CEE 301

Introduction to Transportation
Engineering

Lecture 2
Transportation Planning
Engr. Tariq Shah
COMSATS University Islamabad, Wah Campus
 TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
 Decision Making
 Imagine any ground transportation: train, car, bicycle,
wheelchair, or on foot. Now, think about your favorite way to
travel
 What would you use to get to your destination?
 Are you satisfied with your choice?
 Will you have any problems using this method?
 Would you like more options?
 “The process of identifying transportation problems and
looking for solutions to those problems is called
transportation planning”.
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 TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
 Stake Holders
 Operators
 Users
 Non-Users
 Types
 Short to Medium Term Planning
 LongTerm Planning

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 TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
Types
 Short to Medium Term Planning
 Implemented for 1-3 years
 Better management of existing facilities
 Includes traffic signal timing, park and ride, transit
improvements
 Long Term Planning

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 TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
Types
 Short to Medium Term 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

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 TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
Types
 Short to Medium Term Planning
 Long Term Planning

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 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 + Maint + Facility Operating Costs
 User Cost: Travel Time + Vehicle Operating Cost
 Other Costs: Environmental + Social etc….

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 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

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 TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
 Environmental Factors
 Climate Change (due to emission of gases)
 Air Quality
 Cultural Heritage
 Disruption due to Construction
 Ecology and Nature Conservation
 Landscape Effects
 Land Use Effects
 Traffic Noise Vibration
 Water Quality & Drainage

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 Basic elements of transportation planning
Situation definition Inventory transportation facilities, Measure travel patterns,
Review prior studies
Problem definition Define objectives (e.g., Reduce travel time), Establish criteria
(e.g., Average delay time), Define constraints, Establish
design standards
Search for Consider options (e.g., locations and types, structure needs,
solutions environmental considerations)
Analysis of For each option, determine cost, traffic flow, impacts
performance
Evaluation of Determine values for the criteria set for evaluation (e.g.,
alternatives benefits vs. cost, cost-effectiveness, etc)
Choice of project Consider factors involved (e.g., goal attainability, political
judgment, environmental impact, etc.)
Specification and Once an alternative is chosen, design necessary elements of
construction the facility and create construction plans
Example 11-1: Planning the relocation of a rural road
(simple, yet good enough to explain the steps…)
Step 1: Situation definition:
➢ to understand the situation that gave rise to the perceived need for a transportation
improvement
Step 2: Problem definition
Purpose of the step: Describe the problem in terms of the objectives to be accomplished and
translate those objectives into criteria.

Example:
Objective = Statements of purpose: Reduce traffic congestion, Improve safety, Maximize net
highway-user benefits, etc.
Criteria = Measures of effectiveness: Travel time, accident rate, delays (interested in reductions in
these MOEs)
Step 3: Search for solutions

Brainstorm options
at this stage.
Step 4: Analysis of performance
➢ Estimate how each of the proposed alternatives would perform under present and future
conditions.
Step 4: (cont) Ranking of alternatives (in
terms of MOE)
 Step 5: Evaluation of alternatives
❑ Determine how well each
alternative will achieve the
objectives of the project as defined Improves this way
by the criteria.

Cost-wise
best

Improves this way

This is a multi-objective evaluation

Improvement-wise
problem.
superior
Step 6: Choice of project
❖ Based on the alternative evaluation in Step 5,
we will choose the best alternative for design
and eventual construction. The best choice may
not be built because of opposition by the people
of the community that is affected.

Step 7: Specification and construction

❖ Once the project has been chosen, a detailed design phase is begun, in which each of the
components of the facility is specified.
 Urban transportation (demand) forecasting
process
This task is a technical effort to analyze the performance of various alternatives. We must define
the study area first. Then further subdivide the area into traffic (analysis) zone, TAZ, for data
tabulation and analysis.

Homogeneous socioeconomic characteristics: e.g., high-income residential

Minimum intra-zonal trips
Use of physical, political, and historical boundaries, where possible
Zones, once created, should not be subdivided into smaller zones during analysis
Zones generating and attracting approximately equal trips, households, population, or
area
Use of census tract boundaries, where possible (easier to collect data from the Census
Bureau’s publications)
 Four basic elements of the urban
transportation forecasting process
Data collection Economic activity (employment, sales volume, income,
(population, land etc.), land use (type, intensity), travel characteristics (trip
use, etc.) and traveler profile), and transportation facilities (capacity,
travel speed, etc.), population and demography, Origin-
destination trip data.
Analysis of existing Analyze the data collected in the data collection stage. You
conditions and may build mathematical models describe the existing
calibration conditions and then use the relationships you have found
in the existing parameters to forecast future values.
Forecast of future 4-step transportation demand forecasting process
travel demand

Analysis of the Analyze what you get from the 4-step demand forecasting
results process
Analysis zones for transportation study (TAZ)
Link-node map for highway system
➢ Link-node maps are the starting point for the 4-step transportation demand
forecasting process
4-step transportation demand forecasting
process
 Preparation: population and economic analysis and land
use analysis
Trip generation Determines how many trips each activity (center) (residential
area, commercial area, etc) will produce or attract

Trip distribution Determines the origin or destination of trips that are

generated at a given activity

Modal split Determines which mode of transportation will be used to

make the trip

Traffic Determines which route on the transportation network will be

assignment used when making the trip
 Graphical way of understanding the 4-step
demand forecasting process

1000 trips
attracted
1000 trips
generated

70% this route

Auto total: 95% Public transit: 5%
25% this route
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