CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Capacity and Level of Service

Bachu Anilkumar
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Civil and Env. Engineering
IIT Patna
E-mail: [email protected]
 Module 4: Capacity and Level of Service

Passenger car units, LOS concept, factors affecting capacity and LOS, capacity of
different types of facilities – HCM approach, Capacity.
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Passenger Car Unit 1

Also referred as Passenger Car Equivalent

Metric used to assess the traffic flow conditions
Why is it needed?
Mixed traffic flow
Difficult to estimate traffic flow and capacity - need to come up with a common vehicle
standard unit
Car may be considered as a standard vehicle !!
Applications: Signal design, traffic assignment, etc.

The number of passenger cars displaced in the traffic flow by a truck or a bus, under the
prevailing roadwayand traffic conditions

If the addition of one vehicle of a particular class in traffic stream produces the same
effect as that due to the addition of passenger car, then PCU = 1
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Passenger Car Unit 2

Other Definitions
The number of passenger cars which will result in the same operational condition as a
single heavy vehicle of a particular type under specified roadway, traffic and control
conditions - Transportation Research Board (2010)
Conversion factor for different vehicle types with regard to their impact on capacity as
compared to a passenger car - Indonesean HCM
On any particular section of road under particular traffic condition, if the addition of
one vehicle of a particular type per hour will reduce the average speed of the
remaining vehicles by the same amount as the addition of, say, x cars of average size
per hour, then one vehicle of this type is equivalent to x PCU - TRRL, London
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Passenger Car Unit 3

Indian Roads Congress

Ratio of the capacity of a roadway when there
are passenger cars only to the capacity of
same roadway when there are vehicles of that
class only

Source - IRC 64-1990 (Rural Roads)

Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Passenger Car Unit 4

Source - IRC 106-1990 (Urban Roads)

Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Roadway Capacity 5

Factors affecting Passenger Car Unit

Vehicle characteristics - power, speed, acc, braking, etc.
Transverse and longitudinal gaps between moving vehicles - speed, driver
characteristics
Traffic stream characteristics - composition, mean speed, speed distributions
Roadway characteristics - gradient, curves, access controls, rural vs. urban, types of
intersections
Regulation and control of traffic - speed limit, one-way or two-way traffic
Environmental and climatic conditions

Note: PCU value of particular vehicle class may not remain constant.
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Passenger Car Unit 6

Dynamic and Static PCUs

Influence of a vehicle type on a traffic stream is not same across the different traffic
states
Each vehicle type will have a set of PCU values for different flow conditions, either in
terms of V/C ratio or flow rates
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Passenger Car Unit 7

PCU for Midblock sections - Urban, Nonurban

Signalized intersections
Unsignalized intersections
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Passenger Car unit 8

Please go through the following paper:

Raj, P., K. Sivagnanasundaram, G. Asaithambi, and A.U.R. Shankar. Review of Methods for
Estimation of Passenger Car Unit Values of Vehicles, Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A:
Systems, Volume 145 Issue 6 - June 2019, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/JTEPBS.0000234

https://ascelibrary.org/doi/full/10.1061/JTEPBS.0000234
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Capacity and LOS 9

Capacity: Maximum hourly rate at which persons or vehicles expected to traverse a point
or a uniform section of roadway under prevailing conditions

Maximum hourly flow rate

Expressed in vehicles or persons
Defined for prevailing roadway, traffic or control conditions
Defined for uniform section or a point
Maximum traffic flow obtainable on a given roadway using all available lanes
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Capacity and LOS 10

LOS: Quality measure describing operational conditions within a traffic stream, generally in
terms of speed, travel time, freedom to maneuver, interruptions, comfort and convenience

Rages from A to F
Decided based on Measures of Effectiveness !!
Every facility has different MoE’s
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Types of Facilities 11

Interrupted Flow
Un-signalized intersection
Signalized intersection
Arterials or corridors

Uninterrupted Flow
Freeways
Multi-lane Highways

Freeways and Highways - Density

Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Basic Freeway and Multilane Highway Characteristics 12

