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Estimating the Vehicle operating cost used for

economic feasibility analysis of highway
construction projects

Conference Paper May 2017

DOI: 10.1109/MERCon.2017.7980508

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 Estimating the Vehicle Operating Cost used for
Economic Feasibility Analysis of Highway
Construction Projects
Sasika Ranawaka1 and H.R. Pasindu2
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Moratuwa
Moratuwa,Sri Lanka
1
sasikasachith@gmail.com,2h.r.pasindu@gmail.com

AbstractVehicle operating cost (VOC) is an integral part of II. OBJECTIVES

the economic benefit estimation in the economic evaluation in
feasibility studies of highway projects. It is expected that improved
road conditions or reduction in congestion due to construction of
a new road or upgrading of an existing road will reduce the vehicle
operating cost of the affected road users. Operating cost of a
vehicle type is a function of several variables including road
condition, travel speed, road geometry and many other
parameters. Current practice is to update VOCs in literature
based on price indexes, which does not accurately represent the
variation in the main factors affecting operating cost of a vehicle.
Therefore, there is no reliable estimate for VOCs to be used in
feasibility studies in Sri Lanka. The study evaluates VOCs of two
vehicle types, namely Car and Medium truck, for varying roadway
conditions to be used as representative values, for economic
evaluations of highway projects in Sri Lanka, for two vehicle
models. The effect of Roughness on Vehicle operating cost can be
seen prominently in the obtained VOC values. It can be observed
that higher speeds have a higher effect on the cost due to increasing
roughness. Since HDM-4 can model continuous roughness values,
combining it with a road deterioration prediction can produce
accurate VOC values to be used on a cost benefit analysis of a
major highway project. Further, This approach can be used to
publish recommended values of VOC for various road conditions
to be used in economic evaluation of feasibility studies.
Keywordsvehicle operating cost; economic feasibility;
highway projects; road user cost; HDM-4
I. INTRODUCTION
Sri Lankan Governments over the past decade has undertaken
major investments on transportation infrastructure projects such
as Expressways, Highways, and Railways. Accurate calculation
of the costs and the return on investment of a major highway
project are essential for sound planning and management of
such projects. Feasibility studies are conducted to calculate the
best return on investment on any project. One of the major areas
of an economic feasibility assessment of a major highway
project is the impact on vehicles operating cost (VOC).
The current practice is to determine VOC by adjusting for
increase of prices in the components like Fuel, oil, tire, etc. on
the Vehicle operating cost values [1]. Therefore an accurate
method of calculating VOC is a timely need for Sri Lanka, as
the vehicle fleets have changed much in the last 17 years.
This study has adopted an analytical approach using HDM-4
VOC model developed by World Bank to estimate the vehicle
operating cost. HDM-4 model is widely used to estimate
vehicle operating cost for highway project economic
evaluations and the model results have been validated by
studies done in several countries. Main objectives of the study
are
i. Evaluating the limitations of the current method of
Vehicle operating cost calculation
ii. Calculating Vehicle operating cost for selected vehicle
types using HDM-4 for variable roughness values and
gradients for normal operating speeds
iii. Assessing the effect of roughness on Vehicle operating
cost with varying operating speeds
III. III. LITERATURE REVIEW
Many research studies have been conducted globally on effect
of pavement condition, majorly roughness, on the vehicle
operating cost. Basically the roughness of the pavement affects
fuel consumption, tyre wear rate, wear and tear of parts of a
vehicle like suspension, arm bushes, steering rack, brake pads,
vehicle depreciation, lubricant life, etc. Therefore IRI is a direct
concern when it comes to vehicle operating costs. IRI is the
international roughness index measured in m/km.
A. Selection Of HDM-4 Model As The Fuel Consumption
Model
As part of the NCHRP 1-45 project, Chatti and Zaabar reviewed
many models to select the best model for the US conditions to
calculate fuel consumption [2]. As a result, HDM-4 was
selected, depending on the accuracy of the model in calculating
vehicle operating costs. The model was then calibrated to suit
US conditions. IRI values of 0.8m/km to 8.5m/km were tested
in US conditions to determine the accuracy. The results before
calibration showed that the effect of roughness is rather

