MDOT unveils I-94 truck parking information and management system

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has launched its I-94 truck parking information and management system (TPIMS), a system that assesses truck parking availability along the I-94 corridor in southwest Michigan and delivers real-time parking availability information to truck drivers. The project is federally funded under the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Truck Parking Facilities Discretionary Grants Program.
September 5, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

The 1688 Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has launched its I-94 truck parking information and management system (TPIMS), a system that assesses truck parking availability along the I-94 corridor in southwest Michigan and delivers real-time parking availability information to truck drivers. The project is federally funded under the 831 Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Truck Parking Facilities Discretionary Grants Program.

Trucks account for approximately 23 to 30 per cent of all traffic on I-94 in southwest Michigan, making it the highest concentration of commercial vehicles on interstate highways in Michigan. Truck parking is a major safety concern; commercial truck drivers routinely park on rest area entrance and exit ramps, in designated car parking areas, and on interstate entrance and exit ramps. Meanwhile, a significant percentage of truck parking spaces at private parking facilities are empty or under-used. The goal of TPIMS is to identify available parking and share that information with commercial vehicle operators.

MDOT is using a number of high-tech methods of sharing parking availability information, including dynamic roadside truck parking signs, its Mi Drive traffic information website, Truck Smart Parking Services website and smartphone applications as well as a fleet of pilot trucks equipped with on-board connected vehicle equipment.

With any intelligent transportation system, driver distraction is a major consideration and was a critical focus when designing all aspects of the project. Features like text-to-speech were implemented in smartphone and connected vehicle applications to reduce driver distraction and improve safety.

Air Quality & Weather Systems Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Utah Department of Transportation: How we’re using traffic analytics software
    February 4, 2025
    Our use of Iteris ClearGuide lets our traffic operations engineers interpret critical probe traffic data without the need for statisticians and software developers
    Read More
  • Australian ITS market forecast to 2020
    September 4, 2015
    The latest report from Reportlinker analyses the Australian intelligent transportation systems (ITS) market and indicates that the total market is expected to reach US$1,130.2 million by 2020, at a CAGR of 14.41 per cent between 2015 and 2020. The market for the application of advanced public transportation systems is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14.90 per cent during the forecast period. The increasing demand for the use of technology in public transportation for vehicle location and real-time information
    Read More
  • Proposed system to take guesswork out of choosing a freeway lane
    March 17, 2014
    A fledgling advanced lane management assist system can take the guesswork out of selecting the right lane on a congested freeway, as its inventor Robert Gordon explains. As drivers we’ve all done it and control room staff see it all the time – motorists on congested freeways switching into what they perceive is a faster lane, only to come to a halt a few moments later and watch vehicles in the other lanes continue to move past. Now, by re-analysing readily available data in an advanced lane management as
    Read More
  • USDOT releases first version of the Research Data Exchange
    March 15, 2013
    The US Department of Transportation's (USDOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration and the Federal Highway Administration released the first version of the Research Data Exchange (RDE), a transportation data sharing system that promotes sharing of archived and real-time data from multiple sources and multiple modes. This new data sharing capability will support the needs of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) researchers and developers while reducing costs and encouraging innovation.
    Read More

Highlighted Content