Highway Capacity Manual

Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) Most widely referenced and best selling document of the Transportation Research Board HCM 2000: 16,000+ copies sold worldwide Model for similar capacity manuals in other countries

Purpose of the HCM QOSLOS Provide a set of methods and procedures for evaluating multimodal performance of highway and street facilities in terms of operational measures and QOS or LOS indicators. Objectives: 1.Define performance measures and survey methods for traffic characteristics 2.Provide methods for estimating and predicting performance measures 3.Explain effect on multimodal transportation

Intended Use Levels of Analysis –Operations –Design –Planning/Preliminary Engineering Travel Modes –Auto –Pedestrian –Bicycle –Transit (multimodal urban street) Spatial Coverage –Points –Segments –Facilities Temporal Coverage –Undersaturated –Oversaturated

Targeted Users 1.Engineers – Traffic Operations And Highway Design 2.Transportation Planners HCM also useful to: Management personnel Educators Noise and air quality specialists Elected officials (“HCM for Dummies”) Regional land use planners Special interest groups

History 1950 –First document to quantify capacity –Published by Bureau of Public Roads 1965 –Level of Service concept introduced –Chapter on bus transit –Published by Highway Research Board

History (cont.) 1985 –“Modern” HCM –Transportation Research Board (TRB) –Further refined LOS concept –Major research since 1965 –Signalized intersections  LOS based on stopped delay –Urban Arterials method and chapter –Expanded transit chapter –Pedestrian, bicycle chapters –Updates: 1992, 1994, 1997

HCM 2000 Substantial increase in volume and breadth Systematic and consistent basis for assessing capacity and LOS Point, facility, corridor/area- wide analyses 1,200 pages

HCM 2010 Volumes 1 – 3 printed Volume 4 – Web-based only

HCM 2010 (cont.) Points, Segments, Facilities, Systems Multimodal (Urban Street) Quality of Service (from the traveler perspective) Freeway Systems Planning Applications Active & Transportation Demand Management Travel Time Reliability