978-1-5090-6491-5/17/$31.00 2017 IEEE

significant, but the model had under predicted the effect of
roughness. Calibration eliminated this issue and provided
reliable results [2].
The general form of the HDM 4 fuel consumption model is
expressed conceptually by the following equation
= + = (max ( , (1)
(1 + )))
Where:
IFC=Instantaneous fuel consumption (mL/km)
=Vehicle Speed (m/s)
=Power required to overcome traction forces (kW)
=Power required for engine accessories (eg:
fan,belt,alternator etc) (kW)
=Power required to overcome internal engine friction
=Fuel consumption at idling (mL/s)
=Fuel to power efficiency factor (mL/kw/s)
C. Selection Of HDM-4 Model As The Parts Consumption
Model
According to Chatti and Zaabar [2], roughness of up to 3m/km
had no impact on maintenance cost, but the cost would increase
beyond that limit, according to the calibrated HDM-4 model.
The increase would vary with the exact roughness. IRI decrease
by 1m/km resulted in savings up to 24 to 73 billion dollars per
year in repair and maintenance cost alone, as 3m/km to 4m/km
change would result in 10% increase of operating cost. The
variation is not linear either. In this study, various values of
roughness need to be calculated. Therefore HDM-4 model
performs well and conveniently in the above respect [2].
PARTS= (K0pc [CKMkp (a0 + a1RI)]+ K1pc (4)
) (1 + CPCON dFUEL)
RI =max(IRI, min(IRI0, a2 +a3 IRIa4 )) (5)

( ) (2) a2 =IRI0a5 (6)

= 1+
a3 = (7)
=Base fuel to power efficiency (depends on the technology
type: gasoline vs. diesel)
0 (8)
=Rated engine power (kW) =
=Proportionate decrease in efficiency at high out put power
(dimensionless)
=Total power (kW) a5 =IRI03 (9)
=Excess fuel conception due to congestion as a
percentage LH = K0lh (a6 PARTSa7 )+ K1lh (10)

B. Selection Of HDM-4 Model As The Tire Consumption

Model Where:

Chatti and Zaabar [2] applied HDM-4 model for U.S.
conditions, and they found that for every 1m/km increase of
IRI, there is an increase of 1% in tire wear, at 88km/h. The
results were obtained for heavy trucks and passenger cars [2].
Ability of concluding results as specific as above is a
considerable advantage in using HDM-4. Thus it was selected
as the model to calculate tire wear cost for this research.
The general form of the tire consumption model is as follows
(3)
= CPCON=Congestion elasticity factor (default = 0.1)
Where:
=Tire consumption per vehicle (%km)
=Number of wheels
=Equivalent new tire (%km)
=Tire life modification factor
PARTS = Standardized parts consumption as a fraction of the
replacement vehicle price per 1000 km
K0pc = Rotational calibration factor (default=1.0)
CKM = Vehicle Cumulative Kilometer
a0, a1,kp = Model constants
RI = Adjusted roughness
IRI = Roughness in IRI (m/km)
IRI0 = Limiting roughness for parts consumption in IRI
(3m/km)
a2 to a5 = Model parameters
K1pc=Translational calibration factor (default = 0.0)
dFUEL=Additional fuel consumption due to congestion as a
decimal
LH = Number of labor hours per 1000km
K0lh=Rotation calibration factor (default=1)
K1lh=Translation calibration factor (default=0)
a6,a7 =Model constants
At low IRI values, the effect of Roughness on parts
consumption is eliminated by the model using RI and a3. D. Results and Analysis

IV. METHODOLOGY 1. Car

A. Scope Vehicle Operating Cost vs SPEED ( Car)

From the literature review, it is clear that HDM-4 is suitable to 30

conduct the Vehicle operating cost calculation for Sri Lanka.

Calibration of the software was based on a study conducted to 29

calibrate HDM-4 for Sri Lanka.

The simulations should be performed with the updated values

28
for fuel prices, lubricant prices etc. at the time of requirement.

VOC (Rs)
B. Data Collection and Calibration
27
Data used for simulations were from HDM-4 Calibration data IRI =7
obtained from University of Moratuwa and verified by local IRI=6
dealers of parts, oil, fuel and other wearable parts. Tyre 26
replacement costs, labour costs, oil costs and other economic IRI=5
unit costs obtained from University of Moratuwa were used for IRI=4
calibration. Base characteristics such as EASL value, number 25
of axels, operating weight, and annual mileage were also
obtained from the same source.
24
C. Simulation 40 60 80

