SmartPark Technology Demonstration Project

NHTSA · 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 need for real-time truck parking availability information. This initiative was motivated by a 2000 National Transportation Safety Board recommendation and a 2002 Federal Highway Administration study, both of which highlighted the inadequacy of truck parking facilities and urged the deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems to assist commercial drivers. The project aims to demonstrate technologies capable of counting parking space occupancy and disseminating this data to truckers while they are on the road. The research focused on Phase I of the SmartPark initiative, which sought to validate the feasibility of specific detection technologies. After earlier attempts using video imaging and magnetometry proved unfeasible, FMCSA selected a combined Doppler radar and laser scanning technology for field operational testing. The test was conducted at a Tennessee Department of Transportation truck parking rest area on Interstate 75 near Athens, Tennessee. Data collection occurred from November 2012 to April 2013. The technology was evaluated against three strict performance requirements: achieving a parking count accuracy of at least 95 percent, ensuring ingress and egress detectors agreed on vehicle classification at least 95 percent of the time, and maintaining system availability and functionality for at least 95 percent of the time. The results of the Phase I field operational test demonstrated that the Doppler radar and laser scanning technology significantly exceeded all performance benchmarks. An independent verification based on a sample size of 1,340 instances revealed a parking count accuracy of 99.9 percent, with only one error recorded. The ingress and egress detectors agreed on vehicle classification 99 percent of the time. Furthermore, the system experienced no downtime during the data collection period, resulting in an availability rate exceeding 99.5 percent. These findings confirmed the technical feasibility and reliability of the selected technology for monitoring truck parking occupancy. Following the success of Phase I, FMCSA proceeded to Phase II in June 2013, scheduled for completion by November 2014. Phase II expands the project scope to include the dissemination of parking availability information and the networking of adjacent parking areas to divert trucks from full lots to unfilled ones. Additional tasks involve converting temporary equipment to permanent installations, recording historical data for forecasting, optimizing space usage by assigning single-unit trucks to park sequentially, enabling space reservations, and developing a business plan for sustaining the technology’s operation and maintenance. The project represents a significant step toward improving truck parking infrastructure through advanced sensing and data dissemination technologies.

Key finding

The Doppler radar and laser scanning system counted truck parking occupancy with 99.9 percent accuracy (one error in 1,340), and ingress/egress classification agreed 99 percent of the time, all exceeding the 95 percent requirements.

Methodology

field_study

Sample size: 1340

Provenance

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

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• dms validation