Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) launched a new text messaging service “offering customers real-time communication during unexpected traffic backlogs and underscoring its commitment to providing a safe, reliable, customer-valued toll road.” The service enables a driver encountering an unexpected backlog — not a routine commuter traffic or construction-related delay — to text “info” to 47676 and receive “automated, location-specific information about the incident, anticipated clearance times and roadway updates.” Text updates automatically continue until the backlog clears.
PTC chief operating officer Craig Shuey commented, “We take immense pride in maintaining safe, clear roadways on the PA Turnpike. Yet, we know incidents happen. While 47676 can’t lift drivers out of a backlog, it provides them timely reassurance that incidents are being handled, and an estimate on when travel will resume.”
In June, a Pennsylvania law prohibiting the use of hand-held mobile devices while driving takes effect. PTC emphasized that drivers using the new service must do so safely and in compliance with all laws and regulations pertaining to in-vehicle use of mobile devices.
PTC says the text service is the first of its kind. The idea for its development originated from the agency’s annual employee innovation challenge.
WFMZ provides some additional information about the inspiration for the text service.