AASHTO Journal - Tennessee DOT Initiates Truck Parking Pilot Program

The Tennessee Department of Transportation recently began testing the Truck Parking Availability System or TPAS as part of a pilot program at the I-40 Welcome Center in Smith County.

[Above image by the Tennessee DOT]

The agency said this pilot project – funded via the U.S. Department of Transportation’s SMART Grants Program – is intended to help commercial truck drivers find safe, reliable parking when moving essential freight across the Southeast.

Following installation and full integration of TPAS at the I-40 Welcome Center – estimated to be completed this June – truck drivers will be encouraged to submit feedback on the technologies to help Tennessee DOT determine the most reliable occupancy detection technology and overall systems standards.

“By giving drivers early, reliable information through these innovative solutions, we help them make smarter decisions,” said Will Reid, the agency’s commissioner, in a statement. “Our goal is simple: to support the men and women who keep our freight moving, while protecting everyone who uses Tennessee roadways.”

Tennessee DOT added that four different methods of monitoring technology will be deployed:

Magnetometers to detect the number of trucks entering and exiting the Welcome Center’s eastbound parking lot.
Radar-Camera Fusion Sensor to detect the number of trucks entering and exiting the Welcome Center’s eastbound parking lot.
Light Detection and Ranging or LiDAR technology to detect the number of available spaces in the Welcome Center’s westbound parking lot.
Closed-Circuit Television or CCTV cameras to detect the number of available parking spaces in the Welcome Center’s westbound parking lot.

The agency said those technologies will provide real-time availability information to commercial truck drivers through roadside signage and in-cab alerts via Electronic Logging Devices or ELDs.

Similar to its SmartWay cameras, any camera deployed at the I-40 Welcome Center to monitor parking will not be recorded or used for enforcement purposes, Tennessee DOT said.