The parking spaces have sensors imbedded in the parking lot spaces. The signs on the freeway read the sensors.
I guess they are solar. When a truck is covering one, and when the light is shining on it, it is available.
No overnight parking at rest area?
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I guess they are solar. When a truck is covering one, and when the light is shining on it, it is available.
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DonTom
Well-known member
But then how would they work at night? Perhaps not solar, but it probably has to be some type of sensor at each space, as you say.
-Don- Ocala North RV Resort, FL
Send me some blank checks and I'll pass them out at rest areas
But seriously my first college degree was in Sociology. Two of the top signs of a sociopath is trouble keeping a job and impulsive behavior. So they are always broke because they immediately spend whatever money they have. While I have empathy for them they need medication not handouts. And I don't want to camp next to them because other signs are physical violence and stealing.Does your Tesla work at night?
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DonTom
Well-known member
What does that have to do with detecting the sun? Sure, there can be a battery, but what is then being detected?
Ocala North RV Resort
Rene T
Site Team
Maybe it’s something similar to what activates traffic lights
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DonTom
Well-known member
Could be, but how that works varies a bit. Some places use cameras, others detect metal that is above the road. The camera ones cause problems when the sun is shinning into them. I used to live by one and went to work right when that was happening. I had to "blow" the red light every sunny morning, or else I would have to wait hours for the sun to rise more.
-Don- Ocala North RV Resort, FL
Oldgator73
Well-known member
This is not an official DOT site. I haven’t done any research so if somebody finds any of the information incorrect don’t castigate me too badly.
www.interstaterestareas.com
Overnight Parking Rules – Interstate Rest Areas
www.interstaterestareas.com
High-Tech Sensors Will Alert Truckers of Open Spaces at Florida Rest Stop | Transport Topics
Keith Mullin felt lucky he found a space to park his truck Oct. 6 at an Interstate 4 rest area in Longwood, Fla., after a 20-hour trip from central Wisconsin.
High-Tech Sensors Will Alert Truckers of Open Spaces at Florida Rest Stop
Keith Mullin felt lucky he found a space to park his truck Oct. 6 at an Interstate 4 rest area in Longwood, Fla., after a 20-hour trip from central Wisconsin.
Truck spaces at rest areas — including the 17 at the congested rest stop on eastbound I-4 about two miles north of State Road 434 — fill up fast. That often forces tired drivers to either keep driving or park illegally on the highway’s shoulder near the rest area that people who live close by would like to see closed.
Now, the Florida Department of Transportation plans to help commercial drivers with a new technology that detects empty spaces at rest areas and weigh stations and alerts them through message boards and websites.
“Basically you have X number of truck spaces,” transportation department spokesman Steve Olson said. “So this is to utilize them efficiently by using technology.”
With the growing number of big rigs on I-4 and other interstate highways, truckers are finding it increasingly difficult to stop and rest as required by federal laws.
But Mullin isn’t convinced the high-tech system will do much good.
“I think it will help somewhat, but it’s not the answer,” Mullin, 53, said as he walked across the parking lot at the eastbound I-4 rest area. “Expanding rest stops and having more spaces would help a lot more.”
RELATED: Scarce truck parking has Atlanta looking for solutions
State transportation officials acknowledge the area needs more places for truckers to rest, as a growing economy and more people shopping online requires additional trucks. But building new rest areas or expanding current ones is not easy.
For years, nearby Seminole residents have pressed transportation officials to move or shutter the I-4 rest areas, saying the burgeoning number of parked trucks create noise and air pollution.
State officials ditched plans last year to relocate the Seminole rest areas to Volusia County near the State Road 44 and I-4 interchange after Volusia leaders strongly objected, saying they would rather see high-end industries rather than trucks in that area.
RELATED: Iowa DOT to install system to help truck drivers find parking along I-80
Olson said the agency has no plans to expand the Longwood rest stop, and it likely will stay open “for the foreseeable future.”
“You need to find land that’s suitable,” he said. “You also need to get the local governments to support it. And then there are the capital costs and acquisition costs. It’s not something that can happen overnight.”
So for now, the state plans to rely on the new $1.8-million truck parking availability system at the Seminole rest stop and six others along Interstate 95 in Brevard and Flagler counties.
Work crews this month will begin planting underground sensors shaped like hockey pucks at each truck space, along with detection devices at the entrances and exits of rest stops and weigh stations to monitor the number of available parking spaces.
RELATED: NCDOT considering technology, more truck stops to ease parking shortage
The electronic sensors will relay the information to the state’s FL511.com web site, mobile apps and message boards along I-4 and I-95, showing truckers down the road how many empty spaces are available. The system should be running by spring.
“I think it can be good,” trucker John Lewis of Cookeville, Tenn., said as he prepared to climb into the driver’s seat of his tractor-trailer at the Seminole I-4 rest stop and head to Jacksonville and then Louisiana.
