State Highway Cost Allocation Studies (2008)

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65 Excerpts from a letter from Bart Selle, State of Vermont to Joseph R Stowers, Sydec, Inc., dated November 28, 2005. Vermont is successfully running FHWA’s State Highway Cost Analysis System (HCAS). This letter describes the problems we encountered, and suggests improvements to the HCAS software. Problems are: 1. Directory location of the programs CostAlloc, Rev&Tables, and DefaultData: The documentation recommends placing the HCAS soft- ware in the Excel default directory; however, users still might get an error if they open HCAS from the Excel most- recently-used-file list. One solution is to always navigate to the HCAS spreadsheet from Excel. 2. Rev&Tables file names in the BasicQuestions worksheet: Is there a reason why the user must change the file names in the BasicQuestions worksheet? Could the file names be syn- chronized with actual names on the FHWA CD? That would facilitate testing HCAS “out of the box.” 3. CostAlloc state code in 2H AllocationFactorsState: Six state codes generate a Visual Basic “Run-time Error 13.” Sydec fixed the problem for VT, but I believe the prob- lem still exists for other states. 4. Rev&Tables Other Permits (Cell D22) in 1B StateRevCon- trols worksheet: The “light vehicle” Other Permits cell cannot be zero (Cell D22). A small value solves the problem. 5. Rev&Tables vehicle miles traveled information in 1F User- RevenueData worksheet: Vermont collects VMT information on 12 vehicle classes. We do not allow large doubles or triples on Vermont high- ways; however, zeros for the DS7 vehicle type generates a visual basic error. The solution is to enter a small value such as 0.00001 for the DS7s. 6. Rev&Tables diesel tax rate in 2D LocalTaxRates worksheet: The diesel tax rate value (cell C9) cannot be zero, or it will generate a visual basic error. A zero triggers an “N/A” entry in the tax evasion cells starting at C32. That alpha data causes a VB error in later calculations. The solution is to put in a very small number in cell C9. 7. CostAlloc traffic fatality information in the 4F MiscCost- Data worksheet: HCAS does not seem to use the traffic fatality information. To test it, I entered large numbers in the thousands, but it had no effect on the result. If it is not needed, HCAS should not ask for it. 8. Rev&Tables state tax rates in 2B StateTaxRates worksheet: It’s not clear where the tax rate information is used. It seems to have no effect on the results. Revenue comes from the 1B StateRevControls worksheet. It is not calculated from the tax rates. 9. CostAlloc operating gross weight in the 4C OGWDist work- sheet: We calculated operating-gross-weight-by-vehicle-type from Vermont WIM data, and replaced the default OGW table. If the weight ranges in the new table do not exactly match the default weight ranges, the user will get “Bad (vehicle type code)” warning messages when executing the CalcRGOG on the 2H AllocationFactors worksheet. Although it is just a warning message, it would be helpful if it were documented. 10. “#REF” in 1F UserRevenueData in Rev&Tables: The table starting at cell BR60 has “#REF” in all the cells. It doesn’t seem to adversely affect anything, but it is a dis- traction. You provided a fix for Vermont’s version, but that fix should be put in the FHWA version, too. 11. Rev&Tables report options in 2G TableSpec: “Option 1” reports on 12 vehicle types, but it produces incor- rect results on the cost side. The costs in Table 4 are shifted and have different values when compared to the correct costs in Table 3. Use “Option 2” for 20 vehicle types instead. “Option 5” and “Option 7” for operating-gross-weight reports do not allocate the correct expenditure amount. “Option 3” appears to work OK. Other advice to a new HCAS user is • Run the system exactly as delivered by the FHWA to prove that it works in your environment. • Run the system whenever anything changes. Frequently recon- cile the revenue and costs reports to the source worksheets. Problems are much easier to track if you haven’t changed much since the last successful execution. • Be very careful when deleting or zeroing out cells. If you inadvertently hit a space key, subsequent programs might generate a visual basic error. (A “space” and “delete” look the same.) • Many options do not have a significant impact on the results. Determine how sensitive the results are before spending excessive time refining data. Run HCAS on the fastest processor available. It will consume 100% of the cycles when executing. APPENDIX C VTrans Issues with Federal Highway Administration State Highway Cost Allocation Study Software