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Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) Section 1305, Truck Parking Facilities

Section 1305 of SAFETEA-LU directed the Department to establish a pilot program to address the shortage of long-term parking for commercial motor vehicles on the National Highway System. Twenty applications were received from States, metropolitan planning organizations and local governments from a solicitation that was included in a November 16, 2007, Federal Register notice. The U.S. Department of Transportation selected two of those proposed projects at a cost of $10,977,000. They are: the California iPark project and the I-95 Corridor Coalition truck parking project.

This award follows a series of activities related to the truck parking program since 2006. FHWA solicited proposals from the States for both Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 and FY 2007. We decided not to fund any proposals from these solicitations since a change in events on Corridors of the Future put more emphasis on multistate linkages and corridor type cooperation on truck movements. Therefore, we felt the best approach to implementing this program, and the approach that will provide the most comprehensive and best return on investment, was to apply this program on a corridor-wide basis. Many of the FY 2006 and FY 2007 proposals were meritorious. However, choosing from among those proposals could have resulted in spot relief at isolated locations across the Interstate System. Applying this program to a congested corridor focuses limited resources where deployment provides a mechanism to potentially solve long-term commercial motor vehicle parking for a section of the Interstate System, but a solution that also could be scalable across the Nation.

A decision was made to bundle the discretionary funding for all 4 years of the grant program. At $6.25 million per year the total program had a value of $25 million. However, when applying the take-down charge the total available was around $22 million. Congress then rescinded FY 2008 funds further reducing the total amount available. A solicitation was made to the States, using the bundled approach, under a Federal Register notice dated November 16, 2007. Twenty grant applications were received in February 2008, and a team of evaluators selected the top five for leadership review. Of those top five grant applications we chose to use the available funding for FY 2006 and FY 2007 and selected the California iPark project, along the I-5 corridor, and the I-95 Corridor Coalition truck parking project, along a 7-State region. With take-down charges we allocated approximately $11 million to devote to these two projects.

The California iPark project will be funded at $5,455,372 for a 3-year period. California plans to identify truck parking spaces at both public and private parking facilities through advanced technology (cameras and sensors) and then communicate the availability of those spaces through advanced technology (cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDA's), navigation devices, and other appropriate devices). Additionally they will demonstrate a reservation system which will be designed to allow truckers to make an advance reservation for a parking space that more closely matches hours of service.

The other project selected is the I-95 Corridor Coalition which will be funded at $5,521,688 for a 3-year period. Seven states along the corridor are participating, and they have focused on 8,351 parking spaces to monitor through advanced technology. The availability of those spaces will be communicated through traffic management centers to a selected lead center, then to the truck drivers. I-95 will consider similar technology as the I-5 corridor but will also look at park and ride facilities that are not used during the evening hours. They will also work with businesses to utilize their parking facilities during the evening hours. They also plan to build an additional 250 spaces at a State cost of $4 million.

For further information:

Contact Information

Michael P. Onder
Team Leader, Freight Operations and Technology
(202) 366-2639
Michael.Onder@dot.gov

Thomas Kearney
Truck Parking Project Manager
(518) 431-4125 Extension 218
Tom.Kearney@fhwa.dot.gov

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