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A Review of Highway Agencies in the South Asia Region

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A <strong>Review</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Highway</strong> <strong>Agencies</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>South</strong> <strong>Asia</strong> <strong>Region</strong><br />

LOS C = Stable Flow<br />

LOS D = Approach<strong>in</strong>g Unstable Flow<br />

LOS E = Unstable Flow (Maximum Capacity)<br />

LOS F = Forced or Breakdown Flow<br />

In India, for example, a similar concept is followed and LOS ‘B’ is prescribed for design<br />

capacity <strong>of</strong> major arterial routes and LOS ‘C’ for o<strong>the</strong>r roads. Ch<strong>in</strong>a follows a system <strong>of</strong><br />

levels 1 to 4. For Class I highways, level 2 is adopted and this corresponds closely to LOS ‘C’<br />

<strong>of</strong> USA’s HCM. Of late, PPP projects for four-lan<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> India follow a design based on LOS<br />

‘B’; however, a hold<strong>in</strong>g service volume correspond<strong>in</strong>g to LOS ‘C’ is permissible for fur<strong>the</strong>r<br />

augmentation to six lanes.<br />

At service level ‘B’, <strong>the</strong> volume <strong>of</strong> traffic is nearly 0.5 times <strong>the</strong> maximum capacity, and at<br />

‘C’ nearly 0.7 times <strong>the</strong> maximum capacity. The HCM does not <strong>in</strong>dicate much difference<br />

between <strong>the</strong> average speeds <strong>of</strong> LOS ‘B’ and LOS ‘C’ but <strong>the</strong>re is an approximate 40 percent<br />

<strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> volume <strong>of</strong> traffic handled at LOS ‘C’ and <strong>the</strong> traffic rema<strong>in</strong>s <strong>in</strong> stable flow<br />

condition. The benchmarks proposed for comput<strong>in</strong>g Network Congestion Indices are<br />

<strong>in</strong>dicated <strong>in</strong> Table A4:<br />

Table A4: Benchmarks for comput<strong>in</strong>g Network Congestion Indices<br />

Traffic Performance Volume/Capacity Ratio<br />

Congestion free Up to 0.70<br />

Congested Between 0.70 and 1.00<br />

Over-congested Above 1.00<br />

The follow<strong>in</strong>g steps can be adopted to compute <strong>the</strong> congestion <strong>in</strong>dices <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> CRN:<br />

Step 1: Based on analysis <strong>of</strong> traffic volume and capacity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> road (this will depend upon<br />

<strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> traffic lanes and presence <strong>of</strong> paved shoulders), <strong>the</strong> volume/capacity ratios<br />

will be established at <strong>the</strong> beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> each year for <strong>the</strong> entire CRN. This <strong>in</strong>formation would<br />

be available for different categories <strong>of</strong> roads, that is, NHs, SHs, MDRs and O<strong>the</strong>r Roads<br />

compris<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> CRN and also for various carriageway configurations, for example, less than<br />

two lane, two lane and four lane or more.<br />

Step 2: Tabulate <strong>the</strong> results and compute <strong>the</strong> congestion <strong>in</strong>dices consider<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> extent <strong>of</strong><br />

volume/capacity ratios on <strong>the</strong> length <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> CRN as <strong>in</strong>dicated <strong>in</strong> Table A5.<br />

Table A5: Computation <strong>of</strong> congestion <strong>in</strong>dices<br />

Volume/capacity Ratio Percent Length <strong>of</strong> CRN Level <strong>of</strong> Congestion<br />

Up to 0.70 x 1 Congestion free<br />

Between 0.70 and 1.00 x 2 Congested<br />

Above 1.00 x 3 Over congested<br />

The higher <strong>the</strong> percentage <strong>of</strong> congestion free network, that is, <strong>the</strong> value <strong>of</strong> x 1 , <strong>the</strong> better<br />

<strong>the</strong> performance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> road sector and <strong>the</strong> agency. The percentage <strong>of</strong> over-congested<br />

network, that is, <strong>the</strong> value <strong>of</strong> x 3 would serve as an <strong>in</strong>dicator to <strong>the</strong> highway agency to plan<br />

capacity augmentation <strong>in</strong>vestments to meet <strong>the</strong> traffic demand on such road networks.<br />

Indicator 21: Network Quality Index (NQI)<br />

This <strong>in</strong>dicator is <strong>in</strong>tended to capture <strong>the</strong> quality <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> network. To start with, <strong>the</strong> NQI may<br />

be determ<strong>in</strong>ed based on <strong>the</strong> parameter <strong>of</strong> rid<strong>in</strong>g quality <strong>in</strong> terms <strong>of</strong> roughness expressed<br />

83

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