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HCM 2010 Metric Analysis Guidelines PDF
HCM 2010 Metric Analysis Guidelines PDF
1
Note that p. 1‐6 of the HCM 2010 states “…a soft conversion is favored from U.S. customary units to metric units,
so that computational engines produce the same result regardless of the measurement system used.”
Common Conversions
Throughout the manual, various input or output parameters will need conversion from one system to
the other. The following table shows the appropriate unit designation for many of these parameters
along with the conversion factor.
Table 3. Recommended Unit Conversions
U.S. Conversion
Customary Metric Factor from
Quantity US Customary Unit Symbol Metric Unit Symbol U.S. to Metric
Length inch in millimeter mm 25.4 mm/in
foot ft meter m 0.3048 m/ft
mile mi kilometer km 1.609 km/mi
Time day day day day na
hour h hour h na
minute min minute min na
second s second s na
Traffic Lane lane ln lane ln na
Person or person or pedestrian p person or pedestrian p na
Vehicle vehicle veh vehicle veh na
passenger car pc passenger car pc na
bus bus bus bus na
Mass slug slug kilogram kg 14.59 kg/slug
Weight pound lb newton N 4.448 N/lb
Power horsepower hp kilowatt kW 0.746 kW/hp
Engine Size cubic inch in3 cubic centimeter cm3 16.387 cm3/in3
Flow Rate vehicles per hour veh/h vehicles per hour veh/h na
pedestrians per hour p/h pedestrians per hour p/h na
persons per vehicle p/veh persons per vehicle p/veh na
buses per hour buses/h buses per hour bus/h na
passenger cars per hour pc/h passenger cars per hour pc/h na
Saturation Flow passenger cars per hour pc/h/ln passenger cars per hour pc/h/ln na
Rate per lane per lane
Total Travel vehicle‐miles veh‐mi vehicle‐kilometers veh‐km 1.609 km/mi
Delay seconds per vehicle s/veh seconds per vehicle s/veh na
Density passenger cars per mile pc/mi/ln passenger cars per pc/km/ln 0.621 mi/km
per lane kilometer per lane
Speed miles per hour mi/h kilometer per hour km/h 1.609 km/h
Load Factor persons per seat p/seat persons per seat p/seat na
Space square feet per ft2/p square meter per m2/p 0.0929 m2/ft2
pedestrian pedestrian
Headway seconds per vehicle s/veh seconds per vehicle s/veh na
Precipitation inches per hour in/h millimeters per hour mm/h 25.4 mm/in
Rate
Disclaimer
These guidelines are not an official supplement to the 2010 HCM, nor endorsed by the Transportation
Research Board. These guidelines were independently developed within the User Liaison Subcommittee
of the TRB Highway Capacity and Quality of Service Committee as guidance to the metric user
community in using the 2010 HCM. Users are solely responsible for interpreting and converting inputs
and outputs in metric units and in reporting results.