Is MOVES the best tool for my work?

See More Frequent Questions about MOVES and Related Models.

EPA’s MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES) is a state-of-the-science emission modeling system that estimates emissions for U.S. mobile sources at the national, county, and project level for criteria air pollutants, greenhouse gases, and air toxics.

States other than California must use MOVES when developing mobile source emissions for regulatory purposes, such as state implementation plans (SIPs) and transportation and general conformity determinations, as explained in EPA’s Policy Guidance on the Use of MOVES3 for State Implementation Plan Development, Transportation Conformity, General Conformity, and Other Purposes. (In California, the California Air Resources Board model, “EMFAC,” is used for modeling onroad mobile sources for regulatory purposes.) EPA also recommends the use of MOVES for modeling mobile source emissions for regulatory analyses done for project approvals under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. In addition, EPA uses MOVES for the National Emission Inventory and other purposes where a detailed accounting of mobile source emissions is required.

MOVES3 is also currently the best tool EPA has for estimating GHG emissions from the transportation sector for regulatory purposes and is a significant improvement over MOVES2014 ¹. And finally, state and local agencies, tribal agencies, academic institutions, and other interested parties who are interested in analyzing mobile source air toxics (or MSAT) emissions from transportation projects should consider using the latest version of MOVES.

However, for other purposes, other approaches may apply. MOVES has a broad scope, but it is not designed to answer every question about mobile source emissions. And, for some simple analyses, MOVES may be more complex than needed. If the use of MOVES is not required for your purpose, please review Section 8 of the Overview of EPA’s MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES3), “Considerations when Using MOVES,” before selecting MOVES for your analysis.

Other resources that may be appropriate when estimating U.S. mobile source emissions for non-regulatory purposes include the following:

EPA’s: Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Typical Passenger Vehicle website is part of EPA’s Green Vehicle Guide and includes simple rates per gallon of fuel and per mile, which could be used to make simple GHG estimates when the use of MOVES is not warranted.
Estimated U.S. Average Vehicle Emissions Rates per Vehicle by Vehicle Type Using Gasoline and Diesel EPA generated these rates using MOVES3.0.0; these rates could be used for simple estimates of common air pollutants when the use of MOVES is not required.
EPA’s National Emission Inventory, particularly the onroad and nonroad data summaries
EPA’s Diesel Emissions Quantifier (DEQ), which should be used to evaluate diesel replacement projects and upgrade options for Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grant applications or for non-regulatory purposes. ²
EPA Center for Corporate Climate Leadership’s GHG Inventory Development Process and Guidance website provides guidance for estimating corporate emissions. “Scope 1 and Scope 2 Inventory Guidance” includes guidance for estimating GHG from corporate vehicle fleets.

Please refer to the associated documentation for the resource, if available, to determine whether it would be appropriate for an application. These are examples; you may find other resources that are useful.

Please note the MOVES in-box (mobile@epa.gov) does not support these other resources.

Notes:

¹ See EPA’s guidance, “Using MOVES for Estimating State and Local Inventories of Onroad Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Energy Consumption,” available on the web at: Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

² When quantifying the benefit of a diesel replacement or retrofit for SIP or transportation conformity purposes, please refer to EPA’s guidance, “Diesel Retrofit and Replacement Projects: Quantifying and Using Their Emission Benefit in SIPs and Conformity – Guidance for State and Local Transportation Agencies,” available on the web at: Quantifying Benefits of Control Measures in SIPs and Conformity.