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 HCMProvide a set of methods and procedures for evaluating multimodal performance of highway and street facilities in terms of operational measures and QOSQOS or LOSLOS indicators.

Objectives:1. Define performance measures and survey methods for

traffic characteristics

2. Provide methods for estimating and predicting performance measures

3.3. Explain effect on multimodal transportationExplain 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 Design2. 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