| Technology Profile
Intercomp – Booth 461
Intercomp sensors for
tolling are deployed
around the world
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September/October 2019 Traffic Technology International
www.TrafficTechnologyToday.com
083
Enabling a WIM,
toll-by-weight future
One of the initial uses for
weigh-in-motion (WIM)
technology was data
collection, which added weight
based information to vehicle
data along with axle count,
vehicle classification, and speed.
As the performance of WIM
sensors improved, utility of this
higher quality weight data has
come into its own for other
applications.
It is well known that
increasing axle and gross
vehicle weights have an
increasing impact on
infrastructure, with the negative
impact at higher weights
growing at an exponential rate
when compared to lightly
loaded vehicles. Understanding
vehicle frequency over a WIM
site allows for planners to
understand traffic patterns, but
knowing the impact of high or
overloaded traffic gives the data
more value when understanding
traffic’s effects on the roadway.
Looking beyond the data,
what can operators do with
this information?
Next steps
Removing the overloaded traffic
is the best way to preserve
infrastructure and increase
operator safety. Countries
around the world use a variety
of combinations of equipment
to identify overloaded vehicles,
using WIM and static scales
deployed at a static sites or in
portable enforcement units to
accomplish the task. These
enforcement efforts contribute
to the overall integrity of our
roads and bridges but come
with a cost of vehicle stoppage,
time, and labor for vehicle
operators and enforcement
officials alike.
The prevailing trend is to
increase efficiency of these
efforts with WIM systems. WIM
sites equipped with cameras
| Need to know
Factors affecting the
need for weigh-inmotion
technologies
> Removing overloaded
vehicles from the road is
the best way to preserve
infrastructure and
increase operator safety
> The rise in gas-efficient
and electric vehicles is
impacting funding for new
road projects due to a
decrease in gas taxes
and other sensors can identify
weight-based issues along with
measuring speed, observing
registration, and verifying
licensing and permitting. All
of these processes can be done
in parallel, gathered at high
speed and managed through
software and reported in realtime
to officials.
Getting legal
Unlike ‘black-and-white’ issues
such as expired registrations or
permits, WIM requires a legal
framework for weight-based
enforcement. Though there
semi running unloaded or
lightly loaded pays the same
toll as the 80,000lb (36,000kg)
vehicle. It is clear that the tollby
axle method doesn’t take into
account the weight-based factors
and their impact on the
infrastructure, with operators
alternatively paying too much –
or too little – to run their loads
through the tollway.
This is where weight-based
tolling provides parity. More
highly loaded vehicles pay more
for use of the roadway due to
their usage, regardless of how
the vehicle is powered or in the
axle configuration. To provide
tolling operators with the
equipment to overcome the
legal or metrological obstacles,
Intercomp Company offers
certified scales and sensors to
acquire axle and gross vehicle
weights up to mainline speeds.
Integrated into automated
systems, these WIM sensors
can deliver legally accepted
performance while increasing
the efficiency and fairness of
tolling systems.
have been advances in
regions’ acceptance for WIM
through legislation for direct
enforcement, much remains to
be done to realize the efficiency
WIM scales and sensors have
to offer.
Looking beyond
enforcement, weight-based
tolling also faces legal or
legislative obstacles before it
can be put in place due to the
financial transaction between
the toll operator and the vehicle
operator. However, acceptance
of this practice is becoming
more widespread because of the
benefits to everyone involved.
New challenges
With the progression of gasefficient
or electric (EV) vehicles,
relying on gas taxes for
infrastructure funding already
making less funding available
for new projects or maintenance
and creating a lack of fairness
where gas-powered operators
are disproportionately paying
for the EVs. This is one of the
factors that are powering the
proliferation of tolling for
roadway funding.
Currently, axle or vehicle
configuration is the most
common means of establishing
a toll rate but though this
practice it straightforward,
it has its faults. A five-axle
Intercomp
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