Lecture for Highway Design and Planning course

1. CE 6643 – Highway Planning
and Design
Introduction to Transportation Planning
By: Dr. Muhammad Usman Farooqi

2. Course Plan
Course Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the course, the student will be able:
• Argue on different advanced policies to assess a highway route
for complex situations to cater societal, safety, cultural, and
environmental issues for sustainable development.
• Design sustainable structures of flexible and rigid pavements
using AASHTO design guide/Asphalt Institute methods meet
specified societal needs.
• Justify the analysis and design / selection of structures /
routes including the impact of construction constraints on
design decisions.
2

3. INTRODUCTION TO
TRANSPORTATION PLANNING 2

4. What is Transportation?
Movement of persons
and goods over space
A B

5. Why do we need Transportation…?
• Economic Wealth
• Political Reasons
• Military Power

6. Transportation Engineering
Definition:
The application of technological and scientific
principles to the planning, functional design,
operation, and management of facilities for
any mode of transportation in order to provide
for the safe, rapid, comfortable, convenient,
economical, and environmentally compatible
movement of people and goods.
Source: Institute of Transportation Engineers

8. Transportation is a Cyclic Process;
– Land Use
– Trips
– Transportation Needs
– Transportation Facilities
– Accessibility
– Land Value
– Land Use ……………

9. • Modes of Transportation:
Roadways Railways Airways
Waterways Pipeline Ropeway

10. Transportation System
• A transportation system may be defined as a planned
network of elements or physical components that play
different roles in the transportation of goods and
persons from one place to another.
• The elements or physical components of a transport
system are referred to as the facilities.
• A transport system can therefore be considered as
consisting of fixed facilities, the flow entities, and
control system that permit people and goods to
overcome the friction of geographical space efficiently in
order to participate in a timely manner in some desired
activity.

11. Fixed Facilities (Infrastructure)
• The fixed facilities are the physical components of the
system that are fixed in space and constitutes network of
links and nodes of transportation system.
• For example, the links could be roadway segment and
railway track and the nodes could be intersections,
interchanges, transit terminals, harbours, and airports.
• The design of these fixed facilities has traditionally been
within the realm of civil engineering.
• The design includes soil and foundation engineering
design, structural engineering design, the design of
drainage systems, and geometric design, which is
concerned with the physical proportioning of the
elements of fixed facilities.

12. Infrastructure

13. Flow Entities (Vehicles / Services)
• Flow entities are the units that traverse the
fixed facilities. These include people, vehicles,
container units, railroad cars, and so on.
• In the case of a road system, the fixed facilities
are expected to accommodate a wide variety of
vehicle types, ranging from bicycles to large
tractor-trailer combinations.

14. Vehicles / Services

15. Control System
• The controlsystem consists of vehicular control and flow
control. Vehicular control refers to the technological way
in which individual vehicles are guided on fixed facilities.
Such controls can be manual or automated.
In the case of highway facilities, where the vehicles
are manually controlled, these include driver's
characteristics, such as time a driver takes to perceive
and react to various stimuli. In the case of automated
systems, similar, but more precisely definable response
times exist as well.
• The flow control system consists of the means that
permit the efficient and smooth operation of streams of
vehicles and the reduction of conflicts between vehicles.
This system includes various types of signing, marking,
and signal systems and the underlying rules of
operation.

16. Control System

17. Transportation System
• Essentials of a
Transportation
System
– Economy
– Safety
– Comfort
– Efficiency
– Impact upon
environment
• Input/Outputs of a
Transportation
System
30

18. Transportation System
• Urban People Transportation
Systems
– Automobile
– Taxi/For-Hire Vehicles
– Local Bus Transit
– Express Bus Transit
– Para-transit
– Light Rail
– Heavy Rail
– Ferry
• Intercity People-Transportation
Systems
• Urban and Intercity Freight
Transportation

19. Transportation System
• Urban People Transportation
Systems
• Intercity People-Transportation
Systems
– Automobile
– Intercity Bus
– Railroad
– Air
– Water
• Urban and Intercity Freight
Transportation

