Transportation Planning: An Introduction CE331 Transportation Engineering

Background Issues Congestion, safety and security, … Congestion alleviation measures Increase supply Reduce demand  Need a comprehensive plan

Characteristics of Transportation Systems Multi-modal Air, land, marine, pipeline Passenger, freight Multi-sectoral Government, private industry, public Multi-problem Policy, planning, operational, economic development, environmental, social equity, urban development Multi-disciplinary Engineering, economics, operations research, political science

Basic Questions Where are we now? Existing condition of urban systems Where do we want to go? Major issues, public opinion, opportunities and obstacles What will guide us? Mission statement, goals & objectives, performance measures How will we get there? Project implementation, policy changes

Definition Transportation planning is the process of Establishing a vision Understanding the types of decisions Assessing opportunities and limitations Identifying near & long term consequences Relating alternative decisions Presenting information

Travel Demand Forecasting To answer the following questions: “Whether” to make a trip? “Where” to make the trip? “When” to make the trip? “Which mode” to use? “Which route” to take?

Decision-Making Process

Four-Step Process Trip generation Trip distribution Modal split Traffic assignment

Land Use and Socio- economic Projections Trip Generation Trip Distribution Modal Split Traffic Assignment Transportation System Specifications Direct User Impacts

Traffic Analysis Zone (TAZ) Special-purpose geographic entity Delineated by state and local transportation officials for tabulating traffic related data from the census such as Journey to work Place to work

4 Step Outcomes