2005 State of Mobility Report - City of Bellevue

CHAPTER 3
Level of Service and Concurrency
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Bellevue’s transportation system continues to function efficiently, in part because the City monitors current
traffic conditions and then incorporates that information into accurate forecasts about the future service
quality of transportation facilities. The use of a sophisticated regional travel model to define local needs
supports the City in:
• realistically assessing the impacts of proposed development or land use code amendments;
• systematically prioritizing infrastructure improvement projects during the investment planning process; and
• annually fulfilling the requirements of the state’s Growth Management Act.
Assessing the efficiency of the local transportation system, now and into the future, requires three steps: data
collection, analysis & forecasting, and application. This chapter will highlight common element(s) related to each step.
Data: Daily Traffic Volumes
Data
Traffic Counts
Analysis &
Forecasting
Level of Service
Application
The Transportation Department counts the number
of vehicles utilizing key streets and intersections
throughout the city. The traffic count program is
an essential data gathering activity that provides
information about traffic demand. Map 3-A shows
the 2005 Average Annual Weekday Traffic (AAWT)
and Map 3-B highlights the five-year AAWT trend
from 2001-2005. On this map, the red numbers
indicate where and the degree to which traffic
volumes have decreased and the black numbers
represent where traffic volumes have increased. For
the first time in several years, overall traffic volumes
have increased, which is likely the result of one or
both of the following conditions:
Concurrency
• enhanced economic activity (2005 was the first
year in the current economic recovery); or
• increased capacity created when a transportation
facility is added, expanded or improved so that
traffic patterns change.
Transportation policy-makers, planners, and
engineers use daily traffic volume trends to identify
areas or corridors that may warrant attention. For
example, city staff are working on solutions to
mitigate the impacts of increased traffic
volumes on Lakemont Boulevard, 148th Avenue SE,
and Bellevue Way south of downtown.
2005 State of Mobility Report Chapter 3
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