Weigh-in-motion and Enforcement

Summary

Gdynia is a harbour city with considerable truck traffic. The burden on the city's environment and the cost of road damages caused by overweight trucks is considerable. An innovative ICT based weighing system has identified overweight truck “in motion” and allowed for corrective enforcement measures through the authorities. It is expected to reduce road maintenance cost by 15% and reduce the number of overweight trucks on city roads by 90%.

Implementing sustainable mobility

The cost of damages to road surface and bridge repair works was estimated at 14 million PLN (above 3 million Euros) in 2010. The road surface is mainly damaged by trucks travelling between the harbour and other parts of the city. The trucks obviously not only contribute to road surface damages and high annual cost of their maintenance but also to a high level of noise, significantly reducing the quality of life of the city’s inhabitants.

Before DYN@MO,  there was no weight-in-motion pre-selection system in the City of Gdynia or in the region. Such systems have been innovative in Poland and are only beginning to be implemented in a few cities.

The first weight pre-selection system in the Gdynia region and one of the first in Poland was implemented on one outlet roads from the harbour. The system was complementary to the TRISTAR system. It enabled weigh-in-motion of the vehicles and immediate transfer of information about the vehicle that exceeded the permissible load with its registration number to the Traffic Management Centre or standpoint. This information was also transferred to Road Traffic Inspection that  was be able to impose fines.

The main objectives of this measure were to:

• prepare a feasibility study for access restriction of heavy and overloaded vehicles
• introduce a weigh-in-motion system at one entry point of the city
• cut road maintenance costs due to overweight trucks on controlled roads by 15%
• reduce the number of overweight trucks on city roads (by 90% on controlled roads) to decrease environmental and noise pollution and to increase road safety
• share the experiences with Polish cities.

Progress

Planning & preparation

A feasibility study for the pilot project on the weight pre-selection has been prepared, and with additional road surface tests, the geographical location of scale was done. As part of this measure Gdynia prepared  the tendering procedure for the technical documentation based on the study, analysis and tests done by Gdansk University of Technology.

Implementation & demonstration

During the implementation phase the City of Gdynia had the following tasks:

• Subcontracting the company that elaborates the technical documentation of the pilot project
• One scale was installed on the road surface at chosen point
• Additionally, 2 video cameras were installed which, in case the scale would locate an overloaded vehicle, would automatically take a picture of the considered vehicle and send it to the operator of the system in the City of Gdynia
• The picture was transferred to the Road Transport Inspectorate
• The Road transport Inspectorate directed the vehicle to the standpoint of detailed weighing of the vehicles and called the driver of the vehicle to account.

Outcomes

Tangible outputs:

• A functioning weight pre-selection system in the City of Gdynia on one incoming road to the city
• Technical documentation which can be used for expanding the system and be shared with other Polish cities
• Reduced road maintenance cost by 15% and reduced number of overweight trucks by 90%
• Reduction of noise and vibration caused by heavy weight vehicles
• Concept and analysis of weight pre-selection system – recommendations and toolkit for other cities

Expected outcomes in the short- to medium-term:

• In case of positive results of the test (95% of recognised incidents of overloaded vehicles), the City of Gdynia intends to expand the system
• Reduction of road maintenance costs on all roads in Gdynia
• Adoption of the system by the TRICITY (with Gdansk and Sopot)
• Sensitise decision-makers for the need of a sustainable freight distribution system in Gdynia

Expected outcomes in the mid- to long-term:

• Changing behaviour of truck companies and truck drivers towards overloading trucks
• Planning and implementation of a freight consolidation centre with clean freight distribution vehicles in the city