A FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATING LEVEL OF SERVICE AT ELECTRONIC TOLL COLLECTION PLAZAS

The objective of this paper is to develop a framework for evaluating level of service (LOS) at toll plazas with and without Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) systems. Quantifying the level of service at toll plazas will provide a standard tool for comparing between performance of traffic operations strategies and evaluating the true potential of ETC systems in traffic management at toll plazas. Three methods are proposed to evaluate LOS. In the first method, the plaza will be treated as a traffic signal, and the average delay per vehicle at the plaza is used to assess the LOS. In the second method, the plaza is treated as a freeway section, and the average density at the plaza is used to assess the LOS. In the third method, a combination of both average delay and average density is applied to LOS. The three methods will be validated with data collected by the University of Central Florida (UCF) at three toll plaza sites in Orlando.