A Proposed Methodology for Determination, Analysis, And
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Copyright by Alison Jane Conway 2009 The Dissertation Committee for Alison Jane Conway certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Direct User-Charging of Commercial Vehicles for Infrastructure Cost Recovery Committee: ________________________________________ C. Michael Walton, Supervisor ________________________________________ James S. Dyer ________________________________________ Randy Machemehl ________________________________________ Jorge Prozzi ________________________________________ S. Travis Waller ________________________________________ Zhanmin Zhang Direct User-Charging of Commercial Vehicles for Infrastructure Cost Recovery by Alison Jane Conway, B.C.E.; M.S. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August 2009 Acknowledgements I would like to express my thanks to my research advisor, Dr. C. Michael Walton for his continued guidance and support over the course of my graduate work. I would also like to express my gratitude to Vicki Simpson for her constant willingness to provide help whenever needed. Many people contributed valuable assistance in completion of this work. Thanks to Dr. Avinash Unnikrishnan for taking so much time to help me with coding, and to Dave Lubitz for his willingness to hold multiple discussions with me about bridge design. Thanks also to Dr. Mike Murphy for being extremely helpful in preparing pavement cross-sections and material information for the case study. Thanks to the members of my dissertation committee: Dr. Jim Dyer, Dr. Randy Machemehl, Dr. Jorge Prozzi, Dr. Travis Waller, and Dr. Zhanmin Zhang. I truly appreciate your taking the time to discuss this work with me. Thanks also for asking probing questions that inspired me to explore issues that I had not previously considered. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Aileen and Leo Conway, and my sister, Moira, for their continued support. I would especially like to thank my mom for her editing help. Thanks also to my sister, Leah, and brother-in-law, Mark, for joining me on family trips to the library. iv Direct User-Charging of Commercial Vehicles for Infrastructure Cost Recovery Alison Jane Conway, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2009 Supervisor: C. Michael Walton The purpose of this research is to provide a theoretical framework for future commercial vehicle user-charging using real-time vehicle weight and configuration information collected using weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems. This work provides an extensive review of both mechanisms and technologies employed for commercial and passenger vehicle user-charging worldwide. Existing commercial vehicle-user charging structures use only broad vehicle classifications to distinguish between vehicles for the pricing of user-fees. The methodology proposed in this study employs highway cost allocation methods for development of an “Axle-Load” toll structure. A theoretical case study, based on information from Texas State Highway 130, is performed to explore the equity improvements that could be achieved through implementation of this proposed structure. Some sensitivity analysis is also performed to examine the potential revenue impacts due to uncertainties in different data inputs under existing and proposed structures. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Current Mechanisms for Highway Funding in the US ................................... 5 2.1 User Fees ................................................................................................................... 5 2.1.1 Federal User Fees ............................................................................................... 5 2.1.2 State User Fees .................................................................................................. 6 2.1.3 Toll Road User Fees .......................................................................................... 11 2.2 User Fee Revenues .................................................................................................. 14 2.2.1 Federal User Fee Revenues .............................................................................. 15 2.2.2 State User Fee Revenues ................................................................................. 22 2.3 User Fee Equity ....................................................................................................... 24 2.3.1 Federal User Fee Equity ................................................................................... 24 2.3.2 State User Fee Equity ....................................................................................... 28 2.3.3 Toll Road Equity ............................................................................................... 29 Chapter 3: Future Mechanisms for Highway Funding ................................................. 34 3.1 User Fee Alternatives .............................................................................................. 34 3.2 Road Pricing Motivations ........................................................................................ 41 3.3 Road Pricing Technologies and Applications .......................................................... 44 vi 3.3.1 Electronic Toll Collection ................................................................................. 46 3.3.2 Facility Congestion Tolls ................................................................................... 48 3.3.3 Cordon and Area Congestion Pricing ............................................................... 58 3.3.4 Distance-Based Charges ................................................................................... 62 3.3.5 Emissions Based Charges ................................................................................. 67 3.3.6 Truck-Related Road Pricing Impacts ................................................................ 70 3.4 Future Road Pricing Alternatives ............................................................................ 73 Chapter 4: Weigh-in-Motion Systems and Technologies ............................................ 81 4.1 WIM Technologies .................................................................................................. 81 4.2 WIM Applications .................................................................................................... 86 4.2.1 Planning............................................................................................................ 86 4.2.2 Weigh Enforcement ......................................................................................... 87 4.2.3 WIM for Highway Cost Allocation .................................................................... 90 Chapter 5: Highway Cost Allocation Studies .............................................................. 94 5.1 General Cost Allocation Methods ........................................................................... 94 5.2 Quantifying Infrastructure Costs ............................................................................ 98 5.2.1 Pavement Consumption .................................................................................. 98 5.2.2 Bridge Consumption ...................................................................................... 102 vii Chapter 6: Methodology for Toll Rate Determination and Analysis .......................... 107 6.2. Determination of Toll Structure ........................................................................... 107 6.3 Axle-Load Toll Rate Estimation ............................................................................. 117 6.3.1 Common Base Toll Estimation ...................................................................... 119 6.3.2 Pavement Construction Toll Share ................................................................ 120 6.3.3 Pavement Maintenance Toll Share ................................................................ 124 6.3.4 Bridge Construction Toll Share ...................................................................... 125 6.3.5 Bridge Maintenance Toll Share ...................................................................... 128 6.3.6 Final Axle-Load Toll ....................................................................................... 129 6.4 Number-of-Axle Toll Rate Estimation .................................................................. 130 6.5. Cost Responsibility Estimation ............................................................................. 131 6.5.1 Pavement Construction Cost Responsibility Estimation ................................ 133 6.5.2 Pavement Maintenance Cost Responsibility Estimation ............................... 135 6.5.3 Bridge Construction Responsibility Estimation ............................................. 135 6.5.4 Bridge Maintenance Responsibility Estimation ............................................. 136 6.5.5 Final Vehicle Cost Responsibility .................................................................... 136 6.6 Toll Rate Equity Analysis ....................................................................................... 137 Chapter 7: Case Study ............................................................................................. 141 viii 7.1 Proposed Technology System for Tolling ............................................................