Why are there so many truck parking studies?

As local, state and federal government agencies continue to struggle to add truck parking capacity, they are good at one thing: conducting studies. They may seem repetitive and unnecessary at this point, but truck parking studies are critical to address the issue at the state and local level. Studies help decision-makers absorb the problems and take steps to resolve it.

Nearly six years ago, the Federal Highway Administration released results of the Jason’s Law survey. It was the first such study at the federal level addressing the national truck parking crisis. Since then, not a lot has been done to fix the problem. Rather, stakeholders have likely noticed more studies at the state level. Why so many studies if the problem was clearly laid out in Jason’s Law survey?

Land Line reached out to Nicole Katsikides, a research scientist at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, to get an inside look at truck parking studies. Before working at the institute, Katsikides was the deputy director at the Maryland State Highway Administration, program manager of the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Freight Management and Operations, director of Maryland DOT’s Office of Freight and Multimodalism, and a planner for the Maryland DOT’s Rail and Freight division.

A lot of research tells truckers what they already know – i.e., there is a truck parking problem in the area. Eyes roll when a new study is announced, and Katsikides completely understands. However, her research focuses more on the “how” rather than the “where” aspect of truck parking. Specifically, “How are we going to fix this?”

Zeroing in on truck parking

Studies like the Jason’s Law survey provide transportation officials with a nice snapshot of the problem. Unfortunately, a general idea of the problem is not enough to justify spending money to fix it. This is where Katsikides’ research comes into play.

The research is a bit complicated, but the basic idea is simple. Currently, many state DOTs get data from INRIX, one of the largest providers of transportation data, including traffic and parking. That data is then plugged into the state’s geographic information system, better known as GIS. Katsikides’ research – based on algorithms developed in conjunction with Jack Kong, a TTI colleague and truck analytics expert– takes data that the state was already collecting for other purposes and coming up with a way to light up the parking need and to automate and integrate it into the DOT performance systems. This makes it easier for decision-makers to experience.

“(The automated system) would constantly flash the issue of truck parking and where it is, and give the state DOT person who’s inundated with stuff a real clear message of what to do about it,” Katsikides said.

This system is groundbreaking for several reasons.

First, it takes data that is already being used and turns it into a user-friendly system. Consequently, state DOTs will no longer have to waste money on consultants analyzing complex data. Current employees can do it themselves.

At one point, Maryland was spending $80,000 for someone to go out and count trucks in October for one or two days. Decisions were then based on one day’s data because the manual counts are costly. Katsikides’ system costs about the same and can be used for a lot of different things the state DOT needs to do. Additionally, it gives the DOT the granularity to see what’s happening down to the minute.

Second, state DOTs can plug the algorithm into their existing GIS and get routine updates on where truck parking is needed. Unlike other studies, this gives officials closer to real-time data with the capability to drill down to a specific area or just a few miles rather than an entire region or state. That kind of capability has not been available at most state DOTs, and it may be the missing link to convince local governments to allow truck parking within their jurisdictions.

State vs. local governments

The Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, HR2187, would do a lot to address the crisis by dedicating $755 million to create more truck parking capacity. In addition to HR2187, there also are things that can be done at the state and local levels.

Katsikides pointed out that states are not sure how to invest in truck parking and how to either fund public truck parking projects or partner with the private sector on solutions.

Truck parking can cost a lot of money and competes with state projects. In addition, states have limited funding. Truck parking is competing with people who want more transit or road pavement on a busy street for commuters. When they hear about truck parking, their eyes roll – just like truckers when they hear about another truck parking study.

However, some funding is available. State DOTs have access to what is called freight formula funds. They were established with the National Highway Freight Program within the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act. “Truck parking facilities” is listed as one of the eligible activities for that funding, referencing Jason’s Law which was established three years before in the 2012 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act.

So why aren’t states using that money? They simply do not know specifics about truck parking.

Katsikides explained that state governments have control of only certain roads, like interstates and main arteries. That means a lot, possibly most, of truck parking is needed in areas that fall under local government jurisdictions.

For the most part, local governments do not have access to INRIX or FHWA data like the state does.

Consequently, local governments do not have the resources, time or money to take a deep dive into a topic like truck parking. Using Katsikides’ system, however, allows states to visualize the data in an easy-to-understand format and bring it to local leaders, giving the issue a better chance of surviving.

“We are having great dialogues with local governments with our beta version, so we see the benefit in having the data this way,” she said.

Essentially, local leaders only hear residents complain about trucks parking on the street, so they put up signs banning parking and enforce the ban with fines. However, the local officials do not know the full extent of the truck parking problem, likely because they could not visualize it. If local residents agree to a place for truckers to park, the state can use freight formula funding and create a state grant program or incentive program for funding of local projects, all of which are eligible under the FAST Act.

“It’s not as easy as the state just using their formula funds to build parking,” Katsikides told Land Line. “It’s a conversation with locals. It’s a local land use discussion. It’s a business arrangement discussion, and states don’t have a lot of resources to understand these arrangements.”

It is worth noting that freight formula funds are not dedicated to truck parking.

State DOTs wanting to use that funding for truck parking still have to compete with other eligible programs. That is why dedicated truck funding, like HR2187, is important. Such funding eliminates a lot of doubt about whether or not a truck parking project can get approved over higher ticket items.

Several states are looking into Katsikides’ data system. In the meantime, your run-of-the-mill truck parking studies do keep the issue fresh on the minds of government officials.

A combination of funding and appropriate data can help address the truck parking crisis. LL