Speed-Flow Characteristics

Capacity analysis
Based on calibrated speed-flow curves for sections with various free-flow speeds
operating under base conditions
No heavy vehicles in the traffic stream
A driver population dominated by regular or familiar users of the facility
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Basic Freeway and Multilane Highway Characteristics 13

Speed-Flow Characteristics - Freeway

Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Basic Freeway and Multilane Highway Characteristics 14

Speed-Flow Characteristics - Multilane Highways

Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Why Density ??? 15

Shape of the speed-flow relationships

Average speed remains constant through most of the range of flows
Difference between free-flow speed and the speed at capacity is relatively small
Defining five level-of-service boundaries would be very difficult
Density describes the proximity of vehicles to each other - influence on freedom to
maneuver
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Level of Service 16
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Level of Service 17

Level of service A - intended to describe free-flow operations.

Operation of each vehicle is not greatly influenced by the presence of others.

Speeds are not affected by flow in this level of service, and operation is at the
free-flow speed.
Lane changing, merging, and diverging maneuvers are easily accomplished, as
many large gaps in lane flow exist.
Short-duration lane blockages may cause the level of service to deteriorate
somewhat, but do not cause significant disruption to flow.
Average spacing between vehicles is a minimum of 480 ft, or approximately 24 car
lengths at this level of service.
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Level of Service 18

Level of service B

Drivers begin to respond to the existence of other vehicles in the traffc stream,
although operation is still at the free-flow speed.
Maneuvering within the traffic stream is still relatively easy, but drivers must be more
vigilant in searching for gaps in lane flow
The traffic stream still has sufficient gaps to dampen the impact of most minor lane
disruptions.
Average spacing is a minimum of 293 ft, or approximately 15 car lengths
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Level of Service 19

Level of service C

Presence of other vehicles begins to restrict maneuverability within the traffic stream.
Operations remain at the freeflow speed
Drivers now need to adjust their course to find gaps they can use to pass or merge
A significant increase in driver vigilance is required
Any significant blockage could lead to breakdown and queuing
Average spacing is a minimum of 203 ft, or approximately 10 car lengths.
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Level of Service 20

Level of service D

Speeds begin to decline with increasing flows

Density deteriorates more quickly with flow in this range
breakdowns can occur quickly in response to small increases in flow
Maneuvering within the traffic stream is now quite difficult, and drivers often have to
search for gaps for some time before successfully passing or merging.
Average spacing is a minimum of 151 ft, or approximately seven car lengths.
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Level of Service 21

Level of service E

Represents operation in the vicinity of capacity.

The maximum density limit of level of service E is capacity operation
There are few or no usable gaps in the traffic stream, and any perturbation caused by
lane-changing or merging maneuvers will create a shock wave in the traffic stream
Maneuvering within the traffic stream is now very difficult
The average spacing is a minimum of 117 ft, or approximately six car lengths.
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Level of Service 22

Level of service F

Describes operation within the queue that forms upstream of a breakdown point.
Breakdowns may be caused by accidents or incidents, or may occur at locations
where arrival demand exceeds the capacity of the section on a regular basis
Vehicles "shuffle" through the queue - standing still, move briskly for short distances.
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Analysis Methodologies 23

Operational Analysis - Determining the expected LOS

Service Flow Rate - Determining SF for various LOS levels.
Design Analysis - Determine number of lanes for a specified LOS.
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Analysis Methodologies 24
Operational Analysis

All traffic, roadway, and control conditions are defined for an existing or projected
highway section - Expected level of service and operating parameters are determined

V
vp =
PHF × N × fHV × fp

vp - Demand flow rate under equivalent ideal conditions, pc/h/ln

PHF - Peak hour factor
N - Number of lanes
fHV - Adjustment factor for presence of heavy vehicles
fp - adjustment factor for presence of occasional or non-familiar users of a facility
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Analysis Methodologies 25
Service Flow Rate

To determine the service flow rates and service

volumes for the various levels of service under
prevailing conditions
The maximum service flow rates for each level of
service →

