LOS is Level Of Service. A quick definition:
LOS is most commonly used to analyze highways by categorizing traffic flow with corresponding safe driving conditions … using letters A through F, with A being the best and F being the worst. (Details here.)
As Michael Alexander notes from his experience in San Francisco: “LOS gave us fits for years while trying to design a replacement for Doyle Drive through the Presidio. It has been a constant headache for transportation planners in California (and pretty much the rest of the U.S.)”
Well, speaking of California, look at this:
… the California Legislature made strides towards improving our state’s transportation … including a new policy that could be a game-changer for urban transit-oriented development.
SB 743, signed by the Governor on Friday, eliminates the car-centric “Level of Service” (LOS) metric from environmental reviews in urban infill areas.
LOS has long punished compact infill projects – and even dedicated bike lanes and public transportation improvements – requiring construction of more traffic lanes and other “mitigations” that undermine the goal of reducing overall traffic and pollution. The state will create guidelines in the next year to replace LOS with new measures focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other true environmental impacts.
There are still appropriate places for LOS as a measure. But as a dictate that justifies ever more, ever wider, ever faster roads at the expense of other values, that is hopefully coming to an end.
Wonderful news, since California has long been a leader in so many areas, for better or worse. I hope other US jurisdictions will take note of this landmaprk political decision, as LOS has been used widely to clobber many efforts at change, infill and densification in, say, surburban areas through the EIS process.
Locally, I am fairly confident that the City of Vancouver’s very progressive transportation planners and engineers (don’t call ’em traffic engineers!) moved away from this outdated model long ago.
I’ve heard say that the goal for cars should be LOS A on inter-urban roads (Transects T1 and T2) and LOS F inside the urban boundary (Transects T3 to T6). Transit and cycles on Great Street avenues should still proceed as unimpeded as possible.
While I’d broadly share Frank’s optimism, I heard street design alternatives around Main & Union being dismissed due to concerns over flow. http://stroadtoboulevard.tumblr.com/post/52821031715/speech-to-council-on-adanac-union