Highway maintenance marginal costs: What if the fourth power assumption is not valid?

Highway maintenance marginal costs have been estimated in the literature using the perpetual overlay indirect approach. This approach uses the equivalent single axle load (ESAL) as the unit for traffic loading, which implies that pavement deterioration caused by an axle is proportional to the fourth...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Transport policy 2010-11, Vol.17 (6), p.486-495
Main Authors: Anani, Shadi B., Madanat, Samer M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Axles
Cost estimates
Costs
Deterioration
Equivalence
Highway maintenance
Maintenance
Marginal cost
Marginal cost Highway maintenance Traffic loading units
Traffic loading units
Vehicles
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Highway maintenance marginal costs have been estimated in the literature using the perpetual overlay indirect approach. This approach uses the equivalent single axle load (ESAL) as the unit for traffic loading, which implies that pavement deterioration caused by an axle is proportional to the fourth power of the axle weight. This paper answers the following question: how inaccurate are maintenance marginal cost estimates when a highway agency uses ESAL? We find that the inappropriate use of ESAL does not affect the sum of maintenance marginal cost prices paid by all vehicles (at current equilibrium); however, it impacts distribution among vehicles, which reduces equity and efficiency.
ISSN:0967-070X
1879-310X
DOI:10.1016/j.tranpol.2010.05.002