EA~ United States ._..,~ Environmental Protection 

"' Agency 

MOVES2014 User Interface Reference 

Manual Appendix: 

MOVES2014b
ft EA~United States ..... ~ Environmental Protection ,., Agency 

MOVES2014 User Interface Reference 

Manual Appendix: 

MOVES2014b

Assessment and Standards Division 

Offce of Transportation and Air Quality 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

NOTICE 

This technical report does not necessarily represent fnal EPA decisions or 

positions. It is intended to present technical analysis of issues using data 

that are currently available. The purpose in the release of such reports is to 

facilitate the exchange of technical information and to inform the public of 

technical developments. 

EPA-420-B-18-038 

August 2018 
1 

Introduction 

MOVES is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Motor Vehicle Emission 

Simulator. It is used to create emission factors or emission inventories for both onroad 

motor vehicles and nonroad equipment. The purpose of MOVES is to provide an accurate 

estimate of emissions from cars, trucks and non-highway mobile sources under a wide 

range of user-defined conditions. 

This appendix to the MOVES2014 User Interface Reference Manual details the few interface 

changes made between MOVES2014a (documented in the MOVES2014a User Interface 

Reference Manual) and MOVES2014b. Full documentation for MOVES2014a can be found on 

the MOVES web page, https://www.epa.gov/moves 

The interface changes for MOVES2014b are limited to improvements to the Fuel Wizard and 

to the Post-Processing menu and scripts. No conversion is needed to run MOVES2014a 

runspecs or databases using MOVES2014b. 

Fuels and Fuel Wizard 

Subsequent to MOVES2014a release, a bug in the Fuel Wizard was identified. The Fuel 

Wizard in MOVES2014a correctly calculated the changes in fuel properties when the 

ethanol volume of a fuel was changed from E0 to E10, or from E10 to E0 for an area with a 

1 psi Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) waiver under 40 CFR 80.27(d). However, the Fuel Wizard 

did not produce correct fuel properties when a user in the 1 psi RVP waiver area changed 

the ethanol volume of a fuel from E10 to E15, or from E15 to E10. The “MOVES2014a 

November 2016 patch” corrected this issue. Therefore, users who applied the patch or who 

are using MOVES2014b can use the Fuel Wizard tool normally to model the fuels in 1 psi 

RVP waiver areas. 

For areas without the 1 psi waiver, the Fuel Wizard in MOVES2014a (and MOVES2014b) 

produces inaccurate fuel properties when the ethanol volume of a fuel was changed from E0 

to E10, E10 to E0, E10 to E15, and E15 to E10. Users who wish to change the ethanol 

content of the fuel for areas without the 1 psi waiver should follow the instructions below to 

obtain the correct fuel properties. 

1. Import the fuel as usual using the County and Project Data Manager. 

2. Select the fuel that ethanol content needs to be changed. 

3. From the drop-down menu, select “Ethanol”, set the desired ethanol content, then 

click “Calculate”. 

4. When the wizard displays the properties of both old and new fuel, click “Accept” 

(note that the new fuel has an incorrect RVP). 

5. Once you are back to the main Fuel Wizard screen, select the new fuel that was 

just created. 

6. From the drop-down menu, select “RVP”, set RVP to the correct psi, then click 

“Calculate”. 

7. The new fuel should now have the correct RVP. If the RVP of the new fuel is 

accurate, click “Accept”. 

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8. Once you accept, the wizard loads the new fuel into the user input database (the old 

fuel is replaced). The new fuel now has the correct fuel properties and is consistent 

with the refinery modeling. 

Post Processing 

MOVES output databases can be viewed and processed directly using MySQL Query Browser 

or other database tools. In addition, MOVES provides a few simple options to post-process 

and view the MOVES results. The menu options have been changed in MOVES2014b to 

clarify the purposes of the scripts, and the scripts include additional error checking. The 

Post Processing menu provides three menu options, Run MySQL Script on Onroad 

Output Database, Run MySQL Script on Nonroad Output Database, Produce 

Summary Report, and Produce State/County Map. These features can be used after a 

successful execution of a MOVES RunSpec to further process the MOVES results into more 

aggregate or easy-to-use formats. 

