Facility-level quality of service analysis methodology for rural highways

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2023

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Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering

Abstract

Rural highways constitute a significant portion of the national highway system, serving vital mobility and freight movement functions while connecting towns and small cities separated by rural areas. As urban areas expand further from central cities, rural highways are experiencing increased traffic demand, posing challenges to maintaining an acceptable level of operational performance and quality of service. To evaluate the operational performance and quality of service of highways, the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) offers a comprehensive set of tools and methodologies. It incorporates analytical methodologies to perform operational analyses for individual highway components (segments and intersections). It also offers facility-level analysis methodologies for freeways and urban streets only. In this context, a facility is defined as a stretch of highway consisting of multiple components. However, the current HCM lacks a facility-level analysis methodology for rural highways which is essential for evaluating extended lengths of rural highways. A rural highway facility consists of any combination of two-lane highway segments, multilane highway segments, and intersections (signal, stop control, or roundabout intersections). To address this limitation within the HCM framework, this research aims to develop a methodology for facility-level analysis of the quality of service for rural highways, thus adding to the existing tools and capabilities of the HCM. The proposed methodology, intended for inclusion in the next HCM edition, focuses on the interaction between contiguous segments and the operational impact of intersections on connected segments. In the course of developing the analysis methodology for rural highway facilities, this research needed to develop procedures for facility segmentation, which is a critical step in developing and applying the proposed methodology. To this end, the research used extensive vehicle trajectory data from multiple sites in estimating the upstream and downstream influence areas for three different types of intersections: signalized intersections, stop-controlled intersections, and roundabouts. Specifically, quantile regression models were developed to estimate the influence areas for the three different types of rural intersections. The proposed analysis methodology significantly enhances the ability of transportation analysts to assess operations along extended lengths of rural routes, allowing more effective planning and management of these important highway facilities.

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