The Florida DOT developed a series of free software programs to assist transportation planning and preliminary engineering. Check out their Quality/Level of Service page to look through some of the great information they have available. They have new presentations on the site that go through Quality/Level of Service details.
The most interesting software package to me is ARTPLAN 2009 – Multi-modal Arterial Level of Service Analysis. Right now, our industry's analysis methods focus largely on the automobile. ARTPLAN also considers transit service, bicycle facilities, and pedestrian facilities.
The next edition of the Transportation Research Board's Highway Capacity Manual (the industry default for methodology/standards related to traffic analysis) is supposed to be released at the end of 2010 (summary presentation). It's my understanding the next edition of the Highway Capacity Manual will incorporate much of the research and methodology already incorporated in the Quality/Level of Service system.
One – I'm glad to see our industry moving away from an auto only focus towards more of a multi-modal system.
Two – I applaud Florida DOT for putting useful tools out there and developing a coherent model/set of standards. This provides a consistent set of rules for all transportation practitioners to work under in Florida, which I think ultimately spurs better analysis.
