INSTITUTIONAL BARRIERS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR I.V.H.S. (INTELLIGENT VEHICLE HIGHWAY SYSTEMS) IN COMMERCIAL VEHICLE OPERATIONS: AN IOWA CASE STUDY

This report documents a brief study of the benefits from and the institutional barriers to Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems (IVHS) in Commercial Vehicle Operations (CVO). IVHS-CVO applications comprise a number of technologies in various stages of development. Some are currently being field-tested; many are still in their conceptual stage. Although several proposed IVHS-CVO applications are examined, primary concentration in the study is placed upon those applications that may reduce the cost of complying with motor carrier administrative and safety regulations. These compliance costs include the costs of complying with regulation of vehicle dimensions (i.e., size and weight), permitting, licensing, registration, fuel tax collection, and safety enforcement. The study uses the State of Iowa, the Interstate 80 highway corridor through Iowa, and Iowa-based motor carriers as its case study. Through the Iowa case study, the research identifies the benefits of IVHS-CVO applications, institutional barriers to IVHS-CVO applications, examples of how barriers to multi-jurisdictional institutional issues have been solved, and the "most promising" applications of IVHS-CVO technology.