BFC 32302

BASIC FREEWAY SEGMENT CAPACITY ANALYSIS EXAMPLE

Determine the LOS of an existing four-lane rural freeway with the following
information:

 Two lanes per direction

 3.3 m lane width
 0.6 m lateral clearance
 Commuter traffic
 2,000 veh/h peak hour volume per direction
 5% trucks and buses
 0.92 PHF
 0.6 interchanges per kilometer
 Rolling terrain

SOLUTION

For rural areas, BFFS is assumed to be 120 km/h.

fLW = 3.1 (Table 2.11)

fLC = 3.9 (Table 2.12)

fN = 0.0 (Table 2.13)

fID = 3.9 (Table 2.14)

Free flow speed, FFS = BFFS - fLW - fLC - fN – fID

= 120 – 3.1 – 3.9 – 0.0 – 3.9
= 109.1 km/h

Number of lanes (per direction), N = 2

Driver population factor, fp = 1.00 (commuter traffic)

ET = 2.5 (Table 2.15)

1 1
fHV = = = 0.930
1  PT (E T  1) 1  0.05(2.5  1)

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V 2,000
Flow rate, vp = = = 1,169 pc/h/ln
PHF  N  fHV  fp 0.92  2  0.930  1.00

Since 90 < FFS < 120 and vp < (3100 – 15FFS)  FFS = S

Density, D = vp / S = 1169 / 109.1 = 10.7 pc/km/ln

Therefore, LOS B

LOS Density range (pc/km/ln)

A 0–7
B > 7 –11
C > 11 –16
D > 16 – 22
E > 22 – 28
F > 28

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Table 2.11 Adjustment for Lane Width

Table 2.12 Adjustment for Left Shoulder Lateral Clearance

Left-Shoulder
Lateral
Clearance (m)

Table 2.13 Adjustment for Number of Lanes

Table 2.14 Adjustment for Interchange Density

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Table 2.15 Passenger-Car Equivalents on Extended Freeway Segments

Table 2.16 Passenger-Car Equivalents for Trucks and Buses on Downgrades

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Table 2.17 Passenger-Car Equivalents for Trucks and Buses on Upgrades

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