MOVES and Related Models

Tools to Develop or Convert MOVES Inputs

The following tools are designed to help users develop inputs to MOVES and post-process the output.

NOTE: With the release of MOVES2014, EPA strongly encourages state and local agencies to develop local inputs based on MOVES fleet and activity categories rather than continuing to rely on conversions from MOBILE6.2 categories that are outdated and inconsistent with the way MOVES works.

You will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA’s About PDF page to learn more.  For Excel, Free Viewers are available. 

On this page:
 

Tools to develop special case MOVES inputs

  • This is an updated version developed specifically for MOVES2014 that includes LEV III standards. It should only be used with versions of MOVES2014.
  • It has been revised in October 2014 to correct a problem in the ZEV_AVFT_MOVES2014 spreadsheet. MOVES2014 users who need to model ZEV programs should use the revised version (ZEV_AVFT_MOVES2014_20141022) rather than the original version released in September 2014.
  • Some states have adopted California Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) standards. Other states (in the northeast) that did not adopt LEV standards received early implementation of National Low Emission Vehicle (NLEV) standards for the 1999 and 2000 model years.
  • This package includes instructions and input files that can be used with MOVES2014 to model the emissions from these vehicles.
  • For MOVES2010 versions only.
  • Some states have adopted California Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) standards.  Other states (in the northeast) that did not adopt LEV standards received early implementation of National Low Emission Vehicle (NLEV) standards for the 1999 and 2000 model years. 
  • This package includes instructions and input files that can be used with MOVES2010, MOVES2010a, or MOVES2010b to model the emissions from these vehicles.
Retrofit Converter (XLS)(1 pg, 1 MB, updated March 2012)  
  • For MOVES2010 versions only. MOVES2014 uses a different table structure for retrofit input and this converter is no longer necessary.
  • The On-Road Retrofit strategy panel (described in Section 2.9.9 and Appendix D of the MOVES User Guide) allows the user to enter information about diesel trucks and buses that have installed additional emission control equipment.
  • This user-friendly file includes instructions and input files that can be used with MOVES2010, MOVES2010a and MOVES2010b to model emissions from these vehicles with retrofits. It automatically converts Diesel Emissions Quantifier and MOBILE6 vehicle categories into MOVES formats.
  • See EPA’s Verification program for more information about the percent efficiency of verified devices.

Top of Page

Tools for creating fleet and activity inputs for MOVES2014

  • Updated to convert daily VMT to the required annual VMT necessary for MOVES2014
  • Uses Annual Average Weekday Vehicles Miles Travelled (AADVMT) at the HPMS level to calculate type of day, monthly and yearly VMT in terms of HPMS and/or MOVES source types
  • Generates the HPMSVTypeYear, monthVMTFraction, and dayVMTFraction tables from AADVMT and monthly/weekend-day adjustment factors
  • Provides the user with the default temporal allocation tables if local inputs are not known 
  • This file contains national default age distributions by source type from MOVES2014 for every calendar year from 1999 to 2050.
  • This tool creates projections of future age year distributions based on current local age distributions.

Top of Page

Tools to convert MOBILE6 inputs to MOVES formats

The following tools were developed for the transition from MOBILE6.2 to MOVES2010. With the release of MOVES2014, EPA strongly encourages state and local agencies to develop local inputs based on MOVES fleet and activity categories rather than continuing to rely on conversions from MOBILE6.2 categories that are outdated and inconsistent with the way MOVES works. EPA will not continue to maintain these converters from MOBILE6.2 for future MOVES updates. Because they were developed for MOVES2010, the input files they create may require additional modification before they can be used with MOVES2014.

  • Converts a MOBILE6-formatted speed distribution file to the format needed by the MOVES AvgSpeedDistribution table.
  • Also expands the MOBILE6 speed bin 14 to MOVES speed bins 14, 15, and 16 and converts the data from VMT-based speed bins to time-based speed bins.
  • Takes all 18 NMIM-formatted speed distribution files and converts them to the format needed by the MOVES AvgSpeedDistribution table.
  • Also expands NMIM's speed vehicle bin 14 to MOVES speed bins 14 to 16.
RegistrationDistributionConverter_Veh16 (XLS)(1 pg, 6 MB, revised February 2010)
  • Takes a MOBILE6-formatted registration distribution file and converts it to the format needed by the MOVES SourceTypeAgeDistribution table.
  • Converts MOBILE6-formatted meteorological data (temperature and humidity) to the format needed by the MOVES County Data Manager to populate the ZoneMonthHour table.
  • Converts NMIM-formatted meteorological data (temperature and relative humidity) from the NMIM CountyYearMonthHour table to the format needed by the MOVES County Data Manager to populate the ZoneMonthHour table.

Top of Page

VMT Converters

The note above regarding the need to develop MOVES-based inputs rather than relying on conversions from MOBILE6.2 applies to these converters as well. 

These converter files can be separated into two groups (Set 1 and Set 2), but all files:
  • convert hourly VMT allocation factor data to the format needed by the MOVES HourVMTFraction table;
  • calculate distributions of VMT by road type for each MOVES source type for the MOVES RoadTypeDistribution table;
  • calculate fractions of VMT occurring on ramps for the MOVES restricted access road types to populate the MOVES RoadType table; and
  • convert the registration distribution data to the format needed by the MOVES SourceTypeAgeDistribution table (except for the Veh28 converters).

