Sitting on I-575 heading down to the city can be a pain in the rear in morning traffic. And let’s not get started about the evening drive home. While I can’t make traffic any easier on you commuters, I can tell you about a new phone service that will give you traffic information to help with your driving decisions. And best of all, it’s free.

On Wednesday, the state began Georgia 511 — a free phone service that provides traffic and travel information to commuters 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Callers connect to the system by dialing 5-1-1 from any landline or mobile phone. Callers can get statewide traffic conditions, route-specific information and details on road or lane closures due to construction, incidents or weather. Estimated travel times are available for major roads within metro Atlanta. And connections are available to transit providers, major airports, rideshare organizations, tourism information and 511 systems in neighboring states.