Ground controller described operational deviation when clearing a vehicle to cross a closed runway; ...

Narrative:

Working ground control with runway xxl closed along with numerous vehicles constantly calling for crossing taxiways to the closed runway. The LOA states that any vehicles wishing to cross an active runway must call the local controller for permission. I was coordinating several different things at once for weather in the area and reroutes. The vehicle called me to enter the closed runway and stated his position; I misunderstood his call; I thought he was at the same location as the other 12 vehicles were that keep calling me. I told him to proceed on runway xxl thinking he was on the other side at taxiway B1; the vehicle crossed runway xxr and proceeded on runway xxl. This airport has had a problem with vehicles for years due to construction and the facility letting the airport authority do as it pleased. There have been calls for getting vehicles off the ground frequency for years. The airport vehicles (operations) have permission to roam the movement areas on their own; they should be the ones to escort any vehicles about the movement areas and all vehicles (except active emergency vehicles) should never have to cross a runway since there are numerous perimeter roads that are usable for this.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Ground Controller described operational deviation when clearing a vehicle to cross a closed runway; not realizing the vehicle location; the clearance resulting in an uncoordinated active runway crossing.

Narrative: Working ground control with Runway XXL closed along with numerous vehicles constantly calling for crossing taxiways to the closed runway. The LOA states that any vehicles wishing to cross an active runway must call the Local controller for permission. I was coordinating several different things at once for weather in the area and reroutes. The vehicle called me to enter the closed runway and stated his position; I misunderstood his call; I thought he was at the same location as the other 12 vehicles were that keep calling me. I told him to proceed on Runway XXL thinking he was on the other side at taxiway B1; the vehicle crossed Runway XXR and proceeded on Runway XXL. This airport has had a problem with vehicles for years due to construction and the facility letting the airport authority do as it pleased. There have been calls for getting vehicles off the ground frequency for years. The airport vehicles (OPS) have permission to roam the movement areas on their own; they should be the ones to escort any vehicles about the movement areas and all vehicles (except active emergency vehicles) should NEVER have to cross a runway since there are numerous perimeter roads that are usable for this.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	843334
Time
Date	200907
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	No Aircraft
Person 1
Function	Ground
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Military 4 Air Traffic Control Non Radar 3 Air Traffic Control Radar 25 Air Traffic Control Supervisory 0
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown Ground Incursion Runway

Ground controller described operational deviation when clearing a vehicle to cross a closed runway; not realizing the vehicle location; the clearance resulting in an uncoordinated active runway crossing.