Computer application for calculating Pedestrian Service Levels, according to the HCM (Highway Capacity Manual)
SCIENTIFIC and TECHNOLOGICAL BASIS
The scientific and technological basis of the computer application is the HCM (Highway Capacity Manual) 2016, 6th edition. The application attempts to automate the calculation procedures set out there.
Although not all situations that HCM addresses are implemented, the most important cases are addressed.
As HCM is based on the reality of the USA, and some empirical parameters exposed there do not reflect the European (and other places) reality, the application gives the possibility of introducing and using other parameters, more adjusted to the reality in which the case studies live.
The application's base logic consists of:
• introduction of data from the case study, which are essentially about the geometry of the roads and the characteristics of the various traffic that runs along them – volume, speed, etc.;
• its treatment by the algorithms presented in HCM;
• and the presentation of results, which are essentially assessments of the quality of pedestrian routes, in terms of service levels.
Many of the concepts used in this computer application are perfectly detailed in HCM.
APPLICABILITY
The computer application, although it considers the general environment of all types of mobility, only presents results for pedestrian traffic, i.e. the quality levels presented as results refer exclusively to pedestrian traffic.
The computer application allows the treatment of three distinct types of road, in terms of the relationship between pedestrian mobility and other modes of mobility:
• Exclusively pedestrian roads, at least during the analysis periods; also includes pedestrian routes included in mixed routes, but substantially distant from other modes of mobility;
• Roads shared by pedestrian and cycling traffic;
• Traditional roads with parallel lanes for road, cycling and pedestrian traffic.
TYPES of ANALYSIS
There are three forms that handle three types of possible analysis.
HCM relates the Service Levels of a pedestrian street, based on its geometry and pedestrian traffic flow. It is therefore possible to establish these three types of analyses:
• [A] Data from a road (case study) with its geometry and flow rate are entered. The result of the calculation is the Service Level for this case study. This type of analysis applies to specific cases in which we want to know the level of service achieved under normal road use conditions.
• [B] Data relating to the geometry of the track is introduced. The calculation result is the flow limits that make the change from one service level to the next. This type of analysis allows us to see how we can or should (de)increase the intensity of road use, to obtain the desired level of service.
• [C] Data relating to the traffic flow on the road is introduced. The calculation result is the limits of the road geometry (the effective width) that make it change from one service level to the next. This type of analysis allows us to see how we can or should (un)block the occupation of the road with obstacles to circulation, to obtain the desired level of service.
