A new report from the Transportation Research Board's National Cooperative Highway Research Program presents the results of a two-year investigation into how users of urban streets perceive the multimodal quality of service provided by those streets.

The study, "Multimodal Level of Service for Urban Streets," looks at key factors influencing travelers' perceptions of urban street level of service (LOS) from the perspective of drivers, bus and bicycle riders, and pedestrians. Numerous video clips were recorded, showing typical urban street segments in the United States from the perspective of drivers, bicycle riders, and pedestrians. These were then shown to 145 people in four different US urban areas, who were then asked to rate the quality of service displayed in each video on a scale from A (best) to F (worst). In addition, on-board surveys of 2,678 bus riders on 14 routes across four metropolitan areas were conducted, asking about riders' perceptions regarding the quality of bus service.

After, LOS models for each of the four modes were fitted to a video laboratory and field survey data, with each model being sensitive to street design (e.g., number of lanes, widths, and landscaping), traffic control devices (signal timing, speed limits), and traffic volumes, with each model incorporating interactions of the various users. For example, improved signal timing increases auto speeds and bus speeds, which increases auto and bus LOS, but adversely affect the LOS perceived by cyclists and pedestrians.

These LOS models are useful for evaluating the benefits of "complete streets" and "context-sensitive" design options because they quantify the interactions of modes sharing the same right-of-way, enabling analysts to test the tradeoffs of various allocations for each mode. An analyst could, for example, calculate the before and after LOS for auto, bus, bicycle, and pedestrian modes when considering reducing a four-lane street to three lanes to provide bicycle lanes and a landscaped strip between the sidewalk and the street.

The document includes a user's guide explaining the LOS models and their application, written in the general format of a draft chapter for the Highway Capacity Manual that is intended to be incorporated into the Manual's next edition.