Highway Capacity and Level of

Service Analysis

Source: Principles of highway and traffic engineering (4th), chapter 6

1
 Outline
1. Level of Service (LOS)
2. Basic Freeway Segments
3. Multilane Highway LOS
4. Two-lane Highways
5. Design Traffic Volume
Introduction

3
Level of Service (LOS)

4
Level of Service A

5
Level of Service B

6
Level of Service C

7
Level of Service D

8
Level of Service E

9
Level of Service F

10
11
Determination of Level of Service

12
13
1- Basic Freeway Segments
( Uninterrupted flow of vehicles)

14
Procedure

15
Table 1 – LOS Criteria for Basic Freeway Segment

16
Figure 1 – Basic freeway segment speed–flow curves and
level-of-service

17
Table 2 – Relationship between Free-flow Speed and
Capacity on Basic Freeway Segment

18
Table 3 – Adjustment for Lane Width

19
Table 4 – Adjustment for Right-Shoulder Lateral Clearance

20
Table 5 – Adjustment for Number of Lanes on Urban
Freeways

21
Table 6 – Adjustment for Interchange Density

22
23
24
( fHV )

25
27
Table 7 – Passenger Car Equivalent (PCEs) for
Extended Freeway Segment

28
Table 8 – Passenger Car Equivalent (ET)for Trucks and Buses on Specific
Upgrade

29
Table 9 – Passenger Car Equivalent (ER) for RVs on Specific Upgrades

30
Table 10 – Passenger Car Equivalent (ET) for Trucks
and Buses on Specific Downgrades

31
D = density in pc/mi/ln (pc/km/ln),
v = flow rate in pc/h/ln, and
p

S = average passenger car speed in mi/h (km/h).

32
Example 1

D = density in pc/mi/ln (pc/km/ln),

vp = flow rate in pc/h/ln, and
S = average passenger car speed in mi/h
(km/h). 33
Example 2

D = density in pc/mi/ln (pc/km/ln),

vp = flow rate in pc/h/ln, and
S = average passenger car speed in mi/h
(km/h). 34
Problem

D = density in pc/mi/ln (pc/km/ln),

vp = flow rate in pc/h/ln, and
S = average passenger car speed in mi/h
(km/h). 35
 2- Multilane Highways
Multilane highways are similar to freeways in most respects, except
for a few key differences:
• Vehicles may enter or leave the roadway at at-grade intersections
and driveways
• Multilane highways may or may not be divided, whereas freeways
are always divided.
• Traffic signals may be present.
• Design standards (such as design speeds) are sometimes lower
than those for freeways.
• The visual setting and development along multilane highways are
usually more distracting to drivers than in the freeway case.

36
Base conditions of Multilane Highways

37
Procedure

38
39
Table 11 – LOS Criteria for Multilane Highways

40
Figure 2 – Multilane Highway speed-flow curves
and level-of-service criteria

41
Table 12 – Relationship between free-Flow Speed
and Capacity on Multilane Highway Segments

42
Table 13 – Adjustment for Lateral Clearance

43
44
Table 14 – Adjustment for Median Type

45
Table 15 – Adjustment for Access-Point Frequency

46
Example 3

D = density in pc/mi/ln (pc/km/ln),

vp = flow rate in pc/h/ln, and
S = average passenger car speed in mi/h
(km/h). 47
Example 4

D = density in pc/mi/ln (pc/km/ln),

vp = flow rate in pc/h/ln, and
S = average passenger car speed in mi/h
(km/h). 48
Example 5

D = density in pc/mi/ln (pc/km/ln),

vp = flow rate in pc/h/ln, and
S = average passenger car speed in mi/h
(km/h). 49
 3- Two-Lane Highways

Base conditions and capacity:

• 12-ft minimum lane widths
• 6-ft minimum shoulder widths
• 0% no-passing zones
• Only passenger cars in the traffic stream
• No impediments to through traffic due to
traffic control or turning vehicles
• Level terrain (no grades greater than 2%)
• 50/50 directional split of traffic (for each
direction)
50
The capacity of extended lengths of two-lane highway
under base condition is 3200 passenger car per hour
(pc/h) for both direction.

