Operations Center Manages Traffic Flow

New Technology and Staff also Handles Emergency Situations
Operations Center
Manages Traffic Flow
By Lowman S. Henry

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is one of the most heavily traveled highways in the country. Always a favorite of long distance travelers, the Turnpike has also evolved into a commuter route in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas. Traffic on the Turnpike has been increasing an average of 4% annually.

To manage the additional traffic, the Turnpike’s Communications Center in Harrisburg has grown into a full-fledged Operations Center that doesn’t just respond to emergency situations – it proactively manages traffic flow on a daily basis.

"We’re not just relaying messages from travelers to service providers," said Joseph P. McCool, who directs the Turnpike’s Operations Center. "We’re managing traffic flow and providing a customer service."

To handle the new responsibilities, the Turnpike is investing heavily in new technology and has added five duty officers who have been given the authority to make on-the-spot decisions when handling emergency and traffic flow situations.

When accidents occur, the duty officers coordinate the response of various emergency services and also establish a flow of information to area media and traffic reporting services. Information is provided to travelers via the Turnpike’s new Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS), a network of highway advisory radio stations and permanent variable message signs that are being installed at key locations throughout the Turnpike system.

ATIS was installed first in the Philadelphia area, where it has been used extensively to manage traffic during the Schuylkill River Bridge construction project. Information regarding lane closures, new traffic patterns and other construction activity has been broadcast on highway advisory radio (AM 1640) and placed on the variable message signs.

"These tools have enabled us to more efficiently manage traffic flow during a major construction project in what is the most heavily traveled section of the Turnpike," explained McCool.

The Operations Center is currently staffed by five duty officers and by 15 radio operators. The duty officers ensure that the highway advisory radio units and variable message signs are communicating useful, timely and accurate information. During emergency situations, the duty officers monitor and ensure that accurate information is relayed to the incident commander and that all emergency services and equipment that may be needed is at the scene.

Duty officers also provide information to the public through the news media making sure details of lane closures or changes in traffic patterns are made available to travelers before they enter the Turnpike system.

The Turnpike’s radio operators are in constant communication with the Pennsylvania State Police, and with various contracted services such as fire companies, ambulance crews, and authorized service garages to provide and coordinate service.

Radio operators also monitor over 1,000 emergency call boxes that are located at one-mile intervals throughout the Turnpike system. The operators also answer calls from travelers using the emergency *11 (star-one-one) cellular telephone system.

The Operations Center also handles non-emergency situations that arise from time to time. For example, McCool said the ATIS system was activated when a tractor-trailer truck broke down in the entry lane to one of the Turnpike’s service plazas. "We used ATIS to alert travelers that they would not be able to use the service plaza, that way they could use another plaza or get off at an exit for food or fuel," said McCool.

McCool said the Pennsylvania Turnpike is working cooperatively with transportation agencies in neighboring states to pass information along to long distance travelers.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is part of the I-95 Corridor Coalition working to share traffic information with travelers who are using routes which feed into I-95. Interaction with turnpikes in neighboring states is also part of the daily routine at the Operations Center.

Turnpike duty officers also monitor incidents on various state and local routes near interchanges to keep Turnpike travelers informed on local traffic situations which may affect their travel plans.

The first phase of the Turnpike’s new ATIS began operating in the Philadelphia area in 1998. Highway advisory radio stations located at the Mid-County, Lansdale and Willow Grove interchanges provide broadcast service. Permanent variable message boards are located at milepost 323.5 eastbound (west of the Valley Forge Interchange), milepost 335.2 westbound (east of the Mid-County Interchange) and at milepost A3.6 southbound on the Northeastern Extension.

ATIS will be expanded across the Turnpike system later this summer when Phase Two of the project is completed. Highway advisory radio transmitters are being installed at the Cranberry, Pittsburgh, New Stanton, Bedford, Breezewood, Carlisle, Harrisburg West Shore, Morgantown, Philadelphia and Pocono interchanges. An additional transmitter will operate at the I-76/I-476 interchange (Schuylkill Expressway and Blue Route) to provide blanket coverage in that important traffic corridor.

By late summer, additional variable message signs will become operational at milepost 45.8, eastbound, west of the Allegheny Valley Interchange; milepost 59.7, westbound, east of the Pittsburgh Interchange; milepost 142.9, eastbound, west of the Bedford Interchange; and at milepost 308.7, eastbound, west of the Downingtown Interchange. Also as part of Phase II, closed circuit television cameras, which will allow the Operations Center to monitor traffic conditions, are being installed at the Valley Forge Interchange and at the Plymouth Meeting maintenance facility.
Phase III, which involves the construction of additional highway advisory radio units, variable message signs and closed circuit television cameras will enter the construction phase this fall and will be operational by spring of 2001. Phase III will also include a roadway weather information system, a traffic flow detection system, an incident congestion prediction system, a truck rollover warning system, an overheight detection system, a central control computer system, and the purchase of an incident response vehicle. "These systems are the most advanced traffic management tools available," McCool concluded. "The acquisition of this new technology will help us fulfill the Turnpike Commission’s commitment of providing superior incident management and traffic control services to our customers."