Richard Dowling Dowling Associates

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Multimodal LOS For Urban Streets

• Richard Dowling Dowling Associates

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Multimodal LOS Philosophy

• Multimodal Level of Service (MMLOS) Analysis for
  Urban Streets
• Each urban street right-of-way is shared by 4
  major types of users
• Automobile Drivers
• Transit Passengers
• Bicyclists
• Pedestrians
• The urban street should serve all users

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Definition of MMLOS

• MMLOS is the degree to which the urban street
  design and operations meets the traveling needs
  of each user type.
• Four level of service grades for each street
• Auto LOS, Transit LOS, Bicycle LOS, Pedestrian
  LOS
• MMLOS is a report card, not a single grade.

Bancroft Avenue Level of Service User Type
AM Pk Hr PM Pk Hr Auto C
E Transit B
C Bicycle D
C Pedestrian C D
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NCHRP 3-70 Research Project

• Objective To develop a scientific basis for
  evaluating multimodal LOS on urban streets
• 4-year, 1.1 million project
• U.S. modal experts
• Dr. Aimee Flannery, George Mason University
• Dr. Nagui Rouphail, North Carolina State
  University
• Bruce Landis, Sprinkle Consulting
• Theo Petritsch, Sprinkle Consulting
• Paul Ryus, Kittelson Associates

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Data Collection

• Selected and shot video clips of 90 typical
  street cross sections from point of view of auto
  driver, bicycle rider, and pedestrian.
• Showed the clips to 120 people in video labs in
  four cities.
• College Station, Texas
• New Haven, Connecticut
• San Francisco, California
• Chicago, Illinois
• Asked to rate each clips trip experience from
  best to worst.

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What about Transit?

• Did on-board surveys in Miami, Baltimore,
  Portland, and San Francisco
• No matter how bad the service, everybody on board
  the bus liked it.
• Used mode choice survey results and known
  patronage elasticities to construct transit LOS
  model

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Distribution of LOS Responses
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Factors Affecting Auto LOS

• Average Travel Speed for Through Traffic
• Number of Stops per Mile
• These two factors are in turn influenced by
• Demand, capacity, posted speed limit, number of
  lanes, signal timing, coordination, interference
  from other users (bus, bike, pedestrian)
• 4 Models to Test

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Factors Affecting Transit LOS

• Frequency of Service
• Speed of Service
• Passenger Load
• Reliability
• Accessibility
• Bus StopAmenities

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Factors Influencing Bicycle LOS

• Segment Experience
• Intersection Experience
• Driveway Interference

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Bicyclist Segment LOS

• Vehicle Traffic Volume in Outside (Right) Lane
• Percent Trucks
• Vehicle Speeds
• Lateral Separation From Vehicles
• Average effective paved width
• Outside lane, bike lane, shoulder lane (if no
  parking)
• Discounted for on-street parking
• Pavement Quality (1-5)

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Bicycle Intersection LOS

• Vehicle Traffic Volume in Outside (Right) Lane
• Percent Trucks
• Vehicle Speeds
• Lateral Separation From Vehicles
• Width of outside lane plus bike lane
• Signalized Intersection Cross-Street Width

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Bicycle Driveway Conflicts

• Density of unsignalized intersections and
  driveways per mile
• Right-hand side of street.

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Factors Influencing Pedestrian LOS

• Segment Experience
• Travel along segment
• Mid-block crossing
• Intersection Experience
• Pedestrian Density

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Pedestrian Segment LOS

• Function of
• Vehicle volume in rightmost lane
• Vehicle speeds
• Lateral separation between vehicles and
  pedestrians
• Barriers (trees, bushes, barricades)
• On-Street parking
• Presence and width of sidewalk

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Pedestrian Intersection LOS

• Function of
• Vehicle volumes and speeds
• Right turns on red and left turns during Walk
  phase
• Right turn channelization islands (pork chops)
• Cross-street vehicle traffic and speeds
• Lanes on the cross-street
• Delay waiting to cross at signal

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Ped. Midblock Crossing Difficulty

• Can increase or decrease pedestrian LOS by up to
  20.
• Factor is related to the minimum of
• Delay waiting for gap in traffic
• Delay walking to nearest signalized intersection
• Midblock crossing computation can be turned off.

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Software Implementation

• Now
• Free, unsupported, research quality spreadsheet
• Comments welcome
• After June 2010
• If/When included in HCM 2010 update
• May be included in some commercial quality,
  supported software (HCS)

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Sharing The Street
Before
After
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To Learn More

• Final Report NCHRP Report 616
• http//onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_r
  pt_616.pdf
• Users Guide NCHRP Web document 128
• http//onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_w
  128.pdf
• For more information contact
• Rick Dowling, Dowling Associates, Oakland, CA
• Phone [phone] x 120, rdowling_at_dowlinginc.co
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