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Primer for Improved Urban Freight Mobility and Delivery
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Key Accomplishments
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In Florida, the limited availability of truck parking spaces causes overcrowding and overflow at existing truck parking spots. At times, truck drivers turn to parking on the interstate mainline, ramp shoulders, or in vacant lots. These practices are hazardous and prohibited, and can leave drivers vulnerable to cargo theft. The shortage of truck parking affects the flow of goods moving to and from shippers and receivers, particularly in and around urban areas.
To address the issue, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is installing a Truck Parking Availability System (TPAS) along I-4, I-10, I-75 and I-95 at welcome centers, weigh stations, and rest areas. This system will help truckers find available truck parking spaces. To detect the availability of parking, TPAS uses in-ground sensors in the truck areas at interstate rest areas/welcome centers, and entryway and exit counts at weigh stations. The information will then be shown on roadside embedded dynamic message signs as well as the State's FL511 site and app for drivers to access, and will be available for use in third-party applications.
Installation of TPAS technology. Source: FDOT.
TPAS will help truck drivers maximize their hours-of-service requirements by lowering the quantity of time spent to find parking spaces, permitting them to focus on the movement of products. TPAS will allow drivers to see the number of spaces that are currently available at a common location.
Tractor-trailers parked at a truck stop. Source: 123rf.com.
To address the imbalance of truck parking capacity due to the lack of parking information, FDOT submitted and was awarded an FHWA Accelerated Innovation Deployment grant of $1 million in 2015. The Federal grant, along with FDOT funding, will be used to deploy the TPAS at seven public parking sites located along I-4 and I-95 in FDOT District 5. In 2016, FDOT also received a Federal FASTLANE grant of $10.7 million to support the full deployment of TPAS. The total cost of deployment is $24 million, half of which will come from State funds. The project in FDOT District 5 is the first of a number of installations across the State. Additional sites across the State are being installed in phases throughout 2017.
The biggest challenge of the statewide TPAS deployment was coordination with FDOT's six districts involved in the program. FDOT project managers met with each district individually to promote the project and gain support, which was an effective engagement strategy. FDOT engaged with shippers and carriers to garner further support of the program. In addition, during subsequent phases of the program, FDOT expects to coordinate with third-party vendors to integrate private parking facilities into TPAS and to provide availability and predictive analysis at every truck parking site statewide.
TPAS will be deployed by each FDOT district between 2017 and 2019. As statistically sufficient data is aggregated, algorithms will predict parking availability based on trends in parking utilization. FDOT plans to make this information available through data feeds, thus enabling motor carrier operators to make more informed trip plans.
Marie Tucker, Commercial Vehicle Operations Manager, FDOT, (850) 410-5619, Marie.Tucker@dot.state.fl.us
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United States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration |
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