PHILADELPHIA UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Engineering.
.Department of Civil Engineering

Transportation and Traffic Engineering

Ch 3
:Capacity & LOS of
Multilane Highways & Freeways
9/8/2017

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 Multi lane Highway

Multi lane Highways

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 Multilane Highway
• This section is intended for analysis of
uninterrupted flow rural and suburban
multilane highway segments.

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 Multilane Highway
Multilane highways may exhibit some of the following
characteristics:
• have posted speed limits of 40 - 55 mi/h(65- 90
km/h).
• They usually have a total of four or six lanes.
• They may be undivided or include medians.
• Multilane highways are located in suburban
communities, leading into central cities, or along
high-volume rural corridors connecting two cities or
two activities that generate a number of daily trips.
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 Multilane Highway
• Traffic signals at major crossing points are
possible.
• Traffic volumes range from 15,000 to
40,000/day In some cases.
• Volumes as high as 100,000 v/day have been
observed.
• There is partial control of access.
• They may include a two-way, left-turn median
lane (TWLTL)
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 Ideal conditions
• For rural and suburban multilane highways
Assumptions (Ideal Conditions, all other
conditions reduce capacity):
• Only passenger cars.
• No direct access points.
• A divided highway.
• Speed > 60 mph ( 100 km/h ).

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 Ideal conditions
• Signal spacing > 2.0 miles.
• No on-street parking.
• No significant bus stops.
• No significant pedestrian activities.
• 12 ft (3.6m) minimum lane width and with
adequate shoulders.
• No lateral obstructions within 6 ft (1.8m) of
the edge of the pavement.
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 Free-Flow Speed
•Free-flow speed ( FFS ) is the term used to
describe the average speed that a motorist
would travel if there were no congestion or
other adverse conditions (such as bad
weather).

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 Measuring FFS
•FFS is measured using the mean speed of
passenger cars operating in low-to moderate
flow conditions (up to 1,400 pc/h/ln).
•The speed study should measure the speeds of
all passenger cars or of a systematic sampling
of passenger cars (e.g., of every 10th
passenger car).
•A sample should obtain at least 100 passenger-
car speeds.

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 Prediction of Level of Service

The prediction of level of service for a multilane

highway involves three steps:

1. Determination of free-flow speed

2. Adjustment of volume
3. Determination of level of service

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Capacity varies by FFS.
Capacity is 2200, 2100, 2000 and 1900
pc/h/lane.
For 100, 90, 80 and 70 km/h. respectively.

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 Estimating Free-Flow Speed (FFS)

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 :Lane width adjustment

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 Lateral clearance adjustment
• Fixed obstructions include light poles, signs, trees, abutments,
bridge rails, traffic barriers, and retaining walls.
• Standard raised curbs are not considered obstructions

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 Lateral clearance adjustment

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 Median Type adjustment
fM: Accounts for friction between opposing
directions of traffic in adjacent lanes for
undivided .

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 Access Point density adjustment
The access-point density on a divided roadway is determined by
dividing the total number of access points ( i.e., intersections and
driveways) on the right side of the roadway in the direction of
travel by the segment’s total length in km.
• An intersection or driveway should only be included if it influences
traffic flow.
fA: accounts for interruption due to access points along the
facility.

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 Calculating the Flow Rate for a Multilane
Highway
The flow rate in pc/h/ln for a multilane highway is computed
using Eq.:

where
vp :15-minute passenger-car equivalent flow rate (pc/h/ln)
V : hourly peak vehicle volume (veh/h) in one direction
N : number of travel lanes in one direction (2 or 3)
fp : driver population factor with a range of 0.85 to 1.00. Use
1.00 for commuter traffic.

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 Heavy-Vehicle Adjustments fHV
• The presence of heavy vehicles in the traffic
stream decreases the FFS because base conditions
allow a traffic stream of passenger cars only.

• Therefore, traffic volumes must be adjusted to

reflect an equivalent flow rate expressed in
passenger cars per hour per lane (pc/h/ln).

• This is accomplished by applying the heavy-vehicle

factor (fHV).

