Trr No. 1311 Pavement Design, Management And Performance, pp. 277-285
An importation decision that state legislatures are charged with is the apportionment of highway user fees among the various weight classes of vehicles. Departments of transportation must provide supporting and convinsing data for these legislative decisions. Currently, the most rational basis for setting user fees is the prediction of pavement damage by using the AASHTO 1986 pavement design equations. Axle load equivalency charts are prepared from the AASHTO 1986 Design Manual equations for determining the damage to rigid and flexible pavements by single-, tandem-, and triple-axle loads from 2 to 90 kips. Tables present the ratios of pavement damage (according to these equations) to road user charges for different classes of vehicles in two states having among the lower and higher road user fees in the country. The method for computing ratios of pavement damage to user fees for these two states provides a fast and convenients means for all states to evaluate and adjust their road user fees for each class of vehicle.