A method is needed to objectively quantify pedestrians’ perception of safety and comfort in the roadside environment. This quantification, or mathematical relationship, would provide a measure of how well roadways accommodate pedestrian travel. Essentially, it would provide a measure of pedestrian level of service (LOS) within a roadway environment. Such a measure of walking conditions would greatly aid in roadway cross-sectional design and would help evaluate and prioritize the needs of existing roadways for sidewalk retrofit construction. Furthermore, the measure can be used to evaluate traffic-calming strategies and streetscape designs for their effectiveness in improving the pedestrian environment. Such a measure would make it possible to merge pedestrian facility programming into the mainstream of transportation planning, design, and construction. To meet the need for such a method, as well as to fulfill a state mandate to establish levels of service standards for all transportation modes, the Florida Department of Transportation sponsored the development of the Pedestrian LOS Model. The model was developed through a stepwise multivariable regression analysis of 1,250 observations from an event that placed 75 people on a roadway walking course in the Pensacola, Florida, metropolitan area. The Pedestrian LOS Model incorporates the statistically significant roadway and traffic variables that describe pedestrians’ perception of safety or comfort in the roadway environment between intersections. It is similar in approach to methods used to assess automobile operators’ level of service established in the Highway Capacity Manual.

The primary focus of this study by Sprinkle Consulting Engineers, Inc. is to develop a bicycle-quality, or level-of-service, model for applications in U.S. metropolitan areas. Although there are several model forms being used throughout the United States that attempt to quantify road suitability or the quality of service afforded bicyclists traveling the street and roadway networks of urbanized areas, to date there have been no statistically calibrated models published. The statistically calibrated level-of-service model described here is based on real-time perceptions from bicyclists traveling in actual urban traffic and roadway conditions. The study’s participants represented a cross section of age, gender, experience level, and geographic origin of the population of cyclists that use the metropolitan road networks in the United States. The test course is representative of the collector and arterial street systems of North American urban areas. Although further hypothesis testing is being conducted and additional studies are planned to test the need for disaggregate models for central business district streets with high turnover parking, truck routes, and two-lane high-speed rural highways, the general bicycle level-of-service model reported here is highly reliable, has a high correlation coefficient ( R2 = 0.73), and is transferable to the vast majority of United States metropolitan areas. The study reveals that pavement-surface conditions and striping of bicycle lanes are important factors in the quality of service.

The Florida Department of Transportation (DOT) has initiated multi-modal level-of-service (LOS) methodologies, including that for the bicycle travel mode. It has already adopted a bicycle LOS methodology for the roadway segment portion of the transportation network, the Bicycle Level of Service Model. Florida DOT’s ultimate goal is to develop corridor- and facilities-level LOS methodologies. Toward that goal, Florida DOT sponsored research to develop the first part of an intersection bicycle LOS methodology, the Intersection LOS for the bicycle through movement. This Intersection LOS for the bicycle through movement would provide a measure of the level of safety and comfort experienced by bicyclists riding through an intersection. The Intersection LOS model for the bicycle through movement is based on Pearson correlation analyses and stepwise regression modeling of approximately 1,000 combined real-time perceptions from bicyclists traveling a course through a typical U.S. metropolitan area’s signalized intersections. The study’s participants represented a cross section of age, gender, and geographic origin of the population of cyclists. Although further hypothesis testing is being conducted, the resulting general model for the Intersection LOS for the bicycle through movement is highly reliable, has a high correlation coefficient ( R2 = 0.83) with the average observations, and is transferable to the vast majority of U.S. metropolitan areas. The study reveals that roadway traffic volume, total width of the outside through lane, and the intersection (cross street) crossing distance are primary factors in the Intersection LOS for the bicycle through movement.

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This paper documents a study sponsored by the Florida Department of Transportation to develop a level-of-service (LOS) model that represents pedestrians’ perceptions of how well urban arterials with sidewalks (a combination of roadway segments and intersections) meet their needs. The model incorporates traffic volumes on the adjacent roadway and exposure (i.e., crossing widths) at conflict points with intersections and driveways. Data were obtained from Walk for Science, an innovative field data collection event, and consist of participants’ perceptions of how well urban arterials with sidewalks meet their needs as pedestrians. The pedestrian LOS model for roadway facilities described here is based on Pearson correlation analyses and stepwise regression modeling of about 500 combined real-time perceptions (observations) from pedestrians walking a course along streets in a typical U.S. metropolitan urban area. Study participants represented a cross section of age, gender, walking experience, and residency. Although further hypothesis testing may be conducted in a future study, the resulting general model for the pedestrian LOS of urban arterials with sidewalks has a high correlation coefficient ( R2 = .70) with the average observations and is transferable to a significant number of metropolitan areas in the United States. The study reveals that traffic volumes on the adjacent roadway and the density of conflict points along the facility are the primary factors in the LOS model for pedestrians traveling along urban arterials with sidewalks.