SIMULATION OF INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (ITS) BENEFITS AT A TRUCK WEIGH STATION

This paper documents a study of two Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) capabilities that can improve the effectiveness of fixed location truck weigh stations. Both capabilities address the problem of long waits in the weighing queue and the related problem of missing overweight trucks because of queue overflow. The two ITS capabilities are: the ability to read information stored in electronic transponders carried by trucks and to grant trucks clearance to bypass the station on the basis of that information; and the ability to use Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) scales to route trucks either to the static scale or directly back to the highway without a stop. The study uses a simulation model to represent trucks and a hypothetical advanced weigh station on an interurban or rural highway. The model simulates the behavior of each truck, through each stage of its progress through the weigh station or bypassing it. Each truck is routed depending on its transponder status and its weight according to the static or WIM scales. All trucks without transponders exit the mainline into the weigh station, unless the weigh station is closed. The station is closed whenever the queue of trucks on the exit ramp reaches a specified percentage of the ramp's capacity. The station is reopened when the queue decreases to a specified reopening threshold. The model simulates the arrival of one to two thousand trucks over an 8-hour period. It reports the number of trucks weighed on the static scale, the percentage of overweight trucks to escape enforcement because of queue overflow, the average queue length, and the average delay to legal trucks. The study concludes that WIM scales can be very effective in reducing the queues for static scales, eliminating times when the station must be closed because of queue overflow. The use of transponder checking is also effective in reducing queues. The market penetration for transponders necessary to eliminate weigh station overflow varies from 10% to 70% depending on the ratio of truck arrival rate to the truck weighing rate. Even if the transponder rate is not high enough to eliminate queue overflows, the time between overflows is lengthened and therefore the number of overweight trucks to escape detection is reduced.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Full conference proceedings available only on CD.
• Corporate Authors:

  ITS America

  1100 17th Street, NW, 12th Floor
  Washington, DC  United States  20036
• Authors:
  • Glassco, R A
• Conference:
  • Merging the Transportation and Communications Revolutions. Abstracts for ITS America Seventh Annual Meeting and Exposition
  • Location: Washington, D.C.
  • Date: 1997-6-2 to 1997-6-5
• Publication Date: 1997

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: n.p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benefits; Intelligent transportation systems; Load limits; Overflows; Oversize loads; Overweight loads; Queuing; Ramps; Simulation; Transponders; Trucks; Trucks by weight; Weigh in motion scales; Weigh stations; Weight
• Old TRIS Terms: Weight stations
• Subject Areas: Highways; Motor Carriers; Operations and Traffic Management; Terminals and Facilities; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00742368
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 14 1997 12:00AM