PHOENIX -- A survey of commercial vehicle drivers and dispatchers who travel Interstate 10 is underway to better understand the challenges and issues commercial drivers face when seeking parking at locations along the I-10 corridor. 

The I-10 Corridor Coalition, composed of the departments of transportation in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, is conducting a survey through Oct. 30.

Truck drivers and dispatchers are being asked to provide input to help guide the creation of a truck parking availability system (TPAS). The I-10 Corridor Coalition was awarded a $6.85 million U.S. Department of Transportation Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment grant in 2019 to implement an I-10 truck parking availability system along the corridor in the coalition states. 

To complete the survey, commercial drivers and dispatchers can use this survey link (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/I10TPAS2020) or visit  i10connects.com  and go to the TPAS Get Involved page.

The purpose of the I-10 Corridor Coalition project is to implement a truck parking availability detection and information system at 37 public truck parking locations along the I-10 Corridor from California to Texas. This system will provide real-time truck parking information to assist truck drivers and dispatchers in making informed parking decisions, and improve safety, mobility, operational and environmental elements. 

The Arizona Department of Transportation is planning to make improvements at four Arizona rest areas along I-10 at locations on both the eastbound and westbound sides of the highway. Those rest areas include Bouse Wash, Ehrenberg, Texas Canyon and San Simon.

For more information about the survey, the I-10 truck parking availability system project, or the I-10 Corridor Coalition, please visit i10connects.com.

PHOENIX – Arizona and three other states have received a federal grant to fund the development of a program alerting commercial truck drivers to available public parking at Interstate 10 rest areas.

Public parking for commercial vehicles is among the priorities of the I-10 Corridor Coalition, which Arizona, California, Texas and New Mexico founded in 2016 to facilitate safer and more efficient commercial and personal travel along I-10. Texas applied for and was awarded the grant on behalf of all four states.

The $6.85 million Federal Highway Administration grant requires a 50% match by the four states. Arizona will receive $3.2 million and will provide $1.6 million in improvements at four rest areas involved in the program for a total investment of $4.8 million.

In Arizona, the grant will be used to develop a system using signs along I-10 to inform drivers about available parking at four rest areas: Bouse Wash (milepost 53) and Burnt Well (milepost 86) in western Arizona, and at Texas Canyon (milepost 320) and San Simon (milepost 388) in southeastern Arizona.

The program will help commercial vehicle drivers better plan their daily schedules and reduce the number of drivers parking on freeway shoulders and along ramps. It will improve safety by reducing the number of tired drivers, allow drivers to spend less time searching for parking spaces and reduce emissions and fuel consumption.

“This is exactly the kind of breakthrough program we had in mind when we launched the I-10 Corridor Coalition,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “By working together, our states can create a safer environment on I-10 that will be more efficient for drivers and boost economies across the region.”

The I-10 Corridor Coalition is designed to remove “friction” – such as the variety of commercial vehicle permitting and inspection practices in each state along I-10 – to move goods more efficiently.

I-10 is the primary trucking route connecting the markets of Southern California and Texas with international shipping. If the four states were combined, the region would have the world’s 10th-largest economy.

Learn more about the I-10 Corridor Coalition at i10Connects.com.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation is joining departments of transportation from Texas, New Mexico and California in seeking a federal grant to develop a program alerting commercial truck drivers to available public parking at Interstate 10 rest areas.

Public parking for commercial vehicles is among the priorities of the I-10 Corridor Coalition, which the states formed in 2016 to create safer and more efficient travel, both commercial and personal.

In seeking a $13.7 million Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment Grant through the Federal Highway Administration, the states are proposing a system that would inform drivers about available parking at rest areas through signs along I-10.

“When we launched the I-10 Corridor Coalition two years ago, this is exactly the kind of collaboration we had in mind,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “By working together, our states can create a safer environment on I-10 that will be more efficient for drivers and boost economies across the region.”

The system would include ADOT rest areas serving I-10 in each direction at Bouse Wash (milepost 53) and Burnt Well (milepost 86) in western Arizona, and at Texas Canyon (milepost 320) and San Simon (milepost 388) in southeastern Arizona.

The program would help commercial vehicle drivers better plan their daily schedules and reduce the number of drivers parking on freeway shoulders and along ramps.

It also would improve safety by reducing the number of tired drivers, reduce time that drivers spend searching for parking spaces and reduce emissions and fuel consumption.

The I-10 Corridor Coalition is designed to remove “friction” – such as the variety of commercial vehicle permitting and inspection practices in each state along I-10 – to move goods more efficiently.

I-10 is the primary trucking route connecting the markets of Southern California and Texas with international shipping. If the four states were combined, the region would have the 10th-largest economy in the world.

Learn more about the I-10 Corridor Coalition at i10Connects.com.

PHOENIX – In a move to make travel on Interstate 10 safer and more efficient, the transportation leaders in four states have created a coalition supporting innovation along the corridor.

An agreement establishing the voluntary I-10 Corridor Coalition, proposed by Arizona Department of Transportation Director John Halikowski, was signed June 2 by Halikowski and:

• Malcolm Dougherty, director of the California Department of Transportation
• Tom Church, cabinet secretary of the New Mexico Department of Transportation
• James Bass, executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation

“The efficient flow of commerce in Arizona drives our state’s economic vitality,” Halikowski said. “This agreement with our transportation partners in California, New Mexico and Texas will work to build a reliable, friction-free I-10 corridor to support Arizona’s businesses and export industries.

“We want to see the day when a truck or a non-commercial vehicle can travel the 1,700 miles between Los Angeles ports and Houston ports – safely, efficiently and without delay,” Halikowski added.

The I-10 Corridor Coalition is modeled after a coalition involving 15 states that govern Interstate 95 between Florida and Maine. For Arizona, the partnership is designed to remove what transportation officials refer to as “friction” – such as the variety of commercial vehicle permitting and inspection practices in each state along I-10 – that makes the movement of goods less efficient than it could be.

Commerce flowing on Interstate 10 across California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas is the engine of a powerful economic region. I-10 is the primary trucking route to and from the Port of Long Beach, which connects to Asian markets, and connects the trillion-dollar markets of Southern California and central Texas.

If the four states were combined, the region would have the 10th largest economy in the world.

“Someday we want the I-10 Corridor to be filled with truck platoons and connected vehicles, weigh-in-motion sensors and automated truck parking lots,” Halikowski said, outlining a vision for the safer, more efficient movement of commercial and non-commercial traffic.

The coalition will employ the transportation expertise of the states collectively to enable resource sharing, joint testing and economies of scale, Halikowski said. It will apply best practices to improve safety and efficiency along the corridor, improve freight movement, expand and coordinate the use of technology along the corridor, and promote cooperative planning.

The coalition also will engage other levels of government and private stakeholders throughout the corridor to achieve the goals of friction-free travel.