Institutional Issues Related to the Application of Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems Technologies to Commercial Vehicle Operations in Indiana

Abstract

The study focused on potential barriers and opportunities to implementing Intelligent Vehicle-Highway System (IVHS) technologies to Commercial Vehicle Operations (CVO) in Indiana. Specific concepts included: (1) Automatic payment of tolls while driving at mainline speeds; (2) Pre-Clearance of vehicles and drivers past weigh stations; (3) "One-Stop-Shopping" for licenses, registrations, and permits; and (4) Transparent state borders. The study reviewed existing laws and policies applying to commercial vehicles operating in Indiana; prepared an inventory of the agencies responsible, their existing procedures, their physical facilities, and their human resources used to implement these regulations; itemized present impediments preventing the implementation of IVHS-CVO under current Indiana State Laws; and suggested future phased-in modifications to the present systems for effective IVHS-CVO implementation. The study also included a comprehensive statewide survey examining IVHS-CVO perceptions, needs, and concerns from the perspective of interstate motor carriers based in Indiana. Specific survey issues included how motor carriers perceive IVHS-CVO concepts would affect their current operations; what data items motor carriers are willing to have electronically stored within automatic vehicle identification (AVI) transponders; what type of weigh-station pre-clearance information storage do motor carriers prefer (i.e. centralized database or data stored within a transponder); how willing motor carriers are to participating in a "Gold Card" pre-certification process for weigh-station pre-clearance; what type of automatic toll collection system do motor carriers prefer (i.e. debit system or credit system); how willing motor carriers are to paying additional tolls to help cover costs of building bypass lanes next to existing toll plazas for AVI-equipped vehicles to automatically pay tolls while driving at mainline speeds; and the degree to which motor carriers feel IVHS-CVO implementation will lead to a more or less "level playing field" between motor carriers. Finally, recommendations were made for near-term, mid-term, and long-term courses of action