Transportation Engineering

1
1
 Terms and Definitions

• Transport: is a science that concerns with the efficient

movement of people and goods that is undertaken to
accomplish objectives to complete tasks that require
transfer from one location to another
• Transportation Engineering: is concerned with the
application of scientific principles to the planning, design;
operation & management of transportation systems. It is
a sub-speciality of civil engineering. However, it is
inherently multidisciplinary overlapping diverse fields as
economics; psychology; geography; city planning; public
administration; political science; industrial & electrical
engineering
2
2
 Transportation Systems
Transportation systems consists of the following components:

• Physical “fixed” facilities: streets; roads;

highways; railroads; airport; sea & river ports;
pipelines and canals.
• Flow entities: fleets of vehicles; vessels and
aircrafts.
• Control systems refers to the technological ways
in which individual vehicles are guided on fixed
facilities. It can be done manual or automatic.
They include means that permit the efficient safe
and smooth operation of streams of vehicles
and reduce conflicts between vehicles [Signing;
Marking and signalling]
3
 Transportation Systems
• Facility oriented organization are involved in
planning; designing; constructing; maintaining &
operating fixed facilities
• Operation organization “ carriers” concerned
with operating fleets to provide transportation
services [Railroads; airlines; ships; truck lines;
transit operator; private car owner, etc]
• Operating bases and facilities for vehicle
maintenance facilities

4
..Characteristics of transportation
Transport demand characteristics:
• Highly qualitative and differentiated [By time of
the day; day of the week; journey purpose
and type of cargo)
• It is derived and transport is not an end by itself.
People are travelling in order to satisfy their
needs at their destinations and for the seek of
transport
• It takes place over space [the distribution of
activities over space]. The spatiality of demand
leads to problem of lack of coordination which
affect equilibrium between demand and
supply

5
 ….Characteristics of transportation
Transport supply characteristics:

• It is a service and not a good. We cannot stock

it. Transport service must be consumed when
and where it is produced otherwise its benefit is
lost.
• Transport infrastructure is lumpy and take long
time to be carried out.
• Transport investment has an important political
role.
• Transport is very important elements in the
welfare of nations and well being of urban and
rural dweller.

6
 Transportation system classification
The definition of transportation systems makes a distinction between
passengers and freight “goods”. Both are needed to satisfy human
needs and both constitute a significant portion of Gross National
Product
• Transportation system is categorized into four major
sub-system according to the medium on which the flow
elements are supported. These subsystem are
commonly referred as modes.
• Modes describe various means of travel.
• The four major subsystem are
Land Air Water Pipelines
Transportatio Transportatio Transportatio
n n n
Highway Domestic Inland Oil
Rail International Ocean Gas; other
7
Mode classification by geography location
Location Freight Passengers
Private Auto-Highway
Urban Truck-Highway
Transit-Highway/Railway
Truck-Highway Private Auto-Highway
Railway Bus
Ocean shipping Rail
Intercity
Inland water Air
Pipelines
Air
Special Conveyor belt
Purpose Cable system

8
 Transportation provider type
Transportation systems are classified as either public or private or classified
as for hire or not for hire
• Hire system are further classified into
– Contract Carriers: provide service to public
under individual contractual arrangement
– Common Carriers offer scheduled service and
are open to all member of public willing to
pay the posted fare.
• Mass transportation or Mass transit refer
to the common carriage of passengers;
taxi; car rental

9
 Urban Transportation systems
• The intra-city or urban distribution of freight is
predominantly accomplished by highway
subsystem using vans; trucks.
• The major movement within urban areas are
related to passenger transport.
• Water transport is found within urban areas, it is
related to passenger transport.
• Air transportation is unsuited for urban travel
• Transport means available for urban travel are
land based regardless of being private or public.
• Mode of transport in urban, heavy rail; light rail, bus

10
 Transportation Modes
• Highways are the most dominant mode of
transport in most countries of the world including
Jordan.
• The highway system is used by private vehicles;
truck lines; bus lines.
• Highway systems serves intercity passengers;
freight transportation; urban passenger transport
& distribution of goods.