SFi = MSFi × N × fHV × fp

SFi - Service flow rate for LOS i
MSFi - Maximum service flow rate for LOS i

Service flow rates are stated in terms of peak

flows within the peak hour, usually for a
15-minute analysis period.
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Analysis Methodologies 26
Design Analysis

An existing or forecast demand volume is used to determine the number of lanes needed
to provide for a specified level of service

DDHV
Ni =
PHF × MSFi × fHV × fp

DDHV - Directional design hour volume

Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Peak Hour Factor 27

The relationship between the peak 15-minute flow rate and the full hourly volume is
given by the peak-hour factor (PHF)
Evaluating capacity and other parameters
Peak rates of flow occurring within the peak hour - short-term fluctuations typically
occur during an hour
Common practice is to use a peak 15-minute rate of flow

Hourly Volume V
PHF = =
Peak rate of flow within the hour 4 × v15
Freeways range between 0.80 and 0.95
Lower factors - rural freeways or off-peak conditions; Higher factors - urban and
suburban peak-hour conditions.
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Heavy Vehicle Factor 28

Adjust the presence of heavy vehicles in the traffic stream

Trucks and buses
Recreational vehicles - Motor homes, etc.
Concept is similar to Passenger Car Equivalents
Consider a traffic stream of 1,000 veh/h, containing 10% trucks and 2% RVs. Field
studies indicate that for this particular traffic stream, each truck displaces 2.5
passenger cars (ET ) from the traffic stream, and each RV displaces 2.0 passenger
cars (ER ) from the traffic stream. What is the total number of equivalent passenger
cars in the traffic stream?
Trucks: (1000 * 0.10 * 2.5) = 250 pce/h
RVs: (1000 * 0.02 * 2.0) = 40 pce/h
Cars: (1000 * 0.88 * 1.0) = 880 pce/h
Total 1170 pce/h
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Heavy Vehicle Factor 29

Heavy vehicle adjustment factor - converts veh/h to pce/h

Vvph
fHV =
Vpce
Vvph
fHV =
(Vvph × PT × ET ) + (Vvph × PR × ER ) + (Vvph × (1 − PT − PR ))
1
fHV =
1 + PT (ET − 1) + PR (ER − 1)
1 1
fHV = = = 0.8547
1 + 0.10(2.5 − 1) + 0.02(2.0 − 1) 1.170
Estimated PCE is

Vvph 1000
Vpce = = = 1170pc/h
fHV 0.8547
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Heavy Vehicle Factor 30

HCM 2000 specifies PCE for trucks, buses and RVs for extended road sections of
general terrain categories and specific grade sections...
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Heavy Vehicle Factor 31

Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Heavy Vehicle Factor 32

Volume of 2,500 veh/h traverses a section of freeway and contains 15% trucks and 5%
RVs. The section in question is on a 5% upgrade, 0.75 miles in length. What is the
equivalent volume in passenger car equivalents?
Solution:
ET =2.5 (Table 12.14, 15% trucks, >4-5%, >0.50-0.75 mi)
ER =3.0 (Table 12.15, 5% RV’s, >4-5%, >O.50 mi)

1 1
fHV = = = 0.7547
1 + 0.15(2.5 − 1) + 0.05(3.0 − 1) 1.325
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Driver population Factor 33

Assume driver population of commuters or drivers familiar with the roadway and its
characteristics
Recreational routes - ??
Not well defined - depends upon local conditions
Range: 0.85 to 1.00
Analysis - 1.00
Design purpose - 0.85; represents a worst-case scenario.
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Determining Free Flow Speed 34

Estimating FFS for Freeways

FFS = BFFS − fLW − fLC − fN − FID

FFS - Free flow speed

BFFS - Base Free Flow Speed
fLW - Adjustment for lane width
fLC - Adjustment for lateral clearance
fN - Adjustment for number of lanes
fID - Adjustment for interchange density
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Determining Free Flow Speed 35

Estimating FFS for Freeways

Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Determining Free Flow Speed 36

Estimating FFS for Freeways

Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Determining Free Flow Speed 37

