ROADWAY LEVELS OF SERVICE IN AN ERA OF GROWTH MANAGEMENT

The tendency in growth management is to focus on roadway level-of-service standards. However, the methods used to determine roadway levels of service may affect conclusions about road adequacy as much as do the standards to which they are compared. The specific method used to analyze roadway levels-of-service can make at least a two-letter grade difference in the outcome; so can the choice of analysis period or peak hour. Although harder to quantify, the effect of averaging levels-of-service across facilities could be of comparable magnitude. In determining roadway levels of service, most Florida jurisdictions go by the book. They analyze the 30 highest hourly volumes roadway by roadway, using methodology from the 1985 Highway Capacity Manual. A few jurisdictions have opted for innovative but unconventional approaches. Although it is tempting to reject these approaches as "not professionally accepted," the "book" was written for applications other than areawide growth management. This relatively new area of application requires fresh thinking. In the context of growth management, the use of the following is recommended: (a) simple regression models to estimate average travel speeds and, from them, arterial levels of service; (b) average levels of service to determine adequacy of facilities within travel corridors; and (c) the 100th rather than the 30th highest hourly traffic volumes as the basis for roadway level-of-service determinations.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Features: Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: p. 63-70
  • Monograph Title: Transportation planning, programming, land use, and applications of geographic information systems
  • Serial:

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00626922
  • Record Type: Publication
  • ISBN: 0309054036
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: Feb 23 1993 12:00AM