FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
February 14, 2008
CONTACT: David Mace (802) 828-5229

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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