CEE 4651 Transportation Engineering and Traffic Design: Moinul Hossain Week 1
CEE 4651 Transportation Engineering and Traffic Design: Moinul Hossain Week 1
Transportation Engineering
and
Traffic Design
Moinul Hossain
Week 1
Design objectives and
constrains/control and criteria
1
What is Transportation Engineering?
Transportation engineering is the application of
technology 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.
2
What is Traffic Engineering?
3
What are our objectives as
Road Designers? (1)
SAFETY FIRST!!!
4
Monday 11 September, 2001
5
Road Traffic Fatality Rate
in Several Countries in 1998
Fatality Rate
(per 100,000 population)
50
Thailand Japan France German Sweden Britain Canada USA
40
30.4
30
20
14.4 15.4
0
6
What are our objectives as
Road Designers? (2)
• Speed
• Comfort
• Convenience
• Economy
• Environmental Compatibility
(All transportation systems have some negative
impacts on the environment. All produce air
and noise pollution in some forms, and all
utilize valuable land resources.)
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Transportation Engineers
• Relationship with General Public
– More than any other engineer.
• Relationship with Elected Official
– A wide range of officials
• Professional Ethics
– According to outcomes it produces great
responsibility
- CLIP 1, 2 -
8
The Burning Questions…
• Why do they fail on daily basis?
• Are we the transportation engineers just
incompetents?
• Or is something more fundamental going on?
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Elements of Transportation System
• Facilities
• Vehicles
• Control systems
• Users
• Environment
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Elements of Traffic Engineering
• Traffic studies and characteristics
• Performance evaluation
• Facility design
• Traffic control
• Traffic operations
• Transportation systems management
• Integration of intelligent transportation
system technologies (ITS)
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Elements of Traffic Engineering (1)
• Traffic studies and characteristics
– involve measuring and quantifying various
aspect of highway traffic. Studies focus on data
collection and analysis that is used to
characterize traffic, including (but not limited
to) traffic volumes and demands, speed and
travel time, delay, accidents, origins and
destinations, modal use, and other variables.
12
Elements of Traffic Engineering (2)
• Performance evaluation
– is a means by which traffic engineers can rate
the operating characteristics of individual
sections of facilities and facilities as a whole in
relative terms. Such evaluation relies on
measures of performance quality and is often
stated in terms of “levels of service.”
13
Elements of Traffic Engineering (3)
• Facility design
– involves traffic engineers in the functional and
geometric design of highways and other traffic
facilities. Traffic engineers, per se, are not
involved in the structural design of highway
facilities but should have some appreciation for
structural characteristics of their facilities.
14
Elements of Traffic Engineering (4)
• Traffic control
– is a central function of traffic engineers and
involves the establishment of traffic regulations
and their communication to the driver through
the use of traffic control devices, such as signs,
markings, and signals.
15
Elements of Traffic Engineering (5)
• Traffic operations
– involves measures that influence overall operation
of traffic facilities, such as one-way street systems,
transit operations, curb management, and
surveillance and network control systems.
16
Elements of Traffic Engineering (6)
• Transportation systems management (TSM)
– Involves virtually all aspects of traffic engineering
in a focus on optimizing system capacity and
operations. Specific aspects of TSM include high-
occupancy vehicle priority systems, car-pooling
programs, pricing strategies to manage demand,
and similar functions.
- CLIP 4 -
17
Elements of Traffic Engineering (7)
• Intelligent transportation systems (ITS)
– refers to the application of modern
telecommunications technology to the operation
and control of transportation systems. Such
systems include automated highways, automated
toll-collection systems, vehicle-tracking systems,
in-vehicle GPS and mapping systems, automated
enforcement of traffic lights and speed laws,
smart control devices, and others.
- CLIP 5 -
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The Nature of Transportation Demand (1)
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The Nature of Transportation Demand (2)
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The Nature of Transportation Demand
(4)
Some Solutions
Public transit and car-pooling
Improve quality of highway
Eliminate bottleneck
Staggered work-hours and work-days
Satellite centers outside the Central Business
District (CBD)
Restrict various growth rates
Providing additional capacity (build new roads / widen
existing ones) is no longer a SOLUTION!!! 22
The Nature of Transportation Demand (5)
More Obstacles
A 10-year traffic demand forecast that comes
within approximately 20% of the actual value is
considered a significant success!!!
23
Mobility vs. Accessibility (1)
Mobility
Mobility refers to the ability to travel to
many different destinations
Accessibility
Accessibility refers to the ability to gain
entry to a particular site or area (e.g., land,
road, parking area, public transit stops,
etc.).
24
Mobility vs. Accessibility (2)
Mobility
Mobility gives travelers a wide range of choices as to where to go to
satisfy particular needs, e.g., it allows shoppers to choose from
among many competing shopping centers and stores, travelers with
all kinds of available destinations, routes and modes, etc.
25
Mobility vs. Accessibility (3)
Accessibility
Accessibility is a major factor in the value of land.
When land can be accessed by many travelers
from many potential origins, it is more desirable
for development and, therefore, more valuable.
Proximity of land to major highways and public
transport facilities is a major factor determining its
value.
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Mobility vs. Accessibility (4)
The Overlaps
Mobility and accessibility may refer to different
portions of a typical trip.
Mobility focuses on the through portion of trips and is
most affected by the effectiveness of through facilities
that take a traveler from one general area to another.
Accessibility requires the ability to make a transfer
from the transportation system to the particular land
parcel on which the desired activity is taking place.
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Mobility vs. Accessibility (5)
The Conflict
Most transportation systems are structured to separate
mobility and access functions, as the two functions often
compete and are not necessarily compatible.
Think about elevated expressways and local street
networks.
Conclusion
A good transportation system must provide for both
mobility and accessibility and should be designed to
separate the functions to the extent possible to ensure
both safety and efficiency.
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People and Goods or Vehicles??? (1)
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People and Goods or Vehicles??? (2)
1 lane of freeway carries 2200 pcph
1 lane of a street arterial carries 800 pcph
Auto occupancy of 1.1 pass/vehicle
3 lane freeway may carry up to7260 pass/hour
1 bus lane handles 100 buses/hour
3 bus lanes may carry up to 3(50)(100)=15,000pass/hour
Light rail transit capacity = 20,000pass/hour
Heavy rail transit headway @ 2 minutes
HRT capacity can be 30(2,000) = 60,000pass/hour
So What is the best mode of transport???
Rail
Air
Maritime
Pipeline
32
Transportation Modes (2)
Urban People Transportation System
Automobile
Taxi/For-Hire Vehicle
Local Bus Transit
Express Bus Transit
Para-transit
Light Rail
Heavy Rail
Ferry
Intercity People-Transportation System
Urban and Intercity Freight Transportation
33
Transportation Modes (3)
34
Transportation Modes (4)
Urban People Transportation System
Intercity People-Transportation System
Urban and Intercity Freight Transportation
Long-Haul Trucks
Local Trucks
Railroad
Water
Air Freight
Pipelines
35
Modern Problems for the Traffic Engineers (1)
It is not always possible to solve congestion problems through
expansion of capacity
Real question is NOT “how much capacity is needed to handle
demand?” but rather, “how many vehicles and/or people can be
allowed to enter congested areas within designated time
periods?”
Reconstruction of existing highway facilities also causes
unique problems.
Issue of long-term and short-term construction detours as well
as the diversion of traffic to alternate routes require major
planning by traffic engineers.
Security in transportation has become a new concern
36
Modern Problems for the Traffic Engineers (2)
37
Concluding Remarks
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