This past week, we challenged Twilio developers to build mashups with Twitter to voice enable the social web for the chance to win a Dell mini Netbook in our weekly contest. Among the fun, creative, and useful submissions one application developed by Wayne Dyck at the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) stood out as truly groundbreaking.
UPDATE: The Twitter + Twilio category was so popular, that we are keeping the same category this week and developers who submitted last week are eligible to resubmit. The deadline for submissions will be 11:59pm "midnight" on Sunday night. Submit here
How WSDOT Twitter Voice Reports Work
If you are a Twitter user, you can receive automated voice calls for wait times at Washington State Ferries terminals and northbound Canadian border crossings by sending a direct message to @wsdot. You can send a direct message either from Twitter or from your phone via SMS. Include the terminal or border route id, and the phone number you would like to receive the call back on, and we'll send it to you.
Getting voice wait times for WSF terminals via Twitter
If you are a Twitter user you can receive automated voice calls for wait times at WSF terminals by sending a direct message to WSDOT. Send a direct message either from Twitter or from your phone via SMS, include the terminal id and the phone number you would like to receive the call on and we'll send it to you.
For a direct message from Twitter use this format:
wsf [terminal id] [phone number]
Example: wsf ana 360-XXX-XXXX
For current wait times from your cellphone, send a text message to 40404 using this format:
d wsdot wsf [teriminal id] [phone number]
Example: d wsdot wsf ana 360-XXX-XXXX
Terminal ids are based on the first three letters of the terminal name.
Getting voice Canadian border wait times via Twitter
If you are a Twitter user you can receive automated voice calls for northbound Canadian border wait times by sending a direct message to WSDOT. Send a direct message either from Twitter or from your phone via SMS, include the route id and the phone number you would like to receive the call on and we'll send it to you.
For a direct message from Twitter use this format:
border [route id] [phone number]
Example: border 5 360-XXX-XXXX
For current border wait times from your cellphone, send a text message to 40404 using this format:
d wsdot border [route id] [phone number]
Example: d wsdot border 5 360-XXX-XXXX
Route ids are based on the northbound highway number.
For more information, read all the details about this application on the WSDOT website.
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