanced information on an hourly scale and at 6 mile resolution enabling Departments of Transportation to track approaching storms.

Using the rural deployment experience and the proven technologies developed by Castle Rock, the Tri-State Rural Advanced Traveler Information System (TRIO) project is developing and deploying advanced traveler information systems. The project is employing Internet technologies in this public/private partnership to improve traveler mobility, enhance economic development for the area and enrich the overall experience of travelers to the areas.