Browsing by Author "Li, Ning"
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Item Cost/Benefit Study of Spring Load Restrictions(2005-03-01) Levinson, David M; Marasteanu, Mihai O; Voller, Vaughan; Margineau, Ioana; Smalkowski, Brian; Hashami, Maryam; Li, Ning; Corbett, Mike; Lukanen, ErlandAcross the state of Minnesota, asphalt roads under the jurisdiction of counties, cities and townships have been controlled by restrictions that limit the total weight of each truck that uses those roads during the spring thaw period. During this time, the pavement weakens and the bearing capacity of the roadway is reduced. These policies vary from county to county and from road to road, depending on the capacity of the roads--typically, 5, 7 and 9 tons. While spring load restrictions serve to extend the useful life of the road, they also add significant burdens to truckers who are forced to re-route their vehicles and/or increase the number of trips in order to adhere to the policies. This study assesses the economic impact of lifting all vehicle restrictions during the spring thaw period. Economic benefits of lifting the bans include reduced cost to carriers; potential cost includes reduced pavement life. Their research concludes that if the policy is changed, the costs of additional damage could be recovered from those who use the roads. Recovering those costs could take the form of annual fees, appropriate fuel taxes and/or user charges paid by vehicle operators.Item Economic Effects of Lifting the Spring Load Restriction Policy in Minnesota(Transportation Research Forum, 2006) Smalkoski, Brian; Li, Ning; Levinson, David MSpring load restrictions (SLR) regulate the weight per axle carried by heavy trucks during the spring thaw period. This policy aims to reduce pavement damage caused by heavy vehicles and extend the useful life of roads, but it also imposes costs on the trucking industry due to detouring or increased number of truckloads. Although the policies have been implemented for many years, their resulting economic effect has been unclear. The Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB) and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) sponsored a cost/benefit study of spring load restrictions in Minnesota. The study, based on the results of surveys of industry costs, a pavement performance model, and a freight demand model, concludes that the benefits of lifting the existing SLR policy outweigh the additional costs. Roadways operating at 5-tons require additional study; however, current analysis warrants repealing SLR and keeping roadways operating year-round at 9-tons. The cost of additional damage should be recovered from those who benefit from the change in policy.Item A Framework for Analyzing the Effects of Spring Load Restriction(2004) Levinson, David M; Li, Ning; Zou, Xi; Smalkoski, BrianSpring Load Restrictions (SLR) impose load restrictions on heavy trucks during the spring thaw period. Although the policies have been implemented for many years, we are still unsure of their economic effects on truckers. This paper overviews practices around the world and sets up a framework to estimate the Benefit/Cost of the SLR policy. A freight demand model in Minnesota was built to estimate the impacts of SLR on the freight transportation pattern. The model allows various policy scenarios to be tested before being tested in practice. A preliminary result of the freight demand model shows the SLR policy increased truck Vehicle Kilometers of Travel (VKT) in Lyon County, Minnesota by about 13 percent.Item Sharing Data Between Arc/Info and Emme/2: Practice in Lyon County, Minnesota(2004) Li, Ning; Zou, Xi; Levinson, David MSharing data between GIS software (Arc/Info) and Traffic Demand Modeling Software (EMME/2) has long been an issue of interest to traffic engineers. A literature review and evaluation of current efforts on the data exchange is given in this paper. The authors also developed their own economical method to realize the data transform through Matlab programming. As a practice, a model of the truck flow pattern in Lyon County, Minnesota is developed by the integrated use of Arc/Info, EMME/2, Enif, and the Matlab program. The combined use of these programs overcame the disadvantage of a single software and achieved expected objective. The program is free to anyone who have interests.