Evaluation of Weigh Station Design and Operational Strategies Using Simulation

In the past twenty years, states have utilized Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) technology to reduce delay and increase enforcement of overweight vehicles. The authors simulated the operation of a weigh station by VISSIM, a microscopic, time step, and behavior based traffic simulation software. This study evaluated weigh station design and operational strategies using simulation under different design strategies (one static scale, two static scale, ramp WIM scale, and mainline WIM scale) and the impact of threshold, accuracy level of WIM scale, transponder percentage. The authors found that WIM technology can improve the efficiency of weigh station operation, and for a weigh station with WIM scale on the mainline, if the percentage of trucks equipped with transponders is less than 30%, it is not effective; Currently because of the low percentage of trucks equipped with transponder, the WIM scale on the ramp should be a best alternative to increase the productivity of a weigh station. The authors also concluded that the accuracy of WIM scale is very important for the operation of a WIM weigh station, and a suitable threshold is very important for WIM operation under specific truck demand. TRB 2004 Annual Meeting CD-ROM Paper revised from original submittal.