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From page 5... ... notes, "to achieve the highest and best use of a truck-only lane system investment requires an understanding of the market for truck-only lanes and designing a system that captures the greatest market share and provides the greatest opportunity to garner travel time savings."2 5 C H A P T E R 2 Background and Key Concepts 2Georgia Department of Transportation, Truck-Only Lanes Needs Analysis and Engineering Assessment, April 2008. Read the entire page →
From page 6... ... Economic Improved Freight Productivity CMV-Only Lane Users The productivity of freight movement in and around major metropolitan areas and along longhaul intercity corridors is an important factor in ensuring local, regional, and national economic competitiveness. Environmental Reduced Vehicle Emissions General Purpose Lane Users CMV-Only Lane Users Stop-and-go traffic conditions improve as congestion is decreased on general purpose lanes, and air pollution emissions from slowed or stalled cars and trucks will be reduced. Read the entire page →
From page 7... ... lanes or other types of special purpose lanes, and • Increased rail capacity. In many of the studies of CMV-only lanes that were identified in this project, traditional travel demand models have been used as the primary tool for evaluation. Read the entire page →
From page 8... ... • The operational benefits of separating trucks and autos are not captured in traditional travel demand models, thus the travel time savings may not be accurately reflected in the analysis. • Traditional travel demand models do not take into account the reliability benefits of CMVonly lanes. Read the entire page →
From page 9... ... Also, mandatory usage of truck-only lanes may be associated with opposition from stakeholders, such as the carrier and shipper industry, which would be important issues to consider as part of any planning/policy making processes related to tolling truck-only lanes. In the case of voluntary usage of tolled truck-only lanes, it would be important to assess the impact of various toll scenarios (variations in toll rates) Read the entire page →
From page 10... ... By completely separating trucks and autos they minimize weaving and maximize safety benefits. Nonexclusive truck lanes are mainline lanes that are not barrier separated (often using rumble strips) Read the entire page →
From page 11... ... Several other studies are summarized in Appendix A, including the I-710 Major Corridor Study (Los Angeles Metro) , I-75 truck lanes study (Florida and Georgia DOT) Read the entire page →
From page 12... ... Researchers are of the opinion that one of the key factors in achieving cost-effective pavement designs for heavy truck lanes is the use of premium base materials. Ongoing projects being conducted by TTI for TxDOT involve field testing of experimental base materials that are expected to provide useful information for the evaluation of existing material specifications, particularly for heavy truck traffic conditions. Read the entire page →
From page 13... ... Ferraro, and S Concas, The Potential for Reserved Truck Lanes and Truckways in Florida, Center for Urban Transportation Research, Research Report 21-17-422-LO, May 2002. Read the entire page →
From page 14... ... Program, examined the use of dedicated truck lanes, with and without the application of ITS technologies, to improve the performance of the freight movement system in metropolitan Chicago. Their focus was the feasibility of applying cooperative vehicle highway automation systems (CVHAS) Read the entire page →
From page 15... ... E., Advanced Vehicle Technologies and Exclusive Truck Lanes: Research from California PATH Program, presented at Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., January 2006. Table 2.3. Read the entire page →
From page 16... ... Many states are deploying unstaffed, remote, or virtual weigh stations that feature mainline WIM, camera systems, and near real-time data transmissions. Such a virtual weigh station can be deployed on dedicated truck lanes to spread the enforcement net of the state. Read the entire page →
From page 17... ... were defined by ISTEA as "any combination of a truck tractor and two or more trailers or semi-trailers which operate on the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways with a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) greater than 80,000 pounds." ISTEA also allowed grandfathering of existing LCV operations in states where LCVs were allowed prior to June 1, 1991. Read the entire page →
From page 18... ... Table 2.4 shows the truck productivity performance of dedicated truckways (with standard truck and LCV operations) compared to mixed freeways with standard truck operations. Read the entire page →
From page 19... ... Some of the key factors that will impact the effectiveness of LCV operations include organizational complexity, regulatory complexity, carrier participation, credentials, and truck size and weight uniformity. Western Uniformity Scenario Analysis The Western Governors' Association requested that U.S.DOT24 assess the impacts of lifting the LCV freeze and allowing harmonized LCV weights, dimensions, and routes among only those western states that currently allow LCVs. Read the entire page →
From page 20... ... Scenario VMT (Millions) Scenario Percent Change Five-Axle Tractor Semitrailer 14,476 3,442 -76% Six-Axle Tractor Semitrailer 1,924 938 -51% Five- or Six-Axle Double 1,351 750 -44% Six-Axle Truck Trailer 626 607 -3% Seven-Axle Double 188 2,190 +1,065% Eight-or-More-Axle Double 213 5,626 +2,541% Triples 45 473 +951% Total 18,823 14,028 -25% Source: U.S.DOT, Western Uniformity Scenario Analysis: A Regional Truck Size and Weight Scenario Requested by the Western Governors' Association, April 2004, http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/otps/truck/wusr/wusr.pdf. Read the entire page →
From page 21... ... Toll truckways, because of their physical separation from general purpose lanes, also address safety concerns of operating LCVs on general purpose lanes by completely eliminating the interaction between autos and LCVs. The Reason Foundation approach for the quantification of productivity benefits from LCV operations is based on the estimation of the incremental earnings for truck operators per day and the average number of miles driven per day on toll truckways, to arrive at the incremental earnings per mile. Read the entire page →
From page 22... ... Positive ROIs are observed for all the scenarios analyzed (based on varying assumptions related to capital cost, truckway utilization, and toll rates) , implying that the investment is always profitable under the given scenarios. Read the entire page →
From page 23... ... Thus, the results from the table would be particularly useful in analyzing what the optimal toll rates should be that would result in the highest ROI, based on the determination of the percent trucks using the CMV-only lanes (utilization) for different toll rate scenarios (typically, this can be done using data on truck value of time and an understanding of truck behavior under tolls using stated preference surveys) Read the entire page →

From page 5...

... notes, "to achieve the highest and best use of a truck-only lane system investment requires an understanding of the market for truck-only lanes and designing a system that captures the greatest market share and provides the greatest opportunity to garner travel time savings."2 5 C H A P T E R 2 Background and Key Concepts 2Georgia Department of Transportation, Truck-Only Lanes Needs Analysis and Engineering Assessment, April 2008.