Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2015

DOI

10.3141/2503-13

Publication Title

Transportation Research Record

Issue

2503

Pages

119-127

Abstract

The adverse impacts of greenhouse gasses (GHG) and the imperative for reducing the existing rate of GHG production are well established. In the United States, the largest source of GHG emissions from human activities is from burning fossil fuels, primarily for the generation of electricity and transportation. The transportation sector accounts for 28% of all U.S. GHG production. Heavy-duty vehicles, such as large freight trucks, account for nearly one-fifth of the U.S. total, and this fraction is expected to grow rapidly. Consequently, many efforts are being used to reduce the total emissions of freight trucks. Most efforts emphasize one of four areas: engineering improvements to improve fuel economy or reduce emissions, shifts to other transport modes, improved logistics to reduce the movement of partially full or empty containers, and reduced travel costs for individual trucks. A few studies have assessed modifications to route choice considerations as a means of improving the fuel economy of individual vehicles and show potential gains. In this study, the potential gains of emissions-based route choice were assessed by integrating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency motor vehicle emission simulator with a macroscopic regional traffic demand model. For this integration, route choices included a simplified emissions calculation within the repeated model iteration runs of an algorithm of the Frank–Wolfe type. The analyses suggested that reductions of freight truck emissions were possible and showed an example in which the total system’s truck emissions were reduced by up to 0.61% (88.8 tons).

Original Publication Citation

Foytik, P., & Robinson, R. M. (2015). Integrating Truck Emissions Cost in Traffic Assignment. Transportation Research Record (2503), 119-127. https://doi.org/10.3141/2503-13

ORCID

0000-0001-5399-6428 (Foytik), 0000-0001-5295-930X (Robinson)

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