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 Heavy-Vehicle Adjustments fHV
• Once values for ET and ER have been determined, the
adjustment factor for heavy vehicles may be computed as:
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f HV 
1  PT ET  1  PR E R  1
Where:
ET, ER :passenger-car equivalents for trucks and
buses and for recreational vehicles (RVs), respectively.
PT, PR :proportion of trucks and buses, and RVs,
respectively, in the traffic stream. (expressed as a
decimal fraction).
fHV :adjustment factor for heavy vehicles.
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 Passenger-Car Equivalents
Passenger-car equivalents (Ei) can be selected
for 2 conditions:

1.Extended general highway segments

2.Specific grades.

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 Extended segments method
• A long multilane highway segment can be classified as an
extended general highway segment
• if no grade exceeding 3 percent is longer than 0.8 km,and
• if grades of 3 percent or less do not exceed 1.6 km.
• If the above condition is not satisfied, then specific grades
should be considered (refer to the HCM2000 for details).

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 Driver Population Factor (fp)
•The adjustment factor fp reflects the effect weekend
recreational and perhaps even midday drivers have on the
facility.
•The values for range from 0.85 to 1.00.
•Typically, the analyst should select 1.00, which reflects
weekday commuter traffic (i.e., users familiar with the
highway), unless there is sufficient evidence that a lesser
value, reflecting more recreational or weekend traffic
characteristics, should be applied.
fp = 1,familiar users.
1 > fp >=0.85, unfamiliar users.

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 Calculate density

Where:
D: density (pc/km/In).
Vp: flow rate (pc/h/In).
S: average passenger-car travel speed (km/h).

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Cont. …

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 Example 1
Estimate free flow speed, for a 4-lane divided
highway with object located 1.2 m to the right
of the travel lane, 3 m lanes width, If there are
18 access points per km ?

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 Solution
• flw = 10.6 km/h (From the table21-4).
• fA =12 km/h (From the table 21-7) .
• fm =0 . divided highway, (From the table21-5)

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BFFS : free flow under ideal conditions (100 km/h).
FFS : free flow adjusted for actual conditions .

FFS  BFFS  f LW  f LC  f M  f A

FFS =100 km/h – 10.6 km/h – 0.6 km/h – 0 – 12 km/h

= 76.8 km/h (reduction of 23.2 km/h )

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 Cont. ..Example 1
• If base volume is 2,500 v/h, PHF = 0.9, N = 2,
10% heavy truck on rolling terrain, Non-
familiar users, free flow speed = 76.8 km/h ,
Determine LOS?

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 Solution

Vp = 2500 / ( 0.9 x 2 x 0.87 x 0.85 ) = 1878 pc/h/lane.

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For Vp =1878 pc/hr/ln and S = 76.8 km/hr

S=73.5 km/h.

D = 1878 / 73.5 = 25.5 pc/h/ln.

LOS is E (From the exhibit 21-2 and exhibit 21-3)
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 Freeway

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 Freeway LOS

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 Freeway
• A divided highway with full control of access
and two or more lanes for the exclusive use of
traffic in each direction.
• A freeway is composed of three elements:
basic freeway sections, weaving areas, and ramp
junctions.

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 Freeway LOS
Determining FFS
• Measure FFS in the field
– Low to moderate traffic conditions
• Use a baseline and adjust it (BFFS)
FFS  BFFS  f LW  f LC  f N  f ID
free-flow speed (mph) = FFS
base free-flow speed, 70 mph (urban), 75 mph (rural) = BFFS
adjustment for lane width (mph) = fLW
adjustment for right-shoulder lateral clearance (mph) = fLC
adjustment for number of lanes (mph) = fN
adjustment for interchange density (mph) = fID

Conditions of free-flow speed occur when flow rates are low to

moderate (less than 1300 pc/h/ln at 70 mi/h). As flow rates
increase beyond 1300, the mean speed of passenger cars in the
traffic
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stream decreases.
 Base (Ideal) conditions for basic freeway
segment
• 12-ft lane widths (3.6 m)
• 6-ft right shoulder ( 1.8 m )
• 2-ft median lateral clearance ( 0.6 m )
• Only passenger cars.
• 5 or more lanes in each travel direction.
• 2-mi (3 km) or greater interchange spacing
• Level terrain
• Mostly familiar roadway users

These base conditions represent a high operating level, with a

free-flow speed (FFS) of 110 km/h (70 mph) or greater.

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