plans,” says Compton. “Ratings agencies
want to see you improving your physical
asset. I have to ask John Parker, ‘Is this
more important than replacing a 50-yearold
bridge?’“
But PTC’s core product is a fast,
reliable trip. If technology improves that,
it makes PTC more profi table and better
able to fi nance repairs. CAAR’s capacity
to turn crowd-sourced information to
the agency’s advantage is a case in point.
PROTECTING REVENUE
“The advent of Waze means drivers will
be rerouted if there’s a stoppage on the
roadway, and that’s revenue we don’t
get,” says Compton. “By getting that
clearance time down to one hour 18, we
gain half an hour of free-fl owing
revenue because we’re back open.”
Of course, safety also weighs heavily
in the cost-benefi t analysis. “We charge
a premium to our customers and our
customers have choice,” adds Parker.
“We have to provide a safe, reliable trip
so they continue to use us.’
The next stage will see PTC reduce
response times further by introducing
a predictive dimension to CAAR and
TOLLTRANS 2020
40 www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
“WAZE MEANS DRIVERS WILL BE
REROUTED IF THERE’S A STOPPAGE,
THAT’S REVENUE WE DON’T GET. BY
GETTING CLEARANCE TIME DOWN, WE GAIN
HALF AN HOUR OF FREEFLOWING REVENUE”
Mark Compton, chief executive, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
studies with Esri and Penn State
University have explored ways to train
machine learning models on data from
the platform.
“We have history back to October 2017
from our third-party apps,” says Parker.
“The Waze dataset is huge and IT have
challenged us to come up with the
questions we want machine learning to
answer.” Meanwhile, PTC will
implement a 26-mile connected corridor
around Harrisburg, enabling them to
harvest connected vehicle data via DSRC
units. “We now have data like car
braking and windshield wiper use and
IT are working full-tilt to understand the
technology and how we can ingest the
Above: The Turnpike is
now 486 miles longer
than the 166 miles it
covered when it opened
Below: Duty offi cer
Janice Cleo looking at
a CAAR screen for early
warnings
data to become predictive with it.
Millennials aren’t face-to-face and don’t
want VMS. They want everything on
their phones – so getting information to
and from the car will be critical for us.”
For Parker, PTC’s capacity for pushing
the envelope stems from a corporate
ethos which encourages risk-taking and
embraces failure, allowing invention
to fl ourish. “I’m a big Man City fan,” he
confi des. “My daughter thinks I’m crazy,
but I watch all the Premier League soccer
games!” Parker likens working for
Compton to playing for City’s widelyrespected
manager, Pep Guardiola.
“I’d put Mark in that category,” he says.
“There’s a culture of, ‘Hey, if you think
you have an idea that’s viable,
then go with it and see where
it takes you!’ If it’s safetyrelated,
Mark is on-board
110%. He wants to keep our
guys safe and I think it’s
commendable for the
Turnpike to be the way it is
with innovation.” Technologywise,
we’ve not heard the last
from America’s First
Superhighway.
TOLLROADGIS
PHOTOGRAPHS: SERGEY NIVENS, EHRLIF/STOCK.ADOBE.COM. PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE COMMISSION
/www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
/STOCK.ADOBE.COM