README for “Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Stations” dataset. U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA); U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) [distributor] 2025-05-29 ---------------------------------------------------------------- LINKS TO DATASET ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1520836 B. NTAD catalog dataset link (Current Year): https://doi.org/10.21949/JQWT-6A75 ---------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY OF DATASET ---------------------------------------------------------------- The Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Stations dataset is from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics’s (BTS's) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). The data included in the GIS Weigh in Motion Stations Version database have been assimilated from station description files provided by FHWA for Weigh-in-Motion (WIM), and Automatic Traffic Counters (ATR). Location referencing information was derived from the National Highway Planning Network version 4.0. and State offices of Transportation. The attributes on the point elements of the database have come from two primary sources, the Station Description Records and the National Highway Planning Network's Linear Referencing System. The attributes for these databases have been intentionally limited to location referencing attributes since the core station description attribute data are contained within the Station Description Tables (SDT). There is a separate Station Description Table (SDT) for each of the different station types; WIM, and ATR. The attributes in the Station Description Table correspond with the Station Description Record found in Chapter 6 of the latest Traffic Monitoring Guide. The SDT contains the most recent stations available for each state and station type. This table was derived from files provided UTCTR by FHWA. The Station Description Table can be linked to the station shapefile via the STNNKEY field . A single exception table containing records for those stations that could not be located is provided for WIM, and ATR stations. Generally, this table contains records where location descriptions were not clear enough to locate a station. It is hoped that FHWA will be able to contact the States for a more detailed description ---------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. General Information B. Sharing/Access & Policies Information C. Data and Related File Overview D. Methodological Information E. Data-Specific Information for: Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Stations [datasets] F. Update Log ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. GENERAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Title of Dataset: Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Stations [dataset] 1. Description of Dataset: The Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Stations dataset is from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS's) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). The data included in the GIS Weigh in Motion Stations Version database have been assimilated from station description files provided by FHWA for Weigh-in-Motion (WIM), and Automatic Traffic Counters (ATR). Location referencing information was derived from the National Highway Planning Network version 4.0. and State offices of Transportation. The attributes on the point elements of the database have come from two primary sources, the Station Description Records and the National Highway Planning Network's Linear Referencing System. The attributes for these databases have been intentionally limited to location referencing attributes since the core station description attribute data are contained within the Station Description Tables (SDT). There is a separate Station Description Table (SDT) for each of the different station types; WIM, and ATR. The attributes in the Station Description Table correspond with the Station Description Record found in Chapter 6 of the latest Traffic Monitoring Guide. The SDT contains the most recent stations available for each state and station type. This table was derived from files provided UTCTR by FHWA. The Station Description Table can be linked to the station shapefile via the STNNKEY field . A single exception table containing records for those stations that could not be located is provided for WIM, and ATR stations. Generally, this table contains records where location descriptions were not clear enough to locate a station. It is hoped that FHWA will be able to contact the States for a more detailed description 2. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1520836 3. Authorship Information: Principal Data Creator or Data Manager Contact Information Institution: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Address: 1200 New Jersey Ave SE, Washington D.C. 20590 Contact: ExecSecretariat.FHWA@dot.gov Data Distributor Contact Information Name: National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD) Institution: U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Office of Spatial Analysis and Visualization (OSAV) Address: 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington D.C. 20590 Email: ntad@dot.gov 4. Date of data collection and update interval: This dataset is updated annually. 5. Geographic location of data collection: United States of America 6. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) ---------------------------------------------------------------- B. SHARING/ACCESS & POLICIES INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Recommended citation for the data: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) [distributor]. Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Stations [datasets]. https://doi.org/10.21949/1520836 1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: These data are in the Public Domain. 2. Was data derived from another source?: Yes. The data is submitted to FHWA from state DOT to Federal Highway Administration. 