There were two main research components to this project.  The first component addressed the issue of performance measures and level of service assessment for rural freeways.  The second component addressed the issue of freeway capacity values and the impacts of ramp merge and diverge influence areas.

The objective of the first component was to build upon the results of a previous project in which a preliminary investigation of rural freeway level of service issues was made through a field-based survey approach.  In this study, several rural freeway level of service models were developed based upon traveler perceptions obtained from surveys of traffic and roadway conditions depicted in in-vehicle videos.  A level of service model based on a more comprehensive set of traffic and roadway variables is recommended, as opposed to the current HCM assessment method that is based only on density.

      In the second component, two issues were investigated.  The first issue was the interpretation of the language in Chapter 25 (Ramps and Ramp Junctions) of the HCM with regard to the capacity of a freeway segment in a ramp influence area and situations that result in unrealistic flow rates in certain lanes of the freeway segment.  The second issue dealt with the use of archived loop detector data to measure freeway throughput values and the potential for measuring the impact of ramp activity on freeway capacity values.

A more detailed project summary and final report can be found at the following web site:

http://www.dot.state.fl.us/research%2Dcenter/Completed_Planning.htm