Toward Reflecting Public Perception of Quality of Service in Planning, Designing, and Operating Highway Facilities

Today’s highway administrators are operating in a more customer-conscious environment than in the past. Currently, however, expert judgments are used widely in lieu of road-user input. A comprehensive framework for studying and modeling public perceptions of quality of service (QOS) in a highway system is provided. The framework demonstrates how it is possible to observe the phenomena of drivers’ perceptions of QOS and to apply them in the context of highway planning. Some of the results from a pilot implementation of the concepts are presented for illustrative purposes. A multiyear research effort is proposed for developing tools that will allow decision makers to consider the perceptions of highway users in decision making.