Friday, December 6, 2013

Technology alerts Michigan truckers to the location of open rest spots

Interstate 94, a highway between Detroit and Chicago, is being used for a pilot project that alerts semi-truck drivers to available parking spaces along their journey at places like rest stops.

Signs posted near parking areas will be updated with real-time information on available spaces—information provided by sensors under each space that can detect when an 18-wheeler is there, according to the Battle Creek Enquirer.

The signs will be operational by next spring, said Nick Schirripa, Michigan Department of Transportation spokesman. He said cameras also would be installed and monitored from an operations center to verify parking information.

"This segment of I-94 was chosen because in our region on I-94, we have the highest percentage of commercial traffic," Schirripa said. About one-fourth of all traffic on I-94 in southwest Michigan is commercial.

The idea is to have less crowding on ramps, where drivers often park when no spaces are available when the law says they must leave the road to sleep.

Federal Highway Administration funded the $4.5 million project, Schirripa said. Signs will now be activated near rest stops and truck parking areas in Calhoun, Kalamazoo, Van Buren and Berrien counties, and at the New Buffalo Welcome Center.

For more of the Kansas City Star story: kansascity.com


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