The capacity of a single direction of a two-lane

highway is 1700 pc/h.

51
 (ATS)

PTSF: is the average percentage of travel time that vehicles must travel behind
slower vehicles due to the lack of passing opportunities

ATS: is simply the length of the analysis segment divided by the average travel time
of all vehicles traversing the segment during the analysis period.

52
The Highway Capacity Manual (TRB 2000) has defined 2 classes of two-lane highway:

Class I: Two-lane highways on which motorists expect to travel at

high speeds, as well as avoid extended following of other vehicles.
Include: intercity routes, primary arterials connecting major traffic
generators, daily commuter routes, and primary links in state or
national highway networks

Class II: Two-lane highways on which motorists do not necessarily

expect to travel at high speeds.
Include: Shorter routes and routes that pass through rugged
terrain, for which travel speeds will generally be lower than for
Class I highways.
53
 Procedure
Measured

Estimated

Table 16
Table 15
54
Table 16 – Adjustment for Lane Width and Shoulder Width

55
(pc/hr/ln)

(mi/h)

Based on ATS, to determine LOS (Table 21)

56
Table 17 – Grade Adjustment Factor for Average Travel
Speed (ATS) and Percent Time Spent Following (PTSF)

57
Table 18 – Passenger Car Equivalents for Heavy Vehicles
for Average Travel Speed (ATS) and Percent Time Spent
Following (PTSF)

58
Table 19 – Adjustment for Effect of No-Passing Zones on
Average Travel Speed (ATS) ,fnp (mi/h or km/h)

59
(%)

60
Table 20 – Adjustment for Combined Effect of Directional
Distribution of Traffic and Percentage of No-Passing Zones
on Percent Time Spent Following (PTSF), fd/np (%)

61
62
63
Table 21 – LOS Criteria for Class I Two-Lane Highways

64
Table 22 – LOS Criteria for Class II Two-Lane Highways

65
Example
One segment of a Class I two-lane highway is on rolling terrain and has an hourly
volume of 500 veh/h (total for both directions), and PHF = 0.94, and the traffic stream
contains 5% large trucks, 2% buses, and 6% recreational vehicles. For these
conditions, determine the analysis the analysis flow rate for ATS and PTSF.

66
Example
The two-lane highway segment in Example 6.6 has the following additional
characteristics: 11-ft lanes, 2-ft shoulders, access frequency of 10 per mile, and a
directional traffic split of 60/40, and a base FFS of 55 mi/h. Using the analysis flow
rates for ATS and PTSF from the previous example, determine the level of service for
this two-lane highway segment.

67
6.24
A class II two-lane highway needs to be redesigned for an area with rolling
terrain. The peak-hour traffic volume is 500 vehicles, with a directional split of
60/40 and a PHF of 0.85. The traffic stream includes 8% large trucks, 2% buses,
and 5% recreational vehicles. What is the maximum percentage of no-passing
zones that can be built into the design with LOS B maintained?

68
 Design Traffic Volumes
Need to figure out the appropriate hourly traffic
volume to get a particular LOS, and to
determine the number of lanes that needed for
a new or existing highway.
Selection of the hourly volume is complicated!
• Variability in traffic volume by time of day,
day of week, time of year, and type of
roadway.
• What hourly volume should be taken for
design?
69
70
• Annual average daily traffic (AADT)
– Annual traffic averaged on a daily basis
– Both directions
• Design hourly volume (DHV)
– Traffic volume used for design calculations
– Typically between the 10th and 50th highest volume hour
of the year (30th highest is most common)
• K-factor
– Ratio between DHV and AADT
DHV
K
AADT
71
73
74
DDHV  K  D AADT

V
vp 
PHF  N f HV  f p 75
 Example:

DDHV = directional design-hour volume,

D = directional distribution factor to reflect the
proportion of peak-hour traffic volume
traveling in the peak direction,
K = factor used to convert annual average daily
traffic to a specified annual hourly volume,
AADT = roadway’s annual average daily traffic
in veh/day. 76