HDM-4 requires a defined vehicle fleet, and road sections. Data - --- Rolling terrain
Speed(km/h)
level road
obtained from University of Moratuwa was used to define the IRI values are in m/km
vehicle fleet. Road section was defined with starting IRI of
4m/km and going up to 7.5m/km. Simulations were run at
40km/h, 60km/h, and 80km/h for two terrain types, straight and Fig. 1. VOC of car for varying roughness values and speeds
level, and bendy and undulating. International roughness index
is a function of many variables. The model simulates the effect Fig. 1. displays the variation of vehicle operating cost against
of roughness accordingly. The Vehicle operating cost values the speed of the car. The dotted lines represent bendy and
obtained from the simulations are then plotted against undulating road section while the solid lines represent the
International Roughness Index (IRI) value. VOC value straight and level section. It is clear that VOC is slightly higher
calculated includes sensitivity for fuel, lubricating oil, tires, in bendy and undulating section, compared with the straight
spare parts, maintenance labor, and capital cost. road section. It is also clearly visible that the International
Roughness Index (IRI) value has a significant effect on the
TABLE 1 SIMULATION DATA VOC. At IRI=4m/km, the VOC values is around 25,000 LKR
while at IRI=7m/km, VOC reaches about 26,500 LKR at
Super-
60km/h per 1000 vehicle kilometres. Further, it can be observed
Rise & Rise & Horizontal that the VOC values are highest at 40km/h in the car and
Elevatio
Road Fall Fall Curvature
n decreases until 60km/h and again slightly increases up to
Geometry
(m/km) (m/km) (deg/km)
80km/h.
(%)
Fig. 2. shows high increment of VOC values from 40km/h up
Mostly to 80km/h. The gradient of the curve increases after 60km/h in
straight and
gently
10 2 15 2.5 straight and level section. The VOC increment is noticeably
undulating higher in the medium truck in bendy and undulating section,
compared to the car. Medium truck was not simulated at
80km/h in the bendy and undulating section due to the design
Rolling limitations of such roads in Sri Lanka. Also a slight increase of
25 3 150 5
terrain
VOC with speed can be seen here. In both cases, there is a
noticeable increase in VOC values with the increase in IRI depreciation. It was found that the mileage done per year by the
value. vehicle, and the roughness of the road directly affect both the
1. Medium Truck said parameters. Further, the cost of replacement, and vehicle
age are some other parameters that can be used to fine-tune the
results for Vehicle operating cost. Another aspect is the road
Vehicle Operating Cost vs SPEED (Medium terrain. Rise and fall, curvature etc. has a major effect on VOC,
Truck) which are reflected from the above results. All these factors can
41 be fed into HDM-4 to obtain accurate results.

40 IRI=7 Also, the effect of Roughness on Vehicle operating cost can be

39 IRI=6 seen prominently in the presented graphs. It can be observed
that higher speeds have a higher effect on the cost due to
IRI=5
38 roughness. Since HDM-4 can model continuous roughness
IRI=4 values, combining it with a road deterioration prediction can
37
produce accurate VOC values to be used on a cost benefit
36 analysis of a major highway project.
voc (Rs)

35 This approach can be used to publish recommended values of

34 VOC for various road conditions to be used in feasibility study
economic evaluation.
33 IRI=7
It can also be concluded that the sensitivity of roughness to
32 IRI=6
VOC is higher for trucks. The impact of roughness is less
31 IRI=5 significant for cars. Therefore, the findings from this study can
IRI=4 be used to determine the choices made by drivers on selecting
30 a route for their journey.
29
40 60 80 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
- - - - Rolling terrain Speed(km/h)
level road Transportation engineering division of University of Moratuwa
IRI values are in m/km is greatly acknowledged for the immense support given by
providing access to their data.
Fig. 2. VOC of medium truck for varying roughness values and speeds
REFERENCES
V. CONCLUSION
[1] A. S. Kumarage, Assesssing Public Investment in the Transport Sector,
Currently, Cost benefit analysis done for major highway Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka, 2000.
projects depend on the report Assessing public investment in [2] K. Chatti and I. Zaabar, Estimating the Effects of Pavement Condition on
Vehicle Operating Costs, Transportation Research Board of the National
the transport sector, 2000, by Department of National
Academies, Washington, 2012.
planning, Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka. The report suggests
[3] Principles and Guidelines for Economic Appraisal of Transport
that the fuel prices, labor costs, cost of parts and lubricants, and Investment and Initiatives, NSW government, 2013.xzc
depreciation values should be adjusted for the year of use. For
example, if the economic feasibility of a certain highway is
carried out in 2017, the values given in the said report must be
adjusted for 2017 prices. However, year on year adjustments
done without considering the price variation of the factors that
are part of vehicle operating cost may not yield accurate
estimates. Therefore using a method like HDM-4 with proper
calibration provides the best accuracy for calculating Vehicle
operating costs. Parameters required to calibrate HDM-4 is
convenient to obtain through surveys and other methods. This
method has a much better accuracy compared to the method
currently in use.

Further, the accuracy of the results can be improved by certain

data inputs that are not considered in the current methodology.
One example would be the Sensitivity of capital cost and

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