Addressing Deficiencies in the Highway Capacity Manual Bike Level of Service Model for Arterial Roadways

The Highway Capacity Manual 2010 (HCM) includes methodologies for calculating the segment- and facility-level bicycle level of service (LOS) as part of a multimodal LOS analysis. Practitioners have found that, in many cases, the HCM methodology does not provide intuitive results. The HCM methodology produces scores that represent a roadway as worse than it actually is, does not provide enough sensitivity to bike facility improvements, and does not provide an adequate range of results. It is difficult to achieve an A or B LOS score with the HCM methodology. The addition of bike lanes does not have a significant impact on the LOS. It is also difficult to achieve an LOS worse than E, regardless of how poor bicycling conditions are. This paper describes an effort by the Florida Department of Transportation to create an alternative model that more accurately represents how well roadways meet the needs of bicyclists. The model is based on the time exposed and relative LOS value for each individual LOS component (intersection, link). The model was developed with the input of a panel of practitioners from around the country. The resulting model represents an LOS methodology that provides more intuitive values (than the HCM methodology) for those evaluating roadway networks. This paper provides recommended changes to the bicycle LOS methodology in the HCM chapters on urban streets.