The northern Kentucky-Cincinnati metropolitan area is the first region in the country to adopt a new national dialing code dedicated to travel information.

Federal Highway Administrations placed the first "511" call. Several more jurisdictions are expected to implement 511 later this year.
The concept of a national traveler information telephone number developed from a growing awareness that even greater benefit could be derived from the nation's multimillion-dollar investments in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) by delivering local traveler information directly to the public by telephone. In 1999 DOT petitioned the Federal Communications Commission for a three-digit telephone number, and last year, the FCC assigned 511 for local traveler information.
At the time the department submitted its petition, more than 300 traveler information telephone numbers existed nationwide.