The Wyoming Department of Transportation is removing eight of its Twitter accounts after the social media platform recently announced changes to its application programming interface platform.
The API platform allowed WYDOT to send automated tweets straight from the agency’s 511 tools, including travel alerts, crash alerts and road closure information. Twitter has recently announced changes to its API platform, including limiting the number of tweets per hour and implementing a fee system for those accounts.
“WYDOT’s accounts were created to give the public real-time updates on winter storms, crashes and other travel impacts,” said Vince Garcia, WYDOT Geographic Information Systems/Intelligent Transportation System program manager. “So not only would the state have to pay a fee for each account, but we have concerns that the updates about rapidly changing conditions will be so limited that they will fail to reach the people who need them.”
Fortunately, the same information is readily available to the public for free through WYDOT’s 511 Notify system and other 511 tools.
Users who follow the automated WYDOT accounts — @WYDOT_Central, @WYDOT_Northwest, @WYDOT_Southwest, @WYDOT_Southeast, @WYDOT_Northeast, @WYDOT_I80, @WYDOT_I90, @WYDOT_I25 — are encouraged to sign up for 511 Notify to continue to receive important road and weather condition information and alerts. The information will be the same, but it will be delivered as an email or text message rather than a tweet. The same information is also available via WYDOT’s 511 app, Wyoming 511, and the 511 travel information website, www.wyoroad.info.
WYDOT will continue to monitor Twitter’s API policy and will consider reinstating the accounts in the future.
“Statistically, WYDOT’s Twitter accounts are the least-used tool that we offer for road and travel information,” Garcia said.
Accounts that are not automated, including @WYDOTNews, will remain active.