“When you’re tired, you need to stop driving,” said Lewis, 62. “But if you pull into some rest stops, you can’t get a space so you have to park along the side of the road or somewhere there isn’t a space and then you get blocked in.”
Mullin called it “a Catch-22” situation.
“They require you to stop to rest” after 10 hours of driving, he said. “But there’s very few places to stop.”
Klege
Active member
Don't pull your slides out, don't use your jacks and you will be fine.
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DonTom
Well-known member
I have NEVER seen ANY rest stops in CA that did not allow overnight parking.
In fact, I have only seen that here if Florida, but they are so busy I can understand why. FL has MANY rest stops and most of them are packed full.
But I was glad to see this:
"Time limits are not generally strictly enforced unless there is reason to believe the rules are being abused."
But how is "abused" defined?
BTW, I have never seen "Service Plazas" anywhere other than the FL Turnpike to get down here. But I have also never been on a Turnpike before. So how does that work, will I get a bill for using it when I am back in Reno? I have a NV plate on this RV.
BTW, I saw something unusual on the way here. About 150 miles north of here there was a fairly large (at least three feet long) Iguana Lizard about two feet from the pavement looking like it was about to cross over the turnpike. I passed it. I hope it had enough sense to turn around. It must have been somebody's escaped pet. It sure looked like it was going to cross the turnpike. It didn't get far, if it did.
-Don- Everglades, FL
Laura & Charles
Well-known member
Yes, they photograph your license plate and will mail you a bill. There’s a significant up charge to that; you can save some money getting a Sun Pass.
Many lizards are native to Florida, some grow quite large… not likely an escaped pet. I lived in Ft Lauderdale for a while within a short walk to a small park. A rather large one liked to hang out there and was camouflaged very well and folks didn’t see him until he moved. Always got a laugh out of the screams that could frequently be heard.
Many lizards are native to Florida, some grow quite large… not likely an escaped pet. I lived in Ft Lauderdale for a while within a short walk to a small park. A rather large one liked to hang out there and was camouflaged very well and folks didn’t see him until he moved. Always got a laugh out of the screams that could frequently be heard.
Rene T
Site Team
FL now takes EZ Pass
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DonTom
Well-known member
Well, I will only be on it a couple of times. I noticed different prices for different sections. I guess I need to pay for each section. But why doesn't FL get its revenue for the roads from the gas & EV tax (California when registering an EV)as most other states? BTW, I noticed all those long bridges that have no fees before getting to Florida. CA charges for bridges, but not for any roads that I am aware of.
Iguanas are NOT native to anywhere in the USA. However, it is very possible that Florida has enough escaped ones that they reproduce here.
There is a "desert Iguana" in the SW deserts that is native to the USA but it's not really a true Iguana and doesn't look anything like the true iguana. Herpetology has been an interest of mine for many years.
-Don- Everglades NP, FL
Mark_K5LXP
Well-known member
There are a few roads around Irvine that have tolls, but it's mostly bridges. Just so happens I used to work for the outfit that supplies both the CA and FL toll collection RF systems. The tags are often used for parking and other access control as well. Even though you'll only be "passing through" FL it's probably cost effective to get a tag for your RV. It doesn't take many tolls at the elevated service charge to break even on the tag.
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
Isaac-1
Well-known member
The toll road craze took off in Florida about 25 years ago, to support their ongoing population explosion, now they seem to be everywhere. The same thing happened in Texas, mostly in Houston and Dallas, but elsewhere as well, and continues to happen. In Texas the idea was initially that those that could afford the toll roads could have a faster, less hectic commute, but over time they just kept building toll roads to connect growing suburbs, and now it is to the point where it is difficult to navigate through these areas without ended up on a toll road, or driving many miles out of your way.
Rob&Deryl
Well-known member
If FL will use EZ Pass, you can get a free one from NJ. If you plan on any Northeast travel, there are many toll roads that take EZ Pass. Might not help on current trip though.
LarsMac
Well-known member
Unfortunately, Florida has their own toll system, SUNPass.
EZ Pass is not accepted, yet.
You can get the SUN Pass by visiting one of the service plazas on the Turnpike, and activate it there.
We've managed to collect several toll sensors, SUNPass, EZ Pass, TxTag.
That collection covers most of the toll roads East of the Rockies.
We'll look into the California tolls before we head that way next year.
EZ Pass is not accepted, yet.
You can get the SUN Pass by visiting one of the service plazas on the Turnpike, and activate it there.
We've managed to collect several toll sensors, SUNPass, EZ Pass, TxTag.
That collection covers most of the toll roads East of the Rockies.
We'll look into the California tolls before we head that way next year.
Rene T
Site Team
That’s not true as far as EZ Pass. I used mine last month at a toll house and the attendant said they now accept EZ Pass
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LarsMac
Well-known member
Oops. That is pretty recent. Thanks for the update.
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