SmartPark Technology Demonstration Project

Lopez-Jacobs, Von; Ellerbee, Jason; Hoover, Michael · 2013 · ROSA P / United States. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

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Summary

The SmartPark Technology Demonstration Project, conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), addresses the critical safety issue of trucker fatigue caused by noncompliance with hours-of-service regulations. A primary driver of this noncompliance is the lack of real-time awareness regarding available truck parking spaces. The project aims to match parking demand with supply using Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technology. This report details Phase I of the initiative, which sought to determine the feasibility, accuracy, and reliability of detector technologies capable of providing real-time parking availability data to commercial motor vehicle drivers. Phase I involved a field operational test (FOT) conducted from August 2011 to July 2013 at a public rest area on northbound Interstate 75 in Athens, Tennessee. The study evaluated three combinations of detection technologies installed at the ingress and egress points of the parking facility: overhead laser scanners (OH), side-mounted laser scanners (SID), and light curtains (CUR), each paired with Doppler radar. The system’s performance was measured against three specific requirements: maintaining parking occupancy count accuracy above 95% (PR1), achieving 95% consistency in vehicle classification between ingress and egress detectors (PR2), and ensuring system uptime of at least 99.5% (PR3). Data collection included automated system outputs and manual "ground truth" verification via closed-circuit television cameras. The results indicated that all three detector configurations exceeded the 95% accuracy threshold for PR1, with the OH/OH combination achieving 99.85%, SID/SID reaching 99.82%, and CUR/OH attaining 99.34%. However, performance varied significantly regarding classification consistency and system uptime. The OH/OH and SID/SID configurations met the 95% classification consistency target (PR2), while the CUR/OH combination failed, scoring only 87.04%. Regarding system availability (PR3), only the SID/SID configuration met the 99.5% uptime requirement; the OH/OH configuration achieved 93.59%, and the CUR/OH configuration achieved 81.86%. The study also found that the granular six-class vehicle classification scheme was ineffective, as detectors struggled to accurately distinguish vehicles based on length or trailer presence. The study concludes that the side scanner (SID) combined with Doppler radar is the optimal technology for future deployment, offering the best balance of accuracy, uptime, and lower maintenance requirements compared to overhead scanners and light curtains. Key recommendations for Phase II include reducing the vehicle classification scheme to three or four broader classes, implementing a stabilization period before full testing to address software issues, and enhancing surveillance with higher-resolution cameras. These findings support the development of a real-time information system to help drivers locate available parking, thereby promoting compliance with safety regulations and reducing fatigue-related incidents.

Key finding

The side scanner combined with Doppler radar achieved 99.82% accuracy and 100% uptime, outperforming overhead scanners and light curtains in meeting the project's performance requirements.

Methodology

field_study

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

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