Modeling Study in Texas Evaluating the Potential Benefits and Costs of Automated Truck Platooning Technology Estimated a Benefit-to-Cost Ratio of 6.62 to 8.42.
Survey and Data Analysis Based Study Assessed the Potential Benefits and Impediments of Automated Trucks and Truck Platooning on Texas Highway Infrastructure.
Texas, United States
Evaluate Potential Impacts, Benefits, Impediments, and Solutions of Automated Trucks and Truck Platooning on Texas Highway Infrastructure: Technical Report
Summary Information
Automated truck and truck platooning technologies offer a wide variety of potential impacts in streamlining freight operations and benefit the overall transportation system. This study assessed the potential impacts, benefits, and impediments of the introduction of automated trucks and truck platooning on Texas highway infrastructure. For this purpose, the study performed various types of analyses. One of the evaluation techniques was an online survey of stakeholders in automated and platooning trucking areas, including trucking fleet personnel, federal administrators, state departments of transportation personnel, local metropolitan planning organizations, automated and connected vehicle manufacturers, and platooning system suppliers. The survey received 24 responses out of a total of 103 stakeholders (about 23 percent response rate). In addition, the study used the results from a network-level vulnerability analysis to evaluate the overall benefits and costs to the economy of Texas, using scenarios that considered advancements in truck automation over the study period of 30 years.
METHODOLOGY
In this study, the stakeholder survey focused on respondents' opinions on the future implementation of truck platooning and automation, particularly regarding planning, policy, and configuration aspects for deployment in the Texas highway system. The benefit-cost assessment involved developing scenarios based on long-haul truck trips. The base case scenario included two separate trucks transporting goods and traveling independently over the entire corridor. The longest corridor considered was the El Paso to Orange corridor (877 miles), followed by the El Paso to Texarkana corridor (831 miles), and El Paso to the Texas/Louisiana border along Interstate20 (821 miles). Benefit and cost elements, including fuel, accidents, and infrastructure, were derived from previous studies or estimated based on assumptions.
FINDINGS
- The stakeholder survey results showed that more than 50 percent of public stakeholders had positive opinions on the existing Texas state programs to achieve higher levels of automation operations, maintenance, or investment.
- Considering the safety, operational, and freight benefits and infrastructure costs, the benefit-to-cost assessment of fully automated and platoon truck traffic found that the discounted net present value was $1.9 billion in the low truck growth scenario (annual penetration of 2.4 percent) and $2.4 billion in the high-growth scenario (annual penetration of 3.5 percent).
- The benefit-cost ratio was estimated as 6.62 in the low-growth scenario and 8.42 in the high growth scenario.
