Pennsylvania’s state department of transportation’s annual Innovations Challenge contest has high school students from across the state working to solve the unsolvable – truck parking.
“Truck parking has been an ongoing challenge for many states, including Pennsylvania. We’ve studied the issue and are working on some options to help address it in our Freight Movement Plan, but we’re looking for creative ideas from the next generation,” Alexis Campbell, press secretary at PennDOT, said.
Per the PennDOT website, the state’s Freight Movement Plan “recommends policies and identifies projects to improve multimodal freight movement.” The Innovations Challenge is a statewide competition in which student teams develop strategies to solve real transportation challenges.
According to Campbell, PennDOT’s leadership chose truck parking as this year’s contest topic because the issue remains a challenge not just for Pennsylvania, but for other states as well.
“It certainly isn’t an easy topic, but that’s the point. The purpose of the Innovations Challenge is to provide students with the opportunity to think strategically and creatively on real transportation issues. Past challenge topics have included transportation funding, roadway litter, work zone safety and more. Each year, students step up to the plate and present us with impressive, innovative ideas,” she said.
Participating students were given information on the shortage of commercial truck parking areas along the state’s major interstate corridors. Per PennDOT, during peak demand periods, around 12,100 trucks require parking. Combined parking spaces of state and private truck stops, PennDOT rest areas, and Pennsylvania Turnpike service plazas total around 11,600 spaces.
According to the contest description, “Trucks parking on highway shoulders and ramps is common during overnight hours and presents a significant safety issue. As just-in-time deliveries continue to be the mainstay of global business, the demand for truck parking will continue to increase. Federal hours-of-service regulations require more downtime for drivers, which translates into an increased demand for truck parking, and many local governments have strict ordinances against overnight truck parking in their communities.”
For the challenge, students were directed to choose one of 12 geographic areas where truck parking is a problem and develop an innovative approach to increase parking availability while also offsetting potential construction costs.
The contest requirements state, ““Your solution must consider local ordinances and zoning laws for the area selected, commercial entity interaction in land development, community impact, restroom facilities and space requirements for commercial trucks that are generally 70-80 feet long.”
Judging will include points for effectiveness, community benefits, cost-effectiveness, innovation, and overall presentation.
PennDOT’s engineering districts will select regional winners in March who will receive a certificate and progress to a statewide competition where they will present their solutions to the PennDOT Secretary and a panel of judges in April. These parties will select an overall winner at this time.
“Another important purpose of the Innovations Challenge is to introduce students to the possibility of a career in transportation, maybe even with PennDOT,” said Campbell.
Source: ttnews
