Input Guidelines for Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator Model, Volume 3: Final Report (2015)

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2.0 Project Work Approach This research effort was undertaken in 11 work tasks which are described below. The initial research plan included only a detailed work effort for Tasks 1-4. A Project Panel meeting was held following Task 4, to approve a more detailed work plan for the remainder of the project. Task 1 – Develop Plan for Reviewing Current Practices and Data Sources for MOVES The objective of this task was to describe the sources and methods for developing inputs for MOVES and produce a synthesis of the general availability of and practices in use to develop inputs for MOVES for both regional and project-level analysis. Activities included reviewing existing MOVES-related surveys; developing a survey instrument and sampling plan for a new survey of practitioners; and developing a list of relevant documents for a literature review. The survey instrument is provided as Appendix D of this document. Work was initiated in the spring of 2012. Task 2 – Execute the Approved Task 1 Plan and Collect/ Assemble Information The objectives of this task were to conduct a literature review, including developing an annotated bibliography and summary of each MOVES input; and to conduct and compile the results of a web-based survey exploring how practitioners are developing (or planning to develop) MOVES inputs and priorities for additional guidance on input development. A summary of the literature review is provided in Section 3.0 of this report, and detailed findings are presented in Appendices A and B. The literature review and survey were conducted during the late spring, summer, and early fall of 2012. Task 3 – Prepare a Technical Memorandum Summarizing the State of Practice for Developing Inputs for MOVES The technical memorandum summarized the state of the practice based on the survey results and literature review conducted as part of Task 2. It was developed during the fall of 2012 and provided to the Project Panel for review before proceeding with Task 4. Task 4 – Interim Report As part of Task 4, the research team developed an interim report that included a revised version of the Task 3 technical memorandum, as well as a detailed work plan for Phase 2 and a draft outline of the handbook to be developed as the final 2-1

product. The interim report was developed during the winter of 2013 and was reviewed by the Project Panel at a meeting in April 2013. Task 5 – Conduct Additional Sensitivity Analysis A sensitivity analysis was undertaken to test the sensitivity of MOVES outputs to key inputs. The focus was on inputs for which sensitivity findings were not already available. This analysis had two objectives: 1) to provide information to MOVES users to help decide whether expending additional effort to gather more detailed local data is worthwhile; and 2) to assist the project team in determining where to focus resources in developing information and sample datasets. The results of the sensitivity analysis are presented alongside the results of other sensitivity analyses in Section 6.0 of this report. A summary of findings is also provided in the Practitioners’ Handbook, and relevant findings are quoted at the beginning of the discussion of each input in the document. The sensitivity analysis was conducted during the late spring and early summer of 2013. Task 6 – Develop Draft Resource Text The objective of this task was to develop draft resource document text describing the alternatives for each data input, how to develop the input using alternative methods, and recommended methods in different situations. An outline of the resource document was first approved by the Project Panel. The Project Panel recommended that the resource document be split into two volumes, one addressing the development of regional-scale inputs, and one addressing the development of project-scale inputs. The draft resource document text was developed in the summer and fall of 2013 and early winter of 2014, and was reviewed by the Project Panel at a meeting on January 31, 2014. Task 7 – Collect and Analyze Data and Develop Sample Datasets The objectives of this task were to collect and analyze supplemental data that may be used to create MOVES inputs for different situations, and to develop sample datasets that MOVES users could apply as an alternative to developing locally specific data inputs. The datasets that were obtained, evaluated, and analyzed included traffic monitoring data collected by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA); intelligent transportation systems (ITS) monitoring data collected on freeway systems in two cities (Atlanta, Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida); vehicle trace data from a travel survey in Atlanta conducted using global positioning systems (GPS) technology; aggregated private vendor travel time data in the same two cities; travel demand forecasting model data from these cities; and instrumented vehicle data from a major port, to illustrate the development of off-network inputs. To the extent possible, vehicle activity data were collected from the same two cities so that different datasets could be directly compared. 2-2

In addition, a number of potential sources on commercial vehicle fleet and activity data were investigated to determine their utility in refining heavy-duty vehicle inputs. Section 7.0 of this report describes the data acquisition and analysis process in detail. In some cases, the data sources were successfully used to develop sample MOVES inputs, or to illustrate how such inputs could be developed using local data. Data files are provided in the form of Excel workbooks made available in conjunction with the Practitioners’ Handbook, and examples of the use of the data are incorporated throughout the document. In other cases, data sources proved inadequate for developing MOVES inputs, for various reasons. The data analysis was conducted from the summer of 2013 through the winter 2014. Task 8 – Develop Tools The objective of this task was to develop tools (spreadsheets, scripts, or other data processing software) that MOVES users can use to translate local data obtained from various sources into MOVES input formats. Four tools were developed: • MOVES Operating Mode Data Import Tool – A utility program that assists MOVES users in taking vehicle trajectories from a traffic simulation model and converting them to operating mode distributions for input to MOVES. • MOVES Meteorology Data Import Tool – A utility program that reads the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) Local Climatological Data (LCD) in ASCII format and carries out most of the steps to convert it to MOVES temperature/relative humidity CSV input format. • MOVES Highway Statistics Analysis Tool – An Excel workbook that calculates state-level road type distributions and vehicle-miles of travel (VMT) fractions by Highway Performance Monitoring Systems (HPMS) vehicle type, for all 50 states, from data reported by FHWA in the Highway Statistics Series. • MOVES VTRIS Analysis Tool – An Excel workbook that provides summary tabulations from the 2012 Vehicle Travel Information System (VTRIS), for states reporting classified traffic count data to FHWA. This tool provides sample hour and day-of-week VMT fractions by state, road type, and vehicle class. The opportunities for tool development were limited by the varied nature of local data sources. For example, state and metropolitan travel demand models are often used to develop inputs for VMT, speed distributions, and road type distributions. However, different modeling platforms and data formats are used and it is not practical to develop a tool that would interface with all platforms. Similarly, state registration data come in many formats and it is not possible to develop a single tool that will process all formats. The tools that were developed are described in Section 8.0 of this report and made available in conjunction with 2-3

the Practitioners’ Handbook. Tool development took place during the fall of 2013 and winter and spring of 2014. Task 9 – Develop Examples The objective of this task was to develop real-world examples of how MOVES inputs can be developed. While examples are provided throughout the Practitioners’ Handbook for each input, the examples in Section 5.0 of the handbook provide a comprehensive overview of all MOVES inputs in one place. Three examples were developed: • A regional (county)-scale example using limited data (such as might be available in a rural area) (Volume 1, Section 5.1); • A regional (county)-scale example using more extensive data (such as might be available in an urban area with a well-developed travel model and traffic monitoring system) (Volume 1, Section 5.2); and • A project-level example including both on- and off-network inputs (Volume 2, Section 5.1). The examples are meant to be hypothetical rather than representing a particular area or project, although they draw from real-world data. The examples were developed in the spring of 2014. Task 10 – Develop Draft and Final Practitioners’ Handbook, Datasets, and Tools The objective of this task was to prepare draft and final versions of the Practitioners’ Handbook, datasets, and tools. The draft material in Task 6 was updated to incorporate the examples developed in Task 9 and documentation of the tools developed in Task 8. The draft final document, datasets, and tools incorporated Project Panel feedback on the Task 5-9 products, and integrated the products into a cohesive handbook with supporting materials. The draft Practitioners’ Handbook was developed in the spring of 2014. Task 11 – Develop Final Report The objective of this task was to prepare the final report for the project, documenting the project’s approach and activities (this report). 2-4