3.This document was created to meet the requirements enumerated in the U.S. Department of Transportation's 'Plan to Increase Public Access to the Results of Federally-Funded Scientific Research' Version 1.1 << https://doi.org/10.21949/1520559 >> and guidelines suggested by the DOT Public Access website << https://doi.org/10.21949/1503647 >>, in effect and current as of December 03, 2020. ---------------------------------------------------------------- C. DATA & RELATED FILE OVERVIEW ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. File List for the Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Stations dataset A. Filename: WIM_Stations_NTAD2006_NTAD2012 and WIM_Stations_NTAD2024_Present.zip Short description: Compressed file folders containing the geospatial data for Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Stations dataset. File folders are classified by NTAD publication year and data vintage year or date respectively. B. Filename: bts_NTAD_WIM_Stations_DMP_20250529.pdf Short description: A PDF file containing the Data Management Plan that was created for current and future management of the data and associated files. C. Filename: bts_NTAD_WIM_Stations_README_20250529.txt Short description: The README.txt file that includes human-readable information about the data, variable definitions, contact information, and other contextual information. The file you are reading now. 2. File List for the WIM_Stations_NTAD2006_NTAD2012 and WIM_Stations_NTAD2024_Present.zip collections. A. Filename: NTADXXXX_SHP_Final_WIM_Stations_XXXX*.zip or NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_WIM_Stations_XXXX*.zip Short description: Compressed file folders containing the geospatial data for Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Stations dataset. File folders are classified by NTAD publication year and data vintage year respectively. 3a. File List for the NTADXXXX_SHP_Final_WIM_Stations_XXXX*.zip collection. A. Filename: wim.shp Short description: A shapefile containing the geospatial data for Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Stations dataset. This includes associated files with extensions .prj, .dbf, .sbn, .sbx, .shx. B. Filename: wim.txt, wim.htm, and wim.shp.xml Short description: Text files containing key metadata and documentation information such as methodology, procedures, data dictionary, etc. 3b. File List for the NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_WIM_Stations_XXXX*.zip collection A. Filename: NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_WIM_Stations_XXXX*.gdb.zip Short description: A file geodatabase containing the geospatial data for Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Stations dataset. Geodatabase (GDB) folders contain all the necessary components to view and otherwise interact with their data. B. Filename: WIM_Stations.xml Short description: Text files containing key metadata and documentation information such as methodology, procedures, etc. C. Filename: WIM_Stations.xlsx Short description: Excel spreadsheet containing the dataset's data dictionary. ---------------------------------------------------------------- D. METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: The Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Stations were downloaded from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Weight Station Map (https://doi.org/10.21949/7e9e-gw75). Clicking the download icon in the lower right, select 'Data.' Make sure that the 'Summary' tab is selected in panel on the left, and then click 'Download' in the top right. Save the CSV to your local machine. Geocode the CSV using the 'Latitude' and 'Longitude' column using a method of your choice to create a geospatial point layer. After creating the geospatial point layer, project the data into WGS 1984 Web Mercator (auxiliary sphere). The dataset was enriched by creating a summarized statistics table with additional vehicle weight and vehicle count attributes, by summarizing and aggregating WIM records for each station, from monthly WIM data provided directly by FHWA for all sites in the US that are in the Travel Monitoring Analysis System (TMAS). Python scripts were developed to decode individual WIM records and aggregate them into monthly and yearly summaries. These data were provided in 2001 TMG format and decoding methodology followed the FHWA Traffic Monitoring Guide Section 6: Traffic Monitoring Data Formats (https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/tmguide/2001_TMG_Chapter_6.pdf). Quality control was performed on the results of the summarization scripts by comparing the vehicle counts and vehicle weights across summarized tables. A new unique identifier “Concat_ID” was created by concatenating the “Station_ID” and “State_FIPS” fields in the main WIM geospatial dataset described above and the summarized statistics table as well . After QC was performed on the dataset, the additional attributes from the summarization script were joined to the main WIM Stations geospatial dataset using the “Concat_ID” field. 2. Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret the data: The data and documentation files can be opened with Esri ArcMap and any GIS software package. ---------------------------------------------------------------- E. DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Stations data table This dataset is updated annually. Dataset Manager is contacted to verify changes to data resulting in NTAD update. The metadata is updated in the same manner. For the most recent data, please visit the NTAD catalog at https://doi.org/10.21949/JQWT-6A75. A. Number of variables (columns): The data dictionary found in (PDF documentation) provides definitions for the variables B. Data Dictionary/Variable List: Because of the large number of variables, please refer to the Data Dictionary found within the file WIM_Stations.txt for names, definitions, and formats of variables. C. Missing data codes: None ---------------------------------------------------------------- F. UPDATE LOG ---------------------------------------------------------------- This bts_WIM_Stations_20250529_README.txt file was originally created on 2021-04-12 by Dominic Menegus, Geographer, dominic.menegus@dot.gov [Note changes or update to the readme.txt file, e.g.:] 2021-04-12: Original file created 2024-12-06: Name update and explanation 2025-05-29: Revised document, including data descriptions and file organization.