Chapter 4

Highway Capacity
• The maximum hourly flow rate at which the maximum

number of vehicles, passengers, or the like, per unit time,
which can be accommodated under prevailing roadway,
traffic and control conditions with a reasonable
expectation of occurrence.
Highway capacity depends on certain conditions;
• Road way characteristics:
• Traffic conditions:
• Control conditions:
Level of Service (LOS)
 A quality measure describing operational conditions within a
traffic stream, generally in terms of such service measures as
speed and travel time, freedom to maneuver, traffic
interruptions, and comfort and convenience.
A term level-of-service closely related to capacity and often
confused with it is service volume.
When capacity gives a quantitative measure of traffic level of

service or LOS tries to give a qualitative measure.
A 15 min time period is normally used. The roadway

conditions are associated with the geometric characteristics
and design elements of the facility, which include type of
facility, number of lanes, lane width, shoulder width, horizontal
and vertical alignments, lateral clearance, design speed, and
availability of queuing space at intersections.
Level of service (LOS) qualitatively measures both the operating
conditions within a traffic system and how these conditions are
perceived by drivers and passengers.
 LOS is related with the physical characteristics of the

highway and the different operating characteristics that can
occur when the highway carries different traffic volumes.
 Speed-flow-density relationships are the principal

factor affecting the level of service of a highway
segment under ideal condition.
 Comparism
• Capacity could be constant. But actual flow will be different
for different days and different times in a day itself.
• LOS is related to the traffic service quality to a given flow
rate of traffic.
• Highway capacity manual (HCM) divides the quality of traffic into six
levels ranging from level A to level F.
Level of Service - A.
• Free-flow traffic with individual users
virtually unaffected by the presence of
others in the traffic stream.
• Only the geometric design features
of the highway may limit the speed of the car.
Level of Service - B.
Reasonably free flow.
Ability to maneuver is only
slightly restricted.
Effects of minor event still easily
absorbed.
Level of Service - C.
Speeds at or near free flow speed
Freedom to maneuver is noticeably restricted
Queues may form behind any significant blockage.
Delivers stable flow conditions.
The speed chosen by the driver is substantially affected by that of
the other vehicles.
Driver comfort and convenience have decreased perceptibly at this
level.
Level of Service - D.
• Speeds decline slightly with increasing flows.
• Density increases more quickly.
• Freedom to maneuver is more noticeably limited.
• Minor incidents create queuing.
• The highway is operating at high-density levels but stable flow still
prevails.
Level of Service - E.
• Operation near or at capacity.
• Traffic flow conditions are best described as
unstable with any traffic incident causing
extensive queuing and even breakdown.
• No usable gaps in the traffic stream.
• Operations extremely volatile.
• Any disruption causes queuing.
• Levels of Basic Elements of comfort and
convenience are very poor and all speeds are
low if relatively uniform.
Level of Service - F.
• Breakdown in flow.
• Queues form behind
breakdown points.
• Demand > capacity.
Factors affecting level of service,
 Speed and travel time
 Traffic interruptions/restrictions
 Freedom to travel with desired speed
 Driver comfort and convenience
 Operating cost.
 Lane width,
 Lateral obstruction,
 Traffic composition,
 Grade and Driver population
• Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) used travel speed and
volume by capacity ratio (v/c ratio) to distinguish between
various levels of service.
• The value of v/c ratio can vary between 0 and 1.
Hourly volume (V):- The highest hourly volume within a 24-hour
period
Peak-hour factor (PHF):- The ratio of the hourly volume to the
peak 15 minute flow (V15) enlarged to an hourly value
PHF = V ÷ (V15 × 4) = V/SF
Service flow (SF):- The peak 15 minute flow (V15)X 4
SF = V15 × 4 = V/PHF
Fig. Illustration of level of service and service flow rate
A B C D E F
SFA SFB SFC SFD SFE
Capacity analysis procedures for freeways and multilane highways are based
on calibrated speed-flow curves for sections with various free-flow speeds
operating under base conditions.
Speed flow curve for Freeway Sections
Speed flow curve for Multilane Highway Sections
Types of Analysis
• Operational analysis
• Service flow rate and service volume analysis
• Design analysis
All forms of analysis require the determination of the free-flow speed
of the facility in question.
 Operational Analysis
 All traffic, roadway, and control conditions are defined for an existing
or projected highway section, and the expected level of service and
operating parameters are determined.
 Convert the existing or forecast demand volumes to an equivalent
flow rate under ideal conditions:
In general:- The determination of level of service for a multilane
highway involves three steps:
1. Determination of free-flow speed
2. Determination of flow rate
3. Determination of level of service
Free-flow speed
• is the theoretical speed of traffic density, when density approaches
zero.
• It is the speed at which drivers feel comfortable travelling under the
physical, environmental and traffic conditions existing on an
uncongested section of multilane highway.
• In practice, free-flow speed is determined by performing travel-time
studies during periods of low-to-moderate flow conditions.
 Determination of Flow Rate

The next step in the determination of the LOS is the computation of
the peak hour factor. The fifteen minute passenger-car equivalent flow
rate (pc/h/ln), is determined by using following formula:
PHF represents the variation in traffic flow within an hour.

• The adjustment factors for heavy vehicles are applied as follows:
where, ET and ER are the equivalents for trucks and buses and for
recreational vehicles (RVs), respectively,
PT and PR are the proportion of trucks and buses, and RVs,
respectively, in the traffic stream (expressed as a decimal fraction),
 Determination of Level of Service
The level of service on a multilane highway can be determined directly
from Figure or Table based on the free-flow speed (FFS) and the
service flow rate (vp) in pc/h/ln.
Example 1
A segment of undivided four-lane highway on level terrain has field-
measured FFS 74.0-km/h, lane width 3.4-m, peak-hour volume 1,900-
veh/h, 13= percent trucks and buses, 2= percent RVs, and 0.90 =PHF.
What is the peak-hour LOS, speed, and density for the level terrain
portion of
the highway?
Solution
given: Level terrain, field measured FFS = 74 km/h, lane width is 3.4
m, peak hour volume = 1900 veh/h, percent trucks and buses pt = 0.13,
percent RVs PR = 0.02, and PHF=0.90.
Terrain type :leveled
Determination of LOS: based on the two parameter read level of
service from the graph

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Highway Capacity

• The maximum hourly flow rate at which the maximum

When capacity gives a quantitative measure of traffic level of

A 15 min time period is normally used. The roadway

 LOS is related with the physical characteristics of the

 Speed-flow-density relationships are the principal

 Determination of Flow Rate

PHF represents the variation in traffic flow within an hour.

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