Introduction to
Transportation
Engineering
MODULE 2
WEEK Engr. Carmela R. Mirandilla
3
Pre-test
To further gauge your level of
understanding and where you currently
stand in this topic, please answer the pre-
test questions honestly. Take note of the
items that you were not able to correctly
answer and look for the right answer as
you go through this module.
note: pretest is uploaded in the google
classroom. thank you.
Overview
WHAT IS TRANSPORTATION?
Transportation is all about moving goods
and people from one place to another It is
also Safe, efficient, reliable, and sustainable
movement of persons and goods over time
and space
What is Transportation
Engineering ?
Transportation engineering is a type of
civil engineering which focuses on the
infrastructure of transportation: all the
elements which support the movement of
goods and people. Transportation
engineers design runways, build
bridges, layout roads and plan docking
facilities. They look at traffic patterns,
determine when new transport facilities
are needed and come up with better
ways to get from point A to point B.
What is Transportation
Engineering ?
Also, 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
Mobility is a basic human need.
Everyone travels either for food or
leisure. A closely associated need is the
transport of raw materials to a
manufacturing unit or finished goods for
consumption. Transportation fulfils
these basic needs of humanity.
Transportation plays a major role in the
development of the human civilization.
For instance, one could easily observe
the strong correlation between the
evolution of human settlement and the
proximity of transport facilities.
Also, there is a strong correlation
between the quality of transport
facilities and standard of living,
because of which society places a great
expectation from transportation
facilities. In other words, the solution to
transportation problems must be
analytically based, economically sound,
socially credible, environmentally
sensitive, and practically acceptable
and sustainable. Alternatively, the
transportation solution should be safe,
rapid, comfortable, convenient,
economical, and eco friendly for both
men and material.
the solution to
transportation problems
must be:
1.analytically based,
2. economically sound,
3.socially credible,
4. environmentally sensitive, and
5. practically acceptable and
sustainable.
the transportation
solution should be
1. safe,
2.rapid,
3. comfortable,
4.convenient,
5. economical, and
5.eco friendly for both men and
material.
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
The characteristics of transportation system that
makes it diverse and complex are listed below:
1. Multi-modal
2. Multi-sector
3. Multi-problem
4. Multi-objective
. 5. Multi-disciplinary
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
1. Multi-modal:
Covering all modes of transport; air, land,
and sea for both passenger and freight.
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
2. Multi-sector:
Encompassing the problems and viewpoints
of government, private industry, and public.
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
3. Multi-problem: Ranging across a
spectrum of issues that includes national
and international policy, planning of
regional system, the location and design of
specific facilities, carrier management
issues, regulatory, institutional and
financial policies
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
4. Multi-objective: Aiming at national and
regional economic development, urban
development, environment quality, and
social quality, as well as service to users and
financial and economic feasibility.
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
5. Multi-disciplinary: Drawing on the
theories and methods of engineering,
economics, operations research, political
science, psychology, other natural, and
social sciences, management and law.
THE CONTEXT IN WHICH
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IS
STUDIED IS ALSO VERY DIVERSE AND
ARE MENTIONED BELOW:
1. Planning range
2. Passenger transport
3. Freight transport
4. International transport
THE CONTEXT IN WHICH
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IS
STUDIED IS ALSO VERY DIVERSE AND
ARE MENTIONED BELOW:
1. Planning range: Urban transportation planning, producing long
range plans for 5-25 years for multimodal transportation systems in
urban areas as well as short range programs of action for less than
five years.
THE CONTEXT IN WHICH
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IS
STUDIED IS ALSO VERY DIVERSE AND
ARE MENTIONED BELOW:
2. Passenger transport: Regional passenger transportation, dealing
with inter-city passenger transport by air, rail, and highway and
possible with new modes.
THE CONTEXT IN WHICH
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IS
STUDIED IS ALSO VERY DIVERSE AND
ARE MENTIONED BELOW:
3. Freight transport: Routing and management, choice of different
modes of rail and truck.
4. International transport: Issues such as containerization, inter-
modal co-ordination
THREE ELEMENTS OF
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
Infrastructure: which includes Road, canal, rail, air Transfer points
Supporting elements (signs, signals, safety)
Vehicles: which includes Planes, trains, autos, buses, ships, trucks
Operators/Content : which includes Drivers, pilots, freight, passengers
MAJOR DISCIPLINES OF
TRANSPORTATION
1. Transportation Planning
2. Geometric Design
3. Pavement Design
4. Traffic Engineering
Transportation Planning
Transportation planning
essentially involves the
development of a
transport model which will
accurately represent both
the current as well as
future transportation
system.
