Acceleration noise and level of service of urban roads - A case study

Capacity measurement of roads under mixed traffic conditions as prevailing in India is ambiguous as it varies with time, composition of traffic and roadway encroachments. High incidence of slow moving vehicles and tricycles adds to the problem. Volume - capacity ratio appears to be an inadequate measure of defining level of service under mixed traffic situations. An attempt is made in this paper to explore the possibility of presenting unconventional parameters like standard deviation of speed, co-efficient of variation of speed and acceleration noise as possible measures of level of service. Tentative ranges of acceleration noise are proposed in association with flow and speed to explain level of service of urban roads catering to mixed traffic. The results are based on a study conducted in Madras, a major metropolitan city of India.