Statewide Technology Project Unveils New Website

Statewide
Technology Project Unveils New Website
ConnectVermont Project Includes Fiber optic, Wireless,
Online Information
MONTPELIER
– The project responsible for bringing wireless Internet access to
highway welcome centers; putting tourism information online; and bringing
motorists road condition reports now has its website.
Officials said
the ConnectVermont program’s new website at www.connectvermont.com
would not only help visitors and Vermonters learn more about its many high-tech
services but provide another way to access them.
“This
website really shows how the ConnectVermont project is making a difference in
people’s lives,” said Robert T. White, who is the project’s
director within the Vermont Agency of Transportation. “From vacationers
looking for a cultural event using wireless internet at a welcome center to a
Vermont trucker trying to find out road and traffic conditions, technology is
working for all of us.”
ConnectVermont
is a program coordinated by the Vermont Agencies of Transportation and Commerce
& Community Development, and composed of partnering organizations with
diverse missions including arts & humanities, tourism, public safety,
natural resources, and economic development.
In addition to
websites for these purposes, the initiative includes wireless internet service
at all of the state’s welcome centers as part of its mission to
establish an Advanced Rural Traveler Information service.
In addition to
an integrated system of web sites, interactive kiosks, and a 511 information
line, the ConnectVermont Program will eventually include a fiber optic
“backbone” running along Vermont’s highway system that will
further support traveler information and transportation needs as well as help
expand broadband access around the state.
“I would
encourage all Vermonters to visit the ConnectVermont website to learn about how
that State of Vermont is making traveling to, in and around Vermont safer and
more convenient,” said Senator Patrick Leahy, who helped secure much of
the $15 million in federal funding that has fueled the project.
“ConnectVermont
has transformed the way visitors search for information about Vermont and it
has begun to transform the way Vermonters know about road conditions, traffic
reports and other critical travel information,” Leahy said.
11 of
Vermont’s 20 information and welcome centers are now offering free
wireless internet access, Governor Douglas said, and the remainder are slated
to be completed in the next year or so.
“This
component of my E-State Initiative will provide free Wi Fi access for business
people, tourists, and all those who use our highways,” Douglas said.
“The ConnectVermont site is a great way to track the progress of this and
other related projects.”
The northbound
and southbound sites in Sharon, Williston, and Randolph are on line, as are
Guilford, Fairhaven, Alburgh, Derby and Highgate.
For more
information, please visit:
www.connectvermont.com
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