Geometric Design
Geometric design deals with
physical proportioning of other
transportation facilities, in
contrast with the structural
design of the facilities. The
topics include the cross-
sectional features, horizontal
alignment, vertical alignment
and intersections.
Pavement Analysis and
Design
Pavement design deals with the structural
design of roads, both (bituminous and
concrete), commonly known as (flexible
pavements and rigid pavements)
respectively. It deals with the design of
paving materials, determination of the layer
thickness, and construction and
maintenance procedures. The design mainly
covers structural aspects, functional aspects,
drainage. Structural design ensures the
pavement has enough strength to withstand
the impact of loads, functional design
emphasizes on the riding quality, and the
drainage design protects the pavement
from damage due to water infiltration.
Pavement Analysis and
Design
Pavement design deals with the structural
design of roads, both (bituminous and
concrete), commonly known as (flexible
pavements and rigid pavements)
respectively. It deals with the design of
paving materials, determination of the layer
thickness, and construction and
maintenance procedures. The design mainly
covers structural aspects, functional aspects,
drainage. Structural design ensures the
pavement has enough strength to withstand
the impact of loads, functional design
emphasizes on the riding quality, and the
drainage design protects the pavement
from damage due to water infiltration.
Traffic Engineering
Traffic engineering covers a broad range of
engineering applications with a focus on the
safety of the public, the efficient use of
transportation resources, and the mobility of
people and goods. Traffic engineering
involves a variety of engineering and
management skills, includingdesign,
operation, and system optimization.
Other important
disciplines
1. Public transportation
2. Financial and economic analysis
3. Environmental impact assessment
4. Accident analysis and reduction
5. Intelligent transport system
Factors in Transportation
Development
1. Economic Factors
2. Geographical Factors
3. Poliical Policies
4. Military
5. Technological Factor
6. Competition
7. Urbanization
Roles of Transportation in
the Society
1. Economic role of transportation
2. Social role of transportation
3. Environmental role of transportation
4. Urbanization
Environmental effects of
transportation
1. safety
2. air pollution
3. noise pollution
4. energy consumption
5.
Can you think of other
transportation impacts
that directly or indirectly
affects the society.
Modes of Transportation
1. road transportation
2. rail transportation
3. pipelines
4. maritime transportation
5. air transportation
6. intermodal transportation
Road transportation
Road infrastructures are large consumers of
space with the lowest level of physical
constraints among transportation modes.
Road transportation has an average
operational flexibility as vehicles can serve
several purposes but are rarely able to move
outside roads. Road transport systems have
high maintenance costs, both for the vehicles
and infrastructures. They are mainly linked to
light industries where rapid movements of
freight in small batches are the norm. Yet,
with containerization, road transportation has
become a crucial link in freight distribution.
Rail transportation
Railways are composed of traced paths on
which are bound vehicles. They have an
average level of physical constrains linked to
the types of locomotives and a low gradient is
required, particularly for freight.
Pipelines
Pipeline routes are practically unlimited as
they can be laid on land or under water. The
longest gas pipeline links Alberta to Sarnia
(Canada), which is 2,911 km in length. The
longest oil pipeline is the Transiberian,
extending over 9,344 km from the Russian
arctic oilfields in eastern Siberia to Western
Europe.
Maritime transportation
Because of the physical properties of water
conferring buoyancy and limited friction,
maritime transportation is the most effective
mode to move large quantities of cargo over
long distances. More than any other mode,
maritime transportation is linked to heavy
industries, such as steel and petrochemical
facilities adjacent to port sites.
Air transportation
Air transport constraints are multidimensional
and include the site (a commercial plane
needs about 3,300 metersof runway for
landing and takeoff), the climate,fog and aerial
currents. Air activities are linked to the
tertiaryand quaternary sectors, notably
finance and tourism, which lean on the long-
distance mobility of people. More recently, air
transportation has been accommodating
growing quantities of high value freight and is
playing a growing role in global logistics.
Intermodal transportation
Intermodal transportation is defined as a
method or system where multiple modes of
transportation are used to transport
passengers as well as freight. This can be
through trucks, railways, ships, and aircraft via
land, water or air.
References:
image sources:
www.jotscroll.com
www.transportgeography.org
www.slideshare.net
www.symbols.com
www.sciencedirect.com
1. Mannering Fred, Washburn Scott,
Kilaresky Walter. 2004. Principles of Highway
Engineering and Traffic Analysis. Muze. Inc.
2. Garber, Nicholas, & Hoel Lester. 2001.
Highway and Traffic Engineering Brookes/Cole
Publishing.
3. Ortuzar, J.D. & Willumsen, L.G. 2011.
Modelling Transport. John Wiley and Sons,
Ltd.