20. Transportation System
• Urban People Transportation
Systems
• Intercity People-Transportation
Systems
• Urban and Intercity Freight
Transportation
– Long-Haul Trucks
– Local Trucks
– Railroad
– Water
– Air Freight
– Pipelines

21. Transportation System
• Basic Elements of a Transportation System
– Links. Roadways or tracks connecting two or more
points. Pipes, sea-paths, and airways can also be
considered as links
– Vehicles. Means of moving people and goods from one
node to another along a link. Motorcars, buses, ships,
airplanes, and cables are the examples.
– Terminals. Nodes where travel and shipment begins or
ends. Parking garages, off-street parking lots, loading
docks, bus stops, airports, and bus terminals are
examples.
– Management & Labor. The people, who construct,
operate, manage, and maintain the links, vehicles, and
terminals

22. TRANSPORTATION
PLANNING
“The process of identifying transportation
problems and looking for solutions to those
problems is called transportation planning”.

23. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
• A field involved with the evaluation, assessment,
design and sighting of transportation facilities
(generally streets, highways, footpaths, bike lanes
and public transport).
• Provides the information, tools, and public
involvement needed for improving performance of
a transportation system.
• A continuous process that requires monitoring of
the system’s performance and condition.

24. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
• Stake Holders
– Operators
– Users
– Non-Users
• Types
– Short to Medium Term Planning
– Long Term Planning

25. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
• Short to Medium Term Planning
– Implemented for 1-3 years
– Better management of existing facilities
– Includes traffic signal timings, park and ride,
transit improvements

26. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
Long Term Planning
– Implemented over a longer period (up to 20 +
years)
– Includes long term planning of all transportation
modes
– Describes vision for the region, and include
policies, operational strategies, and projects to
achieve it
– Leads to an “intermodal” system
– Reflects public involvement
– Contains a financial plan and is fiscally
constrained

27. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
Types
• Short to Medium Term Planning
• Long Term Planning

28. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
• Basic Elements of Transportation Planning
Process
– Situation Definition
– Problem Definition
– Search for Solutions
– Analysis of Performance
– Evaluation of Alternatives
• Based on Economics: Benefit - Cost ratio
• Agency Cost: Capital + Maintenance + Facility Operating
Costs
• User Cost: Travel Time + Vehicle Operating Cost
• Other Costs: Environmental + Social etc.

29. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
• Basic Elements of Transportation Planning
Process
– Specification & Construction
• Detailed design
• Detailed cost estimates
• Bidding
• Award of contract
• Construction/Execution of the project
• Handing over of project for operation
• Efficient maintenance system

30. TRANSPORTATION STUDIES
• Procedure
– Setting up an Administrating Organization
– Data Collection
– Analysis
– Development of a Transportation plan and Financial
program
– Implementation
– Updating Procedure

31. TRANSPORTATION STUDIES
• Highway and Mass Transit Data
• Air Transit Data
• Port and Harbor Transit Data

32. TRANSPORTATION STUDIES
• Highway and Mass Transit Data
– Road Classification and Street Use
Map
– Existing Traffic Service Studies
• Traffic Volume Counts
• Travel Time and Delay Studies
• Street Capacity
• Accident Study
• Parking Study
• Traffic Control Device Study
– Existing Transit Studies
– Physical Street System Inventory

33. TRANSPORTATION STUDIES
• Highway and Mass Transit
Data
– Road Classification and Street
Use Map
– Existing Traffic Service Studies
– Existing Transit Studies
• Routes and coverage study
• Transit route inventory
• Service frequency and regularity and
transit running time studies
• Passenger load data/riding habit
• Transit speed and delay studies
• General operating data
– Physical Street System Inventory

34. TRANSPORTATION STUDIES
• Highway and Mass Transit
Data
– Road Classification and Street
Use Map
– Existing Traffic Service Studies
– Existing Transit Studies
– Physical Street System Inventory
• Street widths
• Block lengths
• Pavement condition
• Geometric
• Storm sewers and surface drainage

35. TRANSPORTATION RELATED
PROBLEMS
• Congestion / Queues
• Increase in Accidents
• Declining Use of Public Transport
• Declining numbers of Pedestrians and
Bicyclists
• Ambient Noise Pollution
• Curtailment of Existing Parking Spaces
• Rising Energy Prices