PennDOT announced on Thursday that it was awarded a $1.3 million SMART (Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation) grant from the United States Department of Transportation.
The grant will support PennDOT’s pilot of Freight Signal Priority technology at the two high truck traffic locations. The Freight Signal Priority technology will be installed on Cameron Street in Harrisburg and along Harrisburg Pike (the “Miracle Mile”) in Middlesex Township, Cumberland County.
The pilot locations were chosen based on the traffic signals’ efficiency along the corridors, the percentage of each location’s total traffic coming from trucks, the air quality reports from USDOT’s Equitable Transportation Community Data, and the hardware in place at the traffic signals. After the pilot period ends, the technology will be deployed in other high-freight areas around the state.
PennDOT says the technology uses real-time GPS data from truck electronic logging devices to determine a truck’s speed and location. When the truck is approaching a traffic signal, the system sends a priority request to the signal controller, causing the green light to be extended by five to seven seconds. This allows the truck to safely move through the intersection instead of stopping, which keeps traffic moving and reduces emissions produced by trucks idling.
PennDOT says that FSP technology has been successfully deployed in other states, like Texas, and has the potential to significantly improve traffic flow, and improve air quality.
“Truck congestion has a significant impact on the supply chain, causing delays, increasing costs for consumers, and making the job more challenging for truck drivers,” Rebecca Oyler, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, said in the news release. “Pennsylvania ranks eighth in the U.S. for statewide costs related to truck congestion at over $3.7 billion, so we’re excited to be on the cutting edge with this pilot project. Technology solutions hold a lot of promise for helping to solve the challenging issue of truck congestion. We’re anxious to see the results of the project.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced last monthit awarded more than $130 million for 42 projects through the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation Grants Program. The grant program will provide $500 million over five years for state, local, and tribal governments. The U.S. Department of Transportation says the grants will allow state, local, and tribal governments to leverage technology to create safer, more efficient, and more innovative transportation systems. So far the program has awarded nearly $280 million across 45 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington D.C.
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