Study & report to Congress : applicability of maximum axle weight limitations to over-the-road and public transit buses

57415763PDFResearch PaperBusesVehicle weightPavement maintenanceBenefit cost analysisLaws and legislationAxlesUnited States. Federal Transit AdministrationJohn A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on TransportationNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-Bus TransportationNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATIONVolpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference CenterThe Senate Report on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2002 U.S. Department of Transportation(DOT) appropriations bill requested that the Department conduct a study and submit toCongress a report on the applicability of Federal maximum weight limitations to overthe-road (OTR) buses (also called motorcoaches) and public transit vehicles.Since the passage of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, Federal weightlimits on the Interstate Highway System have been 20,000 lbs for a single axle and34,000 lbs for a tandem axle (unless the State had higher limits in effect prior to July 1,1956). Since 1992, there has been a permissive arrangement whereby States are notrequired to enforce axle weight limits for intrastate transit buses. A similar arrangementfor over-the-road buses was enacted in February 2003. Both are due to expire in October2003.This study is intended to\u2022 Assess current status and trends in bus axle weight\u2022 Estimate the cost of pavement damage caused by buses\u2022 Assess both the technical and economic feasibility of lighter-weight buses\u2022 Evaluate within a benefit-cost framework selected policies that could addressover-limit bus axle weights\u2022 Given the above assessments, make recommendations to Congress about theapplicability of axle weight limits to transit and over-the-road buses.The benefit-cost evaluation considers operating costs for bus travel, externalities of bustravel, and the externalities of induced automobile travel resulting from a change in theprice of bus travel. Externalities are those identified in the 1997 Federal Highway CostAllocation Study (1), namely, pavement damage, congestion, crash, air pollution andnoise. The evaluation also assumes that all States are currently allowing overweightbuses to operate