COORDINATION OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLE DATA COLLECTED BY AUTOMATIC TRAFFIC COUNTER (ATC) AND WEIGH-IN-MOTION (WIM) FINAL REPORT 526 Prepared by: Sherry L. Skszek 505 N. Tanque Verde Loop Rd. Tucson, AZ 85748 MAY 2003 Prepared for: Arizona Department of Transportation 206 South 17th Avenue Phoenix, Arizona 85007 in cooperation with U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration The contents of the report reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the Arizona Department of Transportation or the Federal Highway Administration. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. Trade or manufacturers’ names which may appear herein are cited only because they are considered essential to the objectives of the report. The U.S. Government and The State of Arizona do not endorse products or manufacturers. Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. FHWA-AZ-03-526 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date May 2003 COORDINATION OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLE DATA COLLECTED BY AUTOMATIC TRAFFIC COUNTER (ATC) AND WEIGH-IN-MOTION (WIM) 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Authors 8. Performing Organization Report No. Sherry L. Skszek 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. Sherry L. Skszek 505 N. Tanque Verde Loop Rd. 11. Contract or Grant No. Tucson, AZ 85748 SPR-PL-1-(59) 526 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13.Type of Report & Period Covered ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FINAL 206 S. 17TH AVENUE PHOENIX, ARIZONA 85007 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Project Manager: John Semmens 15. Supplementary Notes Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration 16. Abstract The purpose of this report is to examine the current state of commercial vehicle data handling in an effort to identify ways in which the Arizona Department of Transportation’s (AzDOT) practices can be improved. This is done through a three-fold approach that includes a literature review, survey of other states’ practices, and an AzDOT needs assessment. The literature review shows an absence of a best practices consensus relative to coordination of commercial vehicle data. Obstacles to developing an effective program appear to be lack of funding, data quality, timeliness of delivery, and incompatible data formats. Success is contingent on inter- and intra-agency cooperation among data collection units. A survey of state practices showed data collection is typically centralized in one or two departments. Data collection is part of a permanent program using permanent data collection sites supplemented by portable equipment. No apparent method of operation led to an “effective” or “very effective” self-rating. Commercial vehicle data are primarily used to meet federal reporting requirements with limited use for size and weight enforcement. The needs assessment showed the lack of commercial vehicle data for effective size and weight enforcement as the area where the current system falls short of user needs. This is due in part to the lack of coordination and communication between data collection units. Additionally, a large percentage of traffic count and classification equipment is in need of repair or replacement. Weigh-in-motion equipment is absent on critical interstate highways and truck bypass routes. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement 23. Registrant's Seal data sharing, data processing, size and weight Document is available to the U.S. public enforcement, weigh-in-motion, automatic traffic counter, through the National Technical commercial vehicle, data collection, weigh stations, Information Service, Springfield, trucks, overweight, vehicle classification, pavement Virginia, 22161 damage, traffic data, intelligent transportation systems 19. Security Classification 20. Security Classification 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 92 SI* (MODERN METRIC) CONVERSION FACTORS APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS TO SI UNITS APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS FROM SI UNITS Symbol When You Know Multiply By To Find Symbol Symbol When You Know Multiply By To Find Symbol LENGTH LENGTH in inches 25.4 millimeters mm mm millimeters 0.039 inches in ft feet 0.305 meters m m meters 3.28 feet ft yd yards 0.914 meters m m meters 1.09 yards yd mi miles 1.61 kilometers km km kilometers 0.621 miles mi AREA AREA 2 2 2 2 in square inches 645.2 square millimeters mm mm Square millimeters 0.0016 square inches in 2 2 2 2 ft square feet 0.093 square meters m m Square meters 10.764 square feet ft 2 2 2 2 yd square yards 0.836 square meters m m Square meters 1.195 square yards yd ac acres 0.405 hectares ha ha hectares 2.47 acres ac 2 2 2 2 mi square miles 2.59 square kilometers km km Square kilometers 0.386 square miles mi VOLUME VOLUME fl oz fluid ounces 29.57 milliliters mL mL milliliters 0.034 fluid ounces fl oz gal gallons 3.785 liters L L liters 0.264 gallons gal 3 3 3 3 ft cubic feet 0.028 cubic meters m m Cubic meters 35.315 cubic feet ft 3 3 3 3 yd cubic yards 0.765 cubic meters m m Cubic meters 1.308 cubic yards yd NOTE: Volumes greater than 1000L shall be shown in m3. MASS MASS oz ounces 28.35 grams g g grams 0.035 ounces oz lb pounds 0.454 kilograms kg kg kilograms 2.205 pounds lb T short tons (2000lb) 0.907 megagrams mg Mg megagrams 1.102 short tons (2000lb) T (or “metric ton”) (or “t”) (or “metric ton”) TEMPERATURE (exact) TEMPERATURE (exact) ºF Fahrenheit 5(F-32)/9 Celsius temperature ºC ºC Celsius temperature 1.8C + 32 Fahrenheit ºF temperature or (F-32)/1.8 temperature ILLUMINATION ILLUMINATION fc foot candles 10.76 lux lx lx lux 0.0929 foot-candles fc fl foot-Lamberts 3.426 candela/m2 cd/m2 cd/m2 candela/m2 0.2919 foot-Lamberts fl FORCE AND PRESSURE OR STRESS FORCE AND PRESSURE OR STRESS lbf poundforce 4.45 newtons N N newtons 0.225 poundforce lbf lbf/in2 poundforce per 6.89 kilopascals kPa kPa kilopascals 0.145 poundforce per lbf/in2 square inch square inch TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 4 1.1 Purpose................................................................................................................ 4 1.2 Background......................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Project Overview ................................................................................................ 6 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Purpose and Methods.......................................................................................... 7 2.2 State Departments of Transportation .................................................................. 7 2.3 Related Research................................................................................................. 7 2.4 Conclusions....................................................................................................... 17 3.0 COMMERCIAL VEHICLE DATA HANDLING PRACTICES SURVEY ................................. 19 3.1 Purpose.............................................................................................................. 19 3.2 Methodology..................................................................................................... 19 3.3 Survey Instrument............................................................................................. 21 3.4 Survey Data....................................................................................................... 21 4.0 COMMERCIAL VEHICLE DATA NEEDS ASSESSMENT .................................................. 35 4.1 Purpose and Methods ........................................................................................ 35 4.2 Interviews .......................................................................................................... 35 4.3 Data Collection ................................................................................................. 36 4.4 ATC and WIM Site Maps ................................................................................. 40 4.5 Data Flow and Usage ........................................................................................ 43 4.6 End-User Data Requirements ........................................................................... 43 4.7 Weight Enforcement Potential .......................................................................... 45 4.8 State Practices ................................................................................................... 46 4.9 Technology ....................................................................................................... 50 4.10 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 51 5.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................. 53 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 55 APPENDIX A: SURVEY INSTRUMENT .............................................................................. 58 APPENDIX B: COMMERCIAL VEHICLE DATA HANDLING PRACTICES