• Bi-State Coalition exploring ferry service to relieve congestion
  
  
• The coastal link brings seamless bus service to Route 1 corridor.
  
  
• NYSDOT and Westchester on track with the Bee-Line's "LIKE-RAIL" - FDR To White Plains Express.
  
  
• Regional survey provides a look at commuter choices.
  
  
• Many people don't travel to work anymore - they are already there.
  
  Highway Advisory Radio on the air in Connecticut's southwest corridor.
  
  
• New web site helps Hudson Valley travelers get around.
  
  
• New Transportation guides available in Connecticut and New York.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation has added another new tool to help motorists keep abreast of traffic conditions along the state's heavily traveled Southwest Corridor. Highway Advisory Radio - a dedicated radio station broadcasting from the Department's Highway Operations Centers in Bridgeport and Newington via several low-power, short-range transmitters along I-95 and the Merritt Parkway and in the Greater Hartford area - gives the Department the ability to communicate traffic conditions directly to motorists on the highway on a moment's notice.

The station broadcasts on two AM frequencies, 530 and 1610, depending on the location of the transmitter. Signs along the highways specify which frequency to tune to for the upcoming few miles. Lights sit atop each sign. When these beacons are flashing, they indicate that an urgent message is being aired, usually to notify motorists of delays or detours due to accidents or other emergencies, or to warn motorists of hazardous conditions ahead, such as icy or flooded roadways.

Each transmitter has a broadcasting radius of about 5 miles. The five transmitters in place along I-95 and the Merritt Parkway cover almost all of both highways between Greenwich and New Haven, with a short gap in the Norwalk/Westport vicinity. They also can be heard along Route 8 and Route 25 in Bridgeport, Trumbull and Shelton. In Greater Hartford, one transmitter in East Hartford broadcasts on the 530 AM frequency. When the stations are not carrying urgent messages, they are used to broadcast routine traffic reports as well as important information for drivers about such topics as safe driving and Connecticut's Quick Clearance Legislation, which requires motorists involved in minor, no-personal-injury accidents on limited-access highways to move their vehicles from the travel lanes. This should be done safely and without causing additional property damage.

So watch for Connecticut's Highway Advisory Radio signs. If the beacons are flashing, be sure to tune to the specified frequency for important traffic information and, if appropriate, alternate routing instructions. If the beacons aren't flashing, tune in anyway; what you hear may seem routine, or even irrelevant, at the moment, but it might turn out to be vital, even life-saving, later on.