Wisconsin Vehicle Inspection Program - 2005-2006 Annual Report

IM240 Failure Rate By Model Year

Model Year	2005	2006	Model Year	2005	2006	Model Year	2005	2006
1968	38%	28%	1981	36%	27%	1994	11%	16%
1969	39%	35%	1982	28%	33%	1995	13%	9%
1970	38%	34%	1983	33%	25%	1996	14%	21%
1971	41%	22%	1984	24%	30%	1997	14%	12%
1972	17%	21%	1985	36%	23%	1998	7%	8%
1973	20%	25%	1986	19%	23%	1999	6%	5%
1974	20%	28%	1987	40%	28%	2000	2%	6%
1975	41%	37%	1988	29%	34%	2001	1%	2%
1976	32%	27%	1989	33%	23%	2002	1%	2%
1977	38%	27%	1990	24%	30%	2003	0%	1%
1978	32%	33%	1991	28%	21%	2004	0%	0%
1979	40%	34%	1992	19%	25%	All	19%	17%
1980	29%	41%	1993	21%	17%

Idle Failure Rate By Model Year

Model Year	2005	2006	Model Year	2005	2006	Model Year	2005	2006
1968	35%	50%	1980	35%	63%	1992	35%	21%
1969	29%	33%	1981	29%	35%	1993	29%	13%
1970	37%	40%	1982	37%	25%	1994	37%	14%
1971	24%	28%	1983	24%	30%	1995	24%	9%
1972	28%	28%	1984	28%	55%	1996	28%	3%
1973	36%	32%	1985	36%	38%	1997	36%	8%
1974	42%	37%	1986	42%	30%	1998	42%	7%
1975	19%	22%	1987	19%	24%	1999	19%	4%
1976	25%	27%	1988	25%	27%	2000	25%	4%
1977	12%	24%	1989	12%	28%	2001	12%	0%
1978	36%	24%	1990	36%	31%	2002	36%	0%
1979	25%	37%	1991	25%	18%	2003	25%	1%
						All	13%	13%

Gas Cap Failure Rate By Model Year

Model Year	2005	2006	Model Year	2006	2006	Model Year	2005	2006
1971	32%	34%	1982	7%	12%	1994	3%	4%
1972	17%	30%	1983	12%	9%	1995	4%	4%
1973	24%	27%	1984	7%	8%	1996	3%	4%
1974	19%	27%	1985	7%	6%	1997	3%	3%
1975	13%	10%	1986	5%	8%	1998	2%	3%
1976	18%	14%	1987	8%	5%	1999	2%	3%
1977	15%	11%	1988	5%	6%	2000	3%	4%
1978	14%	13%	1989	6%	5%	2001	4%	3%
1979	14%	11%	1990	5%	6%	2002	2%	3%
1980	7%	10%	1991	5%	4%	2003	2%	2%
1981	12%	10%	1992	3%	5%	2004		3%
			1993	4%	4%	ALL	3%	3%

Average Repair Costs By Model Year

Model Year	2005	2006	Model Year	2005	2006	Model Year	2005	2006
1968	$246	$432	1980	$268	$447	1992	$325	$379
1969	$121	$93	1981	$307	$306	1993	$328	$336
1970	$249	$284	1982	$255	$406	1994	$356	$342
1971	$107	$132	1983	$283	$227	1995	$340	$363
1972	$106	$156	1984	$281	$386	1996	$321	$349
1973	$203	$213	1985	$451	$362	1997	$296	$345
1974	$280	$126	1986	$281	$252	1998	$331	$327
1975	$385	$208	1987	$332	$320	1999	$344	$349
1976	$226	$323	1988	$280	$340	2000	$318	$357
1977	$335	$183	1989	$356	$307	2001	$226	$277
1978	$169	$186	1990	$316	$348	2002	$157	$258
1979	$409	$214	1991	$323	$338	2003	$28	$158
						ALL	$276	$282

Waivers Issued By Model Year

Model Year	2005	2006	Model Year	2005	2006	Model Year	2005	2006
1968	6	2	1980	10	4	1992	176	54
1969	4	2	1981	0	1	1993	61	156
1970	1	1	1982	11	1	1994	186	44
1971	3	3	1983	6	5	1995	51	109
1972	3	0	1984	26	7	1996	14	2
1973	3	2	1985	13	32	1997	3	4
1974	2	2	1986	40	14	1998	1	4
1975	2	4	1987	40	69	1999	2	1
1976	8	4	1988	150	44	2000	2	0
1977	3	5	1989	74	101	2001	0	1
1978	15	7	1990	191	40	2002	1	0
1979	6	14	1991	59	118	All	1173	857

Operating Statistics | Volumes By Test Type | Customer Convenience | Failure Statistics | Tailpipe Tests - IM240 & Idle

Operating Statistics

Test Volume Remained Constant In 2006

In 2006, the test volume was nearly identical to the test volume in 2005. There was a slight increase in tests to fulfill the registration renewal requirements and a slight decrease in tests to fulfill the change of ownership requirement. The highest volume station remained West Allis and the lowest volume station remained Burlington.

