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The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has activated the I-94 Truck Parking Information and Management System (TPIMS) 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.
I-94 in southwest Michigan carries some of the highest commercial volumes in all of the Midwest. Trucks account for approximately 23 to 30 percent of all traffic, making it the highest concentration of commercial vehicles on interstate highways in Michigan.
Truck parking is a major safety concern along the I-94 corridor, according to the MDOT. Commercial truck drivers routinely park on rest area entrance and exit ramps and on interstate entrance and exit ramps. 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, MDOT’s Mi Drive traffic information website , Truck Smart Parking Services website and smartphone applications , and a fleet of pilot trucks equipped with on-board connected vehicle equipment.
Features like text-to-speech were implemented in smartphone and connected vehicle applications to reduce driver distraction and improve safety.
For more information on the TPIMS project and how to access the truck parking availability information, watch the video above.