Note: In MOVES2014b, if the output database results contain only onroad results, the nonroad scripts 

will not be available from the Post Processing Menu. If the output database results contain only nonroad 

results, the onroad scripts will not be available. If the output database results contain both onroad and 

nonroad results, all scripts will be available; however, it is not recommended that you apply these 

scripts to output databases that contain both onroad and nonroad results, since all results found in the 

database (both onroad and nonroad) will be processed using the same script. 

Run MySQL Script on Onroad Output Database 

The Run MySQL Script on Onroad Output Database menu option enables you to select 

from a set of MySQL scripts to further process the MOVES onroad output databases stored 

in the MySQL database format. After selecting this menu option, click the arrow in the scroll 

down box to view all the available scripts. Several scripts are distributed with MOVES. Select 

a post-processing script by clicking to highlight it. To execute the script, click the OK 

button. The script will run on the output database that is selected in the General Output 

panel of the RunSpec. 

The first script, DecodeMOVESOutput.sql, is an example script that decodes the 

SourceUseType and FuelType fields from numerical code classification to the full text 

description. The script produces two new output tables with the expanded text descriptions: 

decodedmovesactivityoutput and decodedmovesoutput. 

Note: The MOVES Decode script uses the default database supplied with MOVES to decode the numeric 

values in the tables. If the default database has been replaced, the Decode script will need to be 

modified with the new database name. 

A second script, TabbedOutput.sql, takes three MOVES MySQL output tables 

(MOVESOutput, MOVESActivityOutput and MOVESRun) and converts them into tab-delimited 

text files that can be read by a spreadsheet program such as Excel or Lotus123. This is 

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useful if you do not want to work with the results in the MySQL relational database format. 

In MOVES, this can also be done with the Summary Reporting feature. Both scripts work 

with Inventory output, not Emission Rate output. 

A third script, EmissionRates.sql, divides the emission totals in the MOVESOutput table by 

the distance traveled totals in the MOVESActivityOutput table. The resulting values are in 

units of grams/vehicle-mile. A rate will be produced for each line of output. Depending on 

what was selected in the Output Emission Detail panel of the RunSpec, this could be one 

aggregate rate, or many disaggregate rates (e.g., one rate for each source type, fuel type, 

and model year). The script produces a new table in the output database called 

emissionrates. 

The remaining scripts were developed to automate the process of calculating emission 

factors for use in air quality modeling. Once MOVES has been run at the project-level, the 

scripts may be used to appropriately sum emissions from each of the relevant processes 

into one aggregate link emission rate. 

For CO analyses, the following three scripts are available: CO_Grams_Per_Hour.sql, 

CO_Grams_Per_Veh_Mile.sql, and CO_CAL3QHC_EmissionFactors.sql. Each script 

automates the post-processing steps described in Section 2.5 of the EPA guidance 

document, Using MOVES in Project-Level Carbon Monoxide Analyses. Depending on the 

purpose of the CO analysis, you can choose to generate link specific emission rates for CO 

as either grams per hour or grams per vehicle-mile. Additionally, a script is available that 

produces both free flow emission rates (grams per vehicle-mile) and idle emission rates 

(grams per vehicle-hour) which may be used in the CAL3QHC dispersion model. Running a 

script will produce a table in the output database that matches the name of the selected 

script (e.g., CO_grams_per_hour). 

For PM analyses, the following four scripts are available: 

PM25_Grams_Per_Veh_Mile.sql, PM25_Grams_Per_Hour.sql, 

PM10_Grams_Per_Veh_Mile.sql, and PM10_Grams_Per_Hour.sql. Each script 

automates the post-processing steps described in Section 4.6 of the EPA guidance 

document, Transportation Conformity Guidance for Quantitative Hot-spot Analyses in PM2.5 

and PM10 Nonattainment and Maintenance Areas. You can generate link-specific emission 

rates or PM2.5 and PM10 as either grams per vehicle-mile or grams per hour, whichever may 

be needed for dispersion modeling. Running a script will produce a table in the output 

database that matches the name of the selected script (e.g., PM25_grams_per_veh_mile). 

Each script has limited error checking and you should ensure that you follow all 

recommendations in the relevant EPA guidance document when running MOVES and 

executing a post-processing script. 