VMT Set 1

Set 1 (those with "RoadVMT" in the title) allows the user to enter total VMT data for each HPMS road type and assign vehicle type fractions to allocate VMT on the road type.

VMT Converter Road VMT - 28 vehicle types (XLS)(1 pg, 17 MB, revised February 2010)
Converts NMIM-formatted VMT data at the 28 vehicle type level to the format needed by the MOVES HPMSvTypeYear table.

VMT Converter Road VMT - 16 vehicle types (XLS)(1 pg, 17 MB, revised February 2010)
Converts VMT and Registration Distribution data at the 16 vehicle type/12 road type level of detail to the format needed by the MOVES HPMSvTypeYear and SourceTypeAgeDistribution tables.

VMT Converter Road VMT - 12 vehicle types (XLS)(1 pg, 17 MB, revised February 2010)
Converts VMT data at the 12 vehicle type (SCC)/12 road type level of detail and Registration Distribution data at the 16 vehicle type level of detail to the format needed by the MOVES HPMSvTypeYear and SourceTypeAgeDistribution tables.

VMT Converter Road VMT - 8 vehicle types (XLS)(1 pg, 16 MB, revised February 2010)
Converts VMT data at the MOBILE6 8 vehicle type/12 road type level of detail and Registration Distribution data at the 16 vehicle type level of detail to the format needed by the MOVES HPMSvTypeYear and SourceTypeAgeDistribution tables.

VMT Set 2

Set 2 requires the user enter the specific VMT of a vehicle type on a road type. All the files convert VMT data based on MOBILE6 or NMIM vehicle types and road types to MOVES vehicle (source) types and road types.

VMT Converter - 28 vehicle types (XLS)(1 pg, 17 MB, revised February 2010)
Converts NMIM-formatted VMT data at the 28 vehicle type level to the format needed by the MOVES HPMSvTypeYear table.

VMT Converter - 16 vehicle types (XLS)(1 pg, 17 MB, revised February 2010)
Converts VMT and Registration Distribution data at the 16 vehicle type/12 road type level of detail to the format needed by the MOVES HPMSvTypeYear and SourceTypeAgeDistribution tables.

VMT Converter - 12 vehicle types (XLS)(1 pg, 16 MB, revised February 2010)
Converts VMT data at the 12 vehicle type (SCC)/12 road type level of detail and Registration Distribution data at the 16 vehicle type level of detail to the format needed by the MOVES HPMSvTypeYear and SourceTypeAgeDistribution tables.

VMT Converter - 8 vehicle types (XLS)(1 pg, 16 MB, revised February 2010)
Converts VMT data at the MOBILE6 8 vehicle type/12 road type level of detail and Registration Distribution data at the 16 vehicle type level of detail to the format needed by the MOVES HPMSvTypeYear and SourceTypeAgeDistribution tables.

Other VMT Tools

  • Applies to MOVES2010 versions only – see AADVMT converter for MOVES2014 above for latest version of this tool
  • Uses Annual Average Weekday Vehicles Miles Travelled (AADVMT) at the HPMS level to calculate type of day, monthly and yearly VMT in terms of HPMS and/or MOVES source types
  • Generates the HPMSVTypeYear, monthVMTFraction, and dayVMTFraction tables from AADVMT and monthly/weekend-day adjustment factors
  • Provides the user with the default temporal allocation tables if local inputs are not known.
  • Contains national default age distributions generated using MOVES2010 for every calendar year from 1999 to 2050.
  • See the MOVES2010 Technical Guidance (PDF) (48 pp, 288K, EPA-420-B-10-023, April 2010) for details on how this information can be used in SIPs and transportation conformity analyses.

Top of Page

Tools to post-process output for project-level analyses

EPA has developed several scripts to automate the process of calculating MOVES emission factors for use in air quality modeling. Each script automates the post-processing steps described in:

These scripts are included in the post-processing menus of MOVES2014 and MOVES2010b.

Top of Page

Tool to generate EMISFACT portion of an AERMOD input file

EPA has developed a tool to automate the process of generating the EMISFACT portion of an AERMOD input file using MOVES output. The tool is intended to be used as part of a quantitative PM hot-spot analysis, as described in EPA’s Transportation Conformity Guidance for Quantitative Hot-spot Analyses in PM2.5 and PM10 Nonattainment and Maintenance Areas (PDF)(160 pp, 3 MB, EPA-420-B-15-084, November 2015)

MOVES2AERMOD (ZIP)(1 pg, 2 MB, October 2012)  - the tool can be run directly through the MOVES GUI, and contains:
  • readme.txt – Describes how to “install” the tool as well as providing instructions on using it for PM hot-spot analyses
  • MOVES2AERMOD input data
    • Link_Sources.csv – Define a mapping of MOVES links to AERMOD sources
    • Source_Area.csv – Define the area of each MOVES link
    • Traffic_Distribution – Define the peak/off-peak mapping for each of 24 hours, and four seasons
  • MOVES2AERMOD.sql – This file should be placed in the appropriate MOVES folder as described in the readme.txt file
  • Transit_exercise_out – An example database containing output from 16 MOVES runs used to test the MOVES2AERMOD tool

Top of Page