Multi-Modal Level of Service Toolkit
HCM 2010 – Transit LOS
Overview The 2010 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM 2010) provides methodologies for measuring transit LOS at the segment and facility levels. On street segments with multiple transit lines, each line must be entered separately. These methodologies apply only to public transit operating at street level, such as buses and streetcars; performance measures for grade-separated transit and transit operating on streets outside the public right-of-way can be found in the Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual.
How to measure The performance evaluation of transit at the facility level includes two measures:
1. The Transit LOS Score is a perceptual measure of three components of the transit passenger experience: access to transit (as a pedestrian), waiting for the transit vehicle, and the transit ride itself. It considers the following elements: Transit vehicle running time (including running speed and delay resulting from stopping, serving passengers and re-entering traffic) Transit vehicle delay at intersection Pedestrian LOS (for passenger travel to the transit stop) The Transit Wait-Ride score, which calculates perceived time spent waiting and perceived travel time by assessing: o Transit vehicle frequency/headways o Stop amenities (shelters, benches) o Average passenger trip length (for the route or the transit system as a whole) o Passenger load factor (number of passengers ÷ number of seats) o Time spent waiting for the transit vehicle past the scheduled departure time o Passenger expectation of travel time, based on whether trip is passing through a CBD 2. Transit Travel Speed is a length-weighted aggregate of average transit speeds along segments within the facility.
Calculating Segment LOS 1. Transit Vehicle Running Time
5. Ped. LOS for Link
2. Delay at Intersection
6. Transit LOS Score for Segment
3. Travel Speed
4. Transit Wait-Ride Score
7. Segment LOS
How to calculate LOS To calculate LOS from A-F for transit for a segment or facility, refer to Exhibit 16-6 in HCM 2010. The higher the Transit LOS score, the lower the resulting letter grade. LOS must be calculated separately for each side of the street.
Levels of Analysis Urban Street Facility Urban Street Segment
Potential Applications Development review
Transportation
Advantages
Transit
Master Plans
Provides a comprehensive evaluation of streetlevel transit LOS that incorporates service and built environment factors Easy to compare with motor vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian LOS for the same segment/facility Quantifies the benefits and drawbacks of design and service alternatives for a single segment.
Planning
Disadvantages
Requires extensive data inputs, many of which must be measured in the field. May not be feasible as a stand-alone measure as it requires user to calculate Pedestrian LOS, which is significantly integrated with HCM 2010 Auto LOS measure.
Sample Applications HCM 2010 Pedestrian LOS evaluation methods have been incorporated into transportation modeling software, including Complete Streets LOS (CSLOS) and Synchro Studio 8.
Fehr and Peers applied the NCHRP 370 methodology, which HCM 2010 is based on, for various projects in San Diego that included a corridor study, community plan update, and infill development. Fehr & Peers has recently applied the HCM 2010 methodology using CSLOS software as part of the West Los Angeles Mobility Plan. Data Requirements Transit LOS requires data inputs from HCM 2010’s auto and pedestrian LOS calculations.
Calculating transit LOS for a segment or facility requires the following inputs: Excess wait time (time spent waiting after a scheduled departure) or on-time performance Transit frequency/headways Segment length Area type (“central business district of a metropolitan area with over five million people” or “other”) Transit stop location and position (whether the transit vehicle remains in or pulls out of the travel lane) Proportion of stops with shelters and with benches Motorized vehicle running speed Passenger load factor (number of passengers ÷ number of seats) Passenger trip length (total passenger miles ÷ total unlinked trips, on the system or on the route; obtain data from the National Transit Database) Pedestrian LOS score for link (see Fehr & Peers MMLOS Toolkit: “HCM 2010 - Pedestrian LOS”) Through control delay (at boundary intersection) Reentry delay (the time, in seconds, that a transit vehicle spends waiting to reenter adjacent traffic) Effective green-to-cycle-length ratio (boundary intersection) or volume-to-capacity ratio (at roundabout boundary intersection)