The most recent record-breaking performance came Friday, April 2, when a man threatened to jump from the Bay Bridge -- leading to a 13-hour standoff with authorities, monumental traffic jams throughout much of the East Bay freeway system, and 30,241 calls to the 511 phone system. Authorities were able to detain the man.
Last Friday's 511 call volume shattered the previous record of 17,010 calls received Thursday, March 25, which in turn broke the record of 13,753 calls set just one day earlier, when the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and its partners in the regional 511 initiative added on-demand driving times and other enhanced traffic features to the 511 system.
Weekday call volume averaged 7,700 during February 2004. "The 511 computer system is handling the increased call volumes very well," commented Michael Berman, MTC's 511 traffic project manager. "We're constantly refining the system to meet growing demand."
Among the technical adjustments made to date was an urgent server reconfiguration performed March 25 after the 511 phone service experienced some technical difficulties because it was swamped by calls during an afternoon rainstorm that led to a spate of traffic incidents around the Bay Area. No stability problems have been reported since the server reconfiguration was completed March 26.
Referring to callers' inability to consistently connect with 511 during the Bay Bridge drama last Friday, Berman acknowledged, "Callers did at times get busy signals, but that was due to capacity limitations on incoming calls, not any kind of system error. Most people who got busy signals were able to get through after trying again. We are investigating the most efficient way to increase the system's capacity so it can deal with extraordinary events like Friday's."
