The Highway Capacity Manual’s Method for Calculating Bicycle and Pedestrian Levels of Service: the Ultimate White Paper

This paper concerns the methods for calculating Pedestrian/Bicycle Level of Service as they are presented in the 2010 Highway Capacity Manual. These calculations serve to assign letter grades, ranging from A through F, to a portion of roadway. This grade is meant to correspond to the perceived level of service that that roadway provides to pedestrians or bicyclists, respectively. By carefully examining the four formal units of analysis employed by the methodology, we can understand the relative contribution of the variables that determine the final scores of roadways. The goal is to allow the reader to understand how scores are developed and to better interpret the final grades.

Related Publications