State Highway Cost Allocation Studies (2008) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 10-22
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From page 10... ...
Most states doing these studies are using some variation of the methods developed in the 1982 Federal HCAS, and most have been making gradual evolutionary improvements while achieving better efficiency in performing these studies. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN HIGHWAY COST ALLOCATION STUDY METHODS AND SOFTWARE Since the 1997 Federal HCAS, several states have made enhancements to their own studies based in part on the research and methodological improvements in that study.
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From page 11... ...
After reviewing what various recent HCASs have done in defining vehicle classes, we will conclude this subsection with some additional elaboration of the issues relevant to establishing vehicle classes. The 1997 Federal HCAS examined a broad spectrum of vehicle types and weight classes.
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From page 12... ...
Other states have established vehicle classes based on both axle configuration and registered vehicle weight: • The 2007 Oregon HCAS modeled vehicle classes based on vehicle weights and number of axles in 2,000-lb increments. • The 1999 Arizona HCAS considered five broad vehicle types and 23 weight classes.
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From page 13... ...
FUNCTIONAL CLASSES OF ROAD SYSTEMS EXAMINED IN HIGHWAY COST ALLOCATION STUDIES The determination of the functional classes of road systems examined within an HCAS is important because higher order systems (e.g., Interstates, other freeways and expressways, and other principal arterials) are designed to higher standards to withstand the punishment of heavy axle loadings and high traffic levels.
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From page 14... ...
In the 1999 Arizona HCAS, an additional distinction was made in the simplified model between urban and rural capital costs with urban costs assumed to have been driven by congestion and allocated based on relative shares of VMT. The base Arizona HCAS model in the 1999 Arizona HCAS used axle loadings to assign cost responsibility for the additional pavement thickness required to accommodate heavy-truck traffic.
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From page 15... ...
The equity ratios created for each vehicle class serve as the principal findings of state HCASs. Although most attention in the literature focuses on cost allocation, revenue attribution has an equal weight in determining the outcome of an HCAS.
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Apportioned trucks Number of ID cards Truck ID cards Number of ID cards Truck permits Number of ID cards Other Vehicle-miles Miscellaneous Vehicle-miles Operatorís License Vehicle-miles Commercial Driver's License Vehicle-miles Usage Tax Buses 100% Other vehicles All excluding buses As reported Federal trucks and trailers Vehicle-miles Road Tolls Toll collection receipts Other Motor Carrier Taxes Weight distance Vehicle-miles Extended weight 100% Federal use Vehicle-miles Other Federal Taxes Vehicle Class Trucks over 59,999 lb Trucks over 26,000 lb All All Cars Buses Motorcycles Trucks Trucks Trucks Trucks All All All Trucks over 22,000 lb Buses Trucks over 33,000 lb All Trucks over 59,999 lb 80,000-lb trucks Trucks over 54,999 lb All Vehicle-miles TABLE 5 GUIDELINES FOR THE ALLOCATION OF HIGHWAY-USER REVENUE TO VEHICLE CLASSES IN KENTUCKY
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From page 17... ...
For example, the 1999 Nevada HCAS identifies the total value of diverted higher-user funds at the federal, state, and local levels in Nevada but does not allocate them noting: "Since the purpose of highway cost allocation is to identify whether different vehicle classes are contributing in proportion to their cost responsibility, only the taxes that come from highway users and are used for highways are included in our study" (1999 Highway Cost Allocation Study 1999)
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From page 18... ...
These include issues that some states have struggled with, such as the amount of evasion there is for various taxes and fees and how to deal with tax subsidies that all legislatures have created for various categories of vehicles. The improvements made in the 1984 to 1987 California HCAS have been used and improved on in subsequent HCASs in California, Vermont, Arizona, Idaho, Minnesota, and Oregon, and in the State HCAS Model developed for FHWA.
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From page 19... ...
Although this study was effectively completed in 2007, the results have not been published. Idaho is an appropriate state in which to conduct a second low-cost test of FHWA's State HCAS Model, because it has the following advantages: • An interest in periodic performance of HCASs; • Good databases for most of the inputs required; • A fairly small central office staff used to working together cooperatively without the need to create special task forces with formally delegated powers; and • Recent experience in conducting two HCASs.
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From page 20... ...
Recent Oregon studies have also included a rather comprehensive set of issue papers covering most of the common choices facing complex state HCASs. The 1999 Oregon HCAS issue papers included: • Pavement issues – Alternative methods for allocating pavement cost responsibility, – Load and non-load-related damage shares for pavement costs,
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Texas The Texas HCASs have employed innovative techniques to conduct highway cost allocation. For example, the 2002 Texas HCAS examined the climatic factors that affect the durability of highways.
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From page 22... ...
• The Ohio respondent noted that Ohio would just refer to national studies or studies from other states. • The Wyoming respondent requested improved documentation from the FHWA for the FHWA State HCAS Model and also noted the need for more extensive vehicle class data for the entire highway system (detailed documentation for FHWA's 2001 State HCAS Model is available on the FHWA's website at http://www.
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