ABSTRACT
It is widely recognized that vehicle operating costs (VOC) and excess fuel consumption (EFC) are affected by various pavement characteristics, and pavement vehicle interaction (PVI). PVI related VOC and, more recently EFC with the increased emphasis on pavement life cycle assessment, are factors that agencies consider when making investment decisions or in evaluating strategies. Several studies have attempted to quantify the effects of PVI on the use-phase of pavement life cycle assessment (LCA) in the form of EFC and VOC. These studies in general investigate rolling resistance influencing factors such as pavement roughness, macrotexture, and structural responsiveness to generate models to predict VOC and EFC. While the impacts of roughness have been studied more extensively, agencies do not have enough guidance on quantifying all these aspects of PVI on use-phase LCA or Life-Cycle Costs Analysis (LCCA).
Applicability of EFC and VOC in pavement decision-making processes such as pavement type selection, timing of rehabilitation treatments etc. was studied along with challenges for implementation. A critical review of ten (10) most recent PVI models was performed by assessing their availability, identifying gaps and their compatibility and applicability for investment decisions. Some of the common challenge observed include lack of measurement methods for ground truth, data requirements and ease of use of the models, and lack of guidelines for implementation.