Tip! The Run MySQL Script on Onroad Output Database Post Processing feature of 

MOVES also allows you to run user-created MySQL scripts. Each user-created postprocessing script must be a text file containing Structured Query Language (SQL) 

commands, and must have a .SQL file extension. Detailed instructions on writing a MySQL 

script are beyond the scope of this document. To access a user-created script from the tool 

bar, the completed script must be saved to the OutputProcessingScripts subfolder of the 

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Database subfolder of the MOVES program folder. In other words, the path should be 

similar to the following: C:\...\MOVES\Database\OutputProcessingScripts. 

Run MySQL Script on Nonroad Output Database 

Nonroad Post-Processing Scripts List 

The Run MySQL Script on Nonroad Output Database menu option enables you to select from 

a set of MySQL scripts to further process the MOVES nonroad output databases stored in 

the MySQL database format. The scripts are applied to the current output database 

selected in the current RunSpec. The Nonroad scripts require that MOVES be run in specific 

ways, so read the documentation associated with each script before using it. 

It is strongly recommended that the underlying MOVES nonroad output database should be 

relatively small in terms of total number of records. To achieve this, the user may want to 

restrict the number of calendar years, month/day combinations, pollutants, equipment 

sectors /fuel types combinations or select more aggregation of the results prior to running 

the scripts. Depending on the user’s computing system, an output database of (>300,000) 

records may produce long execution times for some of the nonroad post-processing scripts. 

After selecting Run MySQL Script on Nonroad Output Database, click the arrow in the 

scroll down box to view all the available scripts. Select a post-processing script by clicking 

to highlight it. To execute the script, click the OK button. The script will run on the output 

database that is selected in the General Output panel of the RunSpec. Type a name for the 

post-processing script output in the File name field and click Save. When the script has 

completed (this may take some time), click OK. 

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Nonroad Script Title Description 

EmissionFactors_per_hphr_by_Equipment.sql Generates emission factors for each 

selected pollutant per horsepower-hour 

by fuel type and equipment type 

EmissionFactors_per_hphr_by_Equipment_and_ 

Horsepower.sql 

EmissionFactors_per_hphr_by_SCC.sql 

EmissionFactors_per_OperatingHour_by_Equip 

ment.sql 

EmissionFactors_per_OperatingHour_by_Equip 

ment_and_Horsepower.sql 

EmissionFactors_per_OperatingHour_by_SCC.sq 

l 

EmissionFactors_per_Vehicle_by_Equipment.sql 

EmissionFactors_per_Vehicle_by_Equipment_an 

d_ Horsepower.sql 

EmissionFactors_per_Vehicle_by_SCC.sql 

Inventory_by_County_and_Pollutant.sql 

Inventory_by_County_FuelType_Pollutant.sql 

Inventory_by_Equipment_Horsepower_Pollutant 

.sql 

Inventory_by_EquipmentType_Pollutant.sql 

Inventory_by_Sector_Horsepower_Pollutant.sql 

Inventory_by_Sector_SCC_Pollutant.sql 

Population_by_Sector_and_SCC.sql 

Generates emission factors for each 

selected pollutant per horsepower-hour 

by fuel type, equipment type, and 

horsepower bin 

Generates emission factors for each 

selected pollutant per horsepower-hour 

by SCC 

Generates emission factors for each 

selected pollutant per operating hour by 

fuel type and equipment type 

Generates emission factors for each 

selected pollutant per operating hour by 

fuel type, equipment type, and 

horsepower bin 

Generates emission factors for each 

selected pollutant per operating hour by 

SCC 

Generates emission factors for each 

selected pollutant per vehicle by fuel 

type and equipment type 

Generates emission factors for each 

selected pollutant per vehicle by fuel 

type, equipment type, and horsepower 

bin 

Generates emission factors for each 

selected pollutant per vehicle by SCC 

Generates an aggregate inventory of 

each selected pollutant 

Generates an aggregate inventory of 

each selected pollutant by fuel type 

Generates an aggregate inventory of 

each selected pollutant by equipment 

type and horsepower bin 

Generates an aggregate inventory of 

each selected pollutant by equipment 

type 

Generates an aggregate inventory of 

each selected pollutant by sector and 

horsepower bin 

Generates an aggregate inventory of 

each selected pollutant by sector and 

SCC 

Generates population numbers by sector 

and SCC 

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