Operating Statistics	2005	2006
Total Tests	739,866	739,505
# of Registration Renewal Tests	594,194	602,103
# of Change of Ownership Tests	142,960	135,398
Highest Volume Station	West Allis 93,098	West Allis 94,855
Lowest Volume Station	Burlington 22,992	Burlington 22,809

Test Station Activity - Total Volume

West Allis remained the highest volume station in 2006. The station benefited by its proximity the Milwaukee Central inspection station that was impacted throughout the year by the Marquette Interchange construction that is near the inspection station. The West Allis testing facility is the closest alternate testing station to the Milwaukee Central facility. Burlington, one of the smaller stations (2 lanes), conducted the fewest tests for both 2005 and 2006.

Test Station Throughput – Tests Per Lanes

Throughput refers to the average annual test volume per available lane. This rate permits comparison of the test volume handled at each test station by adjusting for the facility size. In 2006, the average usage rate was 17,197 tests/lane, compared to 17,206 tests/lane in 2005.

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Volumes By Test Type

The type of test a vehicle receives at the test station is usually determined by its model year. In 2006, the proportion of vehicles receiving an IM240 test decreased compared with 2004. This represents a reversal in the gradual trend towards greater OBD testing. Over time, IM240 tests will represent an increasingly small proportion of total tests. Due to continued fleet turnover, OBDII vehicles will comprise an increasingly large proportion of the testable fleet.

Volumes By Type	2005	2006
IM240 Tests	258,149	252,000
Idle Tests	6,858	7,399
OBDII Tests	404,620	41,4467
Gas Cap Tests	614,719	626,587

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Customer Convenience

Customer convenience is a program priority. The amount of time motorists wait for vehicle testing is a key measure of convenience because it directly affects their acceptance of the program. The vehicle inspection program has developed procedures to ensure that customer wait times are minimized.

On average, customers waited slightly over 5 1/2 minutes for a test in 2005 and 2006 While there are many factors that affect waiting times, it is felt that the increase of OBDII testing for newer vehicles reduced testing volume and improved testing efficiencies were the contributing factors to these low wait times.

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Failure Statistics

Overview

A small population of vehicles in southeastern Wisconsin produces most of the vehicle exhaust pollution – these are the so-called gross polluters. As vehicles are driven, problems can develop because of defective parts, improper maintenance or simply from deterioration due to age and usage. This helps explain why a vehicle can be relatively clean one year and become a gross polluter at the time of its next inspection. Since hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides are invisible, a vehicle inspection is an effective method to ensure that a vehicle is not polluting excessively.

For the IM240 and Idle emission inspection test types, emission limitations are simply the emission standards used to determine whether a vehicle passes or fails the emission inspection. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) determines the emission standards necessary to achieve the emission reductions needed to attain air quality standards in the most cost effective manner. The emission limitations allow at least double the emission levels that vehicles should achieve if properly tuned and maintained. This helps ensure that a relatively well-maintained vehicle should be able to pass the emission test.

	2005	2006
Volume - All Test Types (pass/fail only)	676,716	682,701
Initial Test Fail Rate – All Test Types	10.5%	10.2%
Retest Fail Rate – All Test Types	28.4%	25.2%
Overall Fail Rate	12.3%	11.63%
Avg. Repair Cost for 1st Retest Pass	$276.00	$282.45
IM240 Test Volume (pass/fail only)	258,149	252,000
Initial IM240 Fail Rate	14.2%	12.6%
Retest IM240 Fail Rate	47.4%	45.8%
Overall IM240 Fail Rate	18.7%	16.5%
Avg. Repair Costs for 1st Retest Pass	$295.05	$300.11
Idle Test Volume (pass/fail only)	6,858	7,399
Initial Idle Fail Rate	10.7%	10.1%
Retest Idle Fail Rate	38.8%	43.3%
Overall Idle Fail Rate	13.4%	13.2%
Avg. Repair Costs for 1st Retest Pass	$319.41	$264.35
OBD Test Volume (pass/fail only)	404,620	415,467
Initial OBD Fail Rate	6.5%	6.9%
Retest OBD Fail Rate	7.0%	7.0%
Overall OBD Fail Rate	6.5%	6.9%
Avg. Repair Costs for 1st Retest Pass	$289.46 .	$266.26
Gas Cap Test Volume (pass/fail only)	614,719	626,587
Gas Cap Fail Rate Overall	3.0%	3.2%
Vehicle Waivers	1,173	857

The following chart is a summary of the failure rates for: 1) All Test Types; 2) IM240; 3) Idle; 4) OBDII and 5) Gas Caps. It also lists the associated repair costs for each test type. The average repair costs are for repairs performed at a repair facility between the initial test failure and subsequent retest pass.

The overall failure rate for all test types fell from 12.3% in 2005 to 11.6% in 2006. The drop in the failure rate can be attributed to a number of factors including more effective repairs and the fact that newer vehicles generally are more durable than older ones.

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Tailpipe Tests - IM240 and Idle

IM240 Tests The overall IM240 failure rate decreased slightly in 2005, from 18.7% % in 2005 to 16.5% in 2006
Idle Tests In 2005, the initial failure rate was 10.7% and in 2006 the initial test failure rate was 10.1%. The retest failure rate was 38.8% in 2005, compared to 43.3 % in 2006. The overall idle test failure rate fell from 13.4% in 2005 to 13.2% in 2006.
OBDII Tests The failure rate for initial OBDII tests rose from 6.5% in 2005 to 6.9% in 2006. The retest failure rate remained at 7% for both years. The overall OBDII failure rate rose from 6.5% in 2005 to 6.9% in 2006.