Estimating FFS for Multi-lane Highways

FFS = BFFS − fLW − fLC − fM − fA

FFS - Free flow speed of the highway

fLW - Adjustment for lane width
fLC - Adjustment for lateral clearance
fM - Adjustment for type of median
fA - Adjustment for access points
BFFS - Base free flow speed
If posted speed limit < 45 mi/h → BFFS = Posted + 7 mi/h
If posted speed limit > 45 mi/h → BFFS = Posted + 5 mi/h
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Determining Free Flow Speed 38

Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Example 39

An old 6-lane urban freeway has the following characteristics: 11-ft lanes; frequent
roadside obstructions located 2 ft from the right pavement edge; and an interchange
density of 2.00 interchanges/mile. What is the free-flow speed of this freeway?

Solution: The free flow speed of freeway may be estimated using

FFS = BFFS − fLW − fLC − fN − FID

BFFS = 70 mph (base condition for urban freeways)
fLW - 1.9 mi/h (11-ft lanes)
fLC - 1.6 mi/h (2-ft lateral clearance, 3 lanes)
fN - 3.0 mi/h (3-lanes in each direction)
fID - 7.5 mi/h (2-interchanges per mile)

FFS = 70 − 1.9 − 1.6 − 3.0 − 7.5 = 56mi/h

Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Example 40

A 4-lane undivided multilane highway in a suburban area has the following characteristics:
posted speed limit = 50 mi/h; 11-ft lanes; frequent obstructions located 4 ft from the right
pavement edge; 30 access points/mi on the right side of the facility. What is the free-flow
speed for the direction described?
Solution: The free flow speed of freeway may be estimated using

FFS = BFFS − fLW − fLC − fM − FA

BFFS = 50+5 = 55 mi/h
fLW - 1.9 mi/h (11-ft lanes)
fLC - 1.6 mi/h (Lateral clearance is 4 ft (for the right side) plus an assumed value of 6.0
ft (for the left or median side) of an undivided highway), total LC = 10 ft.
fM - 1.6 mi/h (Undivided highway)
fID - 7.5 mi/h (30-access points per mile)

FFS = 55 − 1.9 − 1.6 − 1.6 − 7.5 = 43.6mi/h

Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Analysis of an Older Urban Freeway 41

Analyse a four-lane freeway with the following characteristics:

10-ft lanes
Lane obstructions at 0 ft at the roadside
interchange density - 2 per mile
Rolling terrain
The roadway has a current peak demand volume of 3,500 veh/h. The peak-hour factor is
0.95, and there are no trucks, buses, or RVs in the traffic stream.
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Analysis of an Older Urban Freeway 42

Step 1: Determine the Free-Flow Speed of the Freeway

Step 2: Determine the Demand Flow Rate in Equivalent PCE Under Base Conditions
Step 3: Find the LOS and the speed and density of the stream
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Analysis of an Older Urban Freeway 43

Step 1: Determine the Free-Flow Speed of the Freeway

FFS = BFFS − fLW − fLC − fN − FID

BFFS = 70 mph (base condition for urban freeways)
fLW - 6.6 mi/h (10-ft lanes)
fLC - 3.6 mi/h (0-ft lateral clearance, 2 lanes)
fN - 4.5 mi/h (2-lanes in each direction)
fID - 7.5 mi/h (2-interchanges per mile)

FFS = 70 − 6.6 − 3.6 − 4.5 − 7.5 = 47.8mi/h

Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Analysis of an Older Urban Freeway 44

Step 2: Determine the Demand Flow Rate in Equivalent PCE Under Base Conditions

V
vp =
PHF × N × fHV × fp
No trucks and No RVs - FHV = 1.00

3500
vp = = 1842pc/h/ln
0.95 × 2 × 1.00 × 1.00
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Analysis of an Older Urban Freeway 45

Step 3: Find the LOS and the speed and density of the stream

LOS - E
Speed - 48 mi/h
Density - Flow/Speed = 1842/48 = 38.4 pc/mi/ln
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Analysis of an Multilane Highway 46

