Effects of checkpoints on urban travel time

Abstract

Increases in traffic volumes along urban roads leads to congestion. This study aims to evaluate the level of service (LOS) along Al-Masafi Street in Al-Dora. The study is comprised of two stages. First, data was collected by means of a field survey, with the data collection procedure including a count of the hourly traffic volume from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. for workdays, Sunday to Thursday, during the spring break at six checkpoints. The data collected by calculating the volume of traffic, travel time, and queue length of vehicles at each checkpoint allowed calculation of the travel time index (TTI), vehicle/capacity ratio, and the speed in each direction. The travel time and queue length were calculated for passing vehicles for a 100 meter scale before each checkpoint, and the volume represents the number of vehicles passing through each checkpoint in a 15-minute time interval. The second stage of this research included the analysis and evaluation of Al-Masafi Street by computing its LOS based on the TTI, V/C Ratio, and Queue measurements. The conclusion is that the average TTI for all checkpoints in this study was 9.331, and the LOS for all studied roads was F, suggesting that checkpoints have a considerable negative effect on LOS.