11
Major Characteristics of highway
systems
• Very high accessibility to almost all potential
destination
• Direct service with very low-to-door travel
time
• Moderate line haul speed & capacities
• Capital costs of physical facilities are
moderate
• Vehicle used are small & cheep to be owned by
individual compared to all other mode.
• Total investment of physical facilities & vehicle is
high
• Operating cost is high
• Environmental impact of the system as a whole
are high and of major concerns of societies 12
 Urban transit
• It is a specialized mode. It includes traditional
mass transit modes [Buses, street cars, light rail,
rapid rail transit & para-transit]
• Tram “street car”: Vehicles received their power
from overhead power. They are operating on
tracks sharing the roadway with cars and buses
• Light rail: A term embracing a wide range of
electrical powered vehicle running on steel rails
(metro). Passengers board from road surface or
low plat form. It operated along street but maybe
provided with exclusive right of way

13
 ….Urban transit
• Rapid rail transit system called metro is the
underground tube operate on exclusive R.O.W
and relatively high speeds & provide highest line
capacity available.
• Para-transit: A term applies to small passenger
vehicles operating informally on fare-paying
basis & serving in some places as an alternative
to regular bus transit services.

14
Streetcar/Tram

15
Light rail

16
Rapid Rail transit

17
Para-transit

18
 Who use urban transit system
• Mainly serves passenger
transportation(10% of passenger trips in
USA is made by transit, the percentage is
much higher in Europe)
• Transit passengers are either persons
making work trips into central business
district, usually referred as
commuters/choice rider or passenger
without access to automobile often
referred to as captive rider

19
Transit
• Line haul speeds vary a great deal(Bus are slow where
rapid rail transit has quite high speed.
• Door-to-door travel time are greater than those of
automobiles with an exception in CBD.
• Accessibility depend on route & stop station
spacing but
in general it is less than of private car.
• Capacities are high.
• Capital costs of rail system are high (both physical
facilities & vehicles)
• Operating costs for both bus and rail system are
moderate but operating costs per trip is almost higher
than dare.
• Environmental impact are regarded as being less than
those of private cars.
20
 Rail Transportation
• The primary market for rail is intercity
freight, considerable amount of general
cargo are shipped by rail; particularly the
bulk cargo.
• Rail share for intercity passenger miles is
relatively low. Most passenger rail trips are
of short to intermediate length are limited
to high density corridor

21
 Rail Transportation characteristics
• Provides Moderate speed & level of
accessibility.
• High & unreliable door-to-door travel times;
however continuous work is under-taken
to reduce the travel time.
• Physical facilities for railway represent heavy
investment.
• Capital cost of locomotives & railcars are
relatively high & productivity is low
• Maintenance costs for track are
relatively high
• Operating cost per ton-mile are low
• Environmental impact are comparatively
low 22
Air transportation Characteristics
Include commercial airlines, air freight carriers and general aviation
(private aircraft). Air transportation serves intercity passenger travel (long-
distance travel
• High line haul speed
• Accessibility is limited (relatively little importance
because of great length of trips made by air)
• Capacities of individual aircraft are moderate but
productivity is high due to high speed.
• Capital & operating costs are both quite high but
because of high productivity, the cost per passenger
carried is moderate.
• Cost of general aviation airports and aircraft are
moderate.
• Environmental impact are significant especially
• the noise impact of commercial aviation, but are
of much less concern than those of highway
system
23
Water Transportation
• Transportation by water can be
categorized by
– inland transport
– Ocean transport
• Ocean transport include container ships;
bulk cargo carriers & oil tankers.
• Water transportation serves intercity
freight.
• Inland waterways serve bulk goods
• Ocean shipping carries all types of
goods.
24
Water Transportation characteristics
• Low speed; low accessibility
• High capacities
• Capital cost of vessel is high but operating
costs per ton-mile are low
• Environmental impact are relatively low,
but if oil spills occur, serious problem rise

25
 characteristics
Pipe line transportation is specialized in freight transportation system. It
serves primarily crude oil.

• Low speed to high speed continuous flow

transportation
• Costs are low
• Environment impact is normally quite low
once they are built. However, construction
impact is sometime of concern.
Other modes
Cables & belt system, they do not have significant role.
They are used for specialized passengers “Ski-left and
moving belