DriveBC's Open511 API

gov · Government

Government No Auth Free & Open open_data

This API is DriveBC's implementation of the Open511 specification. It provides information about known road events (traffic accidents, construction, etc.) in British Columbia, Canada. Please note that you may experience issues when submitting requests to the delivery or test environment if using this [OpenAPI specification](https://github.com/bcgov/api-specs) in other API console viewers.

Authentication

No authentication requiredFree to use with no key needed.

Sample Requests

GET Lists the geographical areas (e.g. districts) that can be used to filter events.

Lists the geographical areas (e.g. districts) that can be used to filter events.

https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/areas?format=json

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/areas?format=json"

import requests
params = {
    "format": "json"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/areas",
    params=params,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/areas');
url.searchParams.set('format', 'json');

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/areas")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("format", "json")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/areas")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "format" => "json"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/areas?" . http_build_query([
    "format" => "json"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

GET Lists road events

The events resource provides information about road events (e.g. accidents, construction, special events). The response is a list of event elements matching the filtering parameters if any are provided.

https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/events?bbox=-130,48,-116,60&format=json&status=ALL&area_id=drivebc.ca/1&created=>2015-09-01T12:00:00Z&updated=>2015-09-01T12:00:00Z&severity=MAJOR&road_name=Highway 99&event_type=INCIDENT&jurisdiction=drivebc.ca

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/events?bbox=-130%2C48%2C-116%2C60&format=json&status=ALL&area_id=drivebc.ca%2F1&created=%3E2015-09-01T12%3A00%3A00Z&updated=%3E2015-09-01T12%3A00%3A00Z&severity=MAJOR&road_name=Highway%2099&event_type=INCIDENT&jurisdiction=drivebc.ca"

import requests
params = {
    "bbox": "-130,48,-116,60",
    "format": "json",
    "status": "ALL",
    "area_id": "drivebc.ca/1",
    "created": ">2015-09-01T12:00:00Z",
    "updated": ">2015-09-01T12:00:00Z",
    "severity": "MAJOR",
    "road_name": "Highway 99",
    "event_type": "INCIDENT",
    "jurisdiction": "drivebc.ca"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/events",
    params=params,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/events');
url.searchParams.set('bbox', '-130,48,-116,60');
url.searchParams.set('format', 'json');
url.searchParams.set('status', 'ALL');
url.searchParams.set('area_id', 'drivebc.ca/1');
url.searchParams.set('created', '>2015-09-01T12:00:00Z');
url.searchParams.set('updated', '>2015-09-01T12:00:00Z');
url.searchParams.set('severity', 'MAJOR');
url.searchParams.set('road_name', 'Highway 99');
url.searchParams.set('event_type', 'INCIDENT');
url.searchParams.set('jurisdiction', 'drivebc.ca');

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/events")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("bbox", "-130,48,-116,60")
	q.Set("format", "json")
	q.Set("status", "ALL")
	q.Set("area_id", "drivebc.ca/1")
	q.Set("created", ">2015-09-01T12:00:00Z")
	q.Set("updated", ">2015-09-01T12:00:00Z")
	q.Set("severity", "MAJOR")
	q.Set("road_name", "Highway 99")
	q.Set("event_type", "INCIDENT")
	q.Set("jurisdiction", "drivebc.ca")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/events")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "bbox" => "-130,48,-116,60",
  "format" => "json",
  "status" => "ALL",
  "area_id" => "drivebc.ca/1",
  "created" => ">2015-09-01T12:00:00Z",
  "updated" => ">2015-09-01T12:00:00Z",
  "severity" => "MAJOR",
  "road_name" => "Highway 99",
  "event_type" => "INCIDENT",
  "jurisdiction" => "drivebc.ca"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/events?" . http_build_query([
    "bbox" => "-130,48,-116,60",
    "format" => "json",
    "status" => "ALL",
    "area_id" => "drivebc.ca/1",
    "created" => ">2015-09-01T12:00:00Z",
    "updated" => ">2015-09-01T12:00:00Z",
    "severity" => "MAJOR",
    "road_name" => "Highway 99",
    "event_type" => "INCIDENT",
    "jurisdiction" => "drivebc.ca"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

GET Lists the jurisdictions publishing data through this Open511 API implementation

Lists the jurisdictions publishing data through this Open511 API implementation

https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/jurisdiction?format=json

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/jurisdiction?format=json"

import requests
params = {
    "format": "json"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/jurisdiction",
    params=params,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/jurisdiction');
url.searchParams.set('format', 'json');

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/jurisdiction")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("format", "json")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/jurisdiction")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "format" => "json"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/gov.bc.ca/open511/1.0.0/jurisdiction?" . http_build_query([
    "format" => "json"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

Postman Setup Guide

Get Postman ↗

See official documentation for authentication and setup.

What can you build with DriveBC's Open511 API?

DriveBC's Open511 API is a Government API. Developers commonly use government APIs for:

surfacing public datasets in citizen-facing apps
building transparency and civic engagement tools
accessing legislation, court records, and official data
powering research and journalism tools
creating compliance and regulatory monitoring dashboards

No authentication required. This API is open — no signup or key needed. Ideal for quick prototypes and public-facing features. DriveBC's Open511 API is free to use, making it a low-risk choice to experiment with.

New to APIs? Read our beginner's guide · Learn about API keys · What is REST?

Open documentation ↗