Commercial Operations

As part of its SmartPark program, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) conducted a field operations test of two technologies, video imaging and magnetometry, to assess their suitability for determining the occupancy of truck parking areas. Neither technology met its established performance targets, particularly for vehicle classification. The test also revealed a number of user behaviors (such as dropped trailers) indicating that the successful use of automated detection technology for a truck parking area will require accurate vehicle classification and will be more challenging than that for a car parking area with only one type of vehicle and controlled access.

Volpe National Transportation systems Center

Presented at the 18th World Congress on ITS, October 2011, Orlando, Florida