Evaluating speed differences between passenger vehicles and heavy trucks for transportation-related emissions modeling

Heavy-duty trucks make up only 3% of the on-road vehicle fleet, yet they account for > 7% of vehicle miles traveled in the United States. They also contribute a significant proportion of regulated ambient emissions. Heavy vehicles emit emissions at different rates than passenger vehicles. They may also behave differently on-road, yet may be treated similarly to passenger vehicles in emissions modeling. Input variables to the MOBILE software, such as average vehicle speed, are typically specified the same for heavy trucks as for passenger vehicles. Although not frequently considered in modeling emissions, speed differences between passenger vehicles and heavy trucks may influence emissions, because emission rates are correlated to average speed. Differences were evaluated by collecting average and spot speeds for heavy trucks and passenger vehicles on arterials and spot speeds on freeways in Des Moines, IA, and Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. Speeds were compared by study site. Space mean speeds for heavy trucks were lower than passenger vehicle speeds for all of the arterials with differences ranging from 0.8 to 19 mph. Spot speeds for heavy trucks were also lower at all of the arterial and freeway locations with differences ranging from 0.8 to 6.1 mph. The impact that differences in on-road speeds had on emissions was also evaluated using MOBILE version 6.2. Misspecification of average truck speed is the most significant at lower and higher speed ranges.