A four-lane multilane highway section with a full median carries a peak-hour volume of
2,600 veh/h in the heaviest direction. There are 12% trucks and 2% RVs in the traffic
stream. Motorists are primarily regular users of the facility. The section under study is
on a 3% sustained grade, 1 mile in length. The PHF is 0.88.
Field studies have been conducted to determine that free-flow speed of the facility is
55.0 mi/h.
At what level of service will this facility operate during the peak hour?
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Analysis of an Multilane Highway 47

Solution:
Free-flow speed has been found from field data - Not necessary to estimate
Analysis is for a sustained grade
Determine upgrade demand flow rate
Determine downgrade flow rate
Find LOS and density
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

PCE values - Downgrade 48

The passenger car equivalent for RVs on downgrade sections is taken to be the same as
that for level terrain sections, or 1.2.
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Analysis of an Multilane Highway 49

Step 1: Determine the Upgrade Demand Flow Rate in Equivalent pces Under Base
Conditions

V
vp =
PHF × N × fHV × fp
V = 2600
PHF = 0.88
N= 2 lanes
fp = 1
fHV = ? Refer to PCE equivalents on Upgrade

1 1
fHV = = = 0.909
1 + 0.12(1.5 − 1) + 0.02(3.0 − 1) 1.10
2600
vp = = 1625
0.88 × 2 × 0.909 × 1
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Analysis of an Multilane Highway 50

Step 1: Determine the Downgrade Demand Flow Rate in Equivalent pces Under Base
Conditions

V
vp =
PHF × N × fHV × fp
V = 2600
PHF = 0.88
N= 2 lanes
fp = 1
fHV = ? Refer to PCE equivalents on downgrade

1 1
fHV = = = 0.940
1 + 0.12(1.5 − 1) + 0.02(1.2 − 1) 1.064
2600
vp = = 1572
0.88 × 2 × 0.940 × 1
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Analysis of an Multilane Highway 51

Step 3: Find the LOS and the speed and density of the stream

LOS - D
Speed - 55 mi/h
Density - Upgrade = 1625/55 = 29.54 pc/mi/ln
Density - Downgrade = 1572/55 = 28.58 pc/mi/ln
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Design Application 52

A new freeway is being designed through a rural area. The directional design hour volume
(DDHV) has been forecast to be 2,700 veh/h during the peak hour, with a PHF of 0.85 and
15% trucks in the traffic stream. A long section of the facility will have level terrain
characteristics, but one 2-mile section involves a sustained grade of 4%. If the objective is
to provide level of service C, with a minimum acceptable level of D, how many lanes must
be provided?
Solution:
Determine FFS
Determine MSF for LOS C and D
Determine number of lanes required for Level, upgrade and downgrade...
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Design Application 53

Step 1: No additional information given, hence no adjustments

FFS = 75 mi/h for rural freeways

Step 2: Determine MSF for LOS C and D

MSFC = 1830 pc/h/ln; MSFD = 2170 pc/h/ln

Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Design Application 54

Step 3: Determine the Number of Lanes Required for the Level, Upgrade, and
Downgrade Freeway Sections

DDHV
Ni =
PHF × MSFi × fHV × fp
1
fHV =
1 + PT (ET − 1) + PR (ER − 1)
Three different fHV values must be considered (Level, Upgrade and Downgrade)
PT = 0.15
ET , level = ?
ET , up = ? (> 3-4%, >1.5 mi)
ET , down = ? (≥ 4-5%, >1.5 mi)
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Design Application 55
Anil (IITP) | CE 543 - Traffic Engineering and Highway Safety

Design Application 56

PT = 0.15
ET , level = 1.5 fHV level and down = 0.930
ET , up = 2.5 (> 3-4%, >1.5 mi) fHV up = 0.816
ET , down = 1.5 (≥ 4-5%, >1.5 mi)

2700
N(level, down) = = 1.84
0.85 × 1830 × 0.93 × 1.00
2700
N(up) = = 2.17
0.85 × 1830 × 0.816 × 1.00
Two lanes in each direction,
Four-lane freeway
 Bachu Anilkumar
IIT Patna
[email protected]

Thank You !!