Abstract:
The continuously increasing population of our country also showcases a corresponding or in
fact a multi-fold increase in vehicle population. Unfortunately, the transportation facilities are
not well developed to cater this huge demand. Many a times the traffic flow through these
existing facilities exceed the design capacity. This results in reduction in the design speed of
the facility, increased delays and bottlenecks, increase in travel time, reduced comfort and
convenience. These ill characteristics causes poor operating conditions and consequent
decrease in the user satisfaction of these facilities. Therefore, it is of prime importance to
measure the effectiveness of these facilities from time to time. Level of Service (LOS) is such
a measure which can be used to analyse the efficiency of such facilities. This study determined
the LOS of two midblock sections and two intersections by collecting factors like average
travel speed and free flow speed for the former, and delay and V/C ratio for the latter. The user
perceived LOS of these facilities are also processed from 400 responses. Comparisons were
made between these values of LOS. The study concludes that that the LOS perceived is higher
than actual LOS. Obstructions to traffic flow and visibility of the signal and proper display of
signal timing are the most important factor affecting the service of a road and a junction
respectively. The results of this analysis can be utilized to bring out timely development to
these facilities and subsequently improve the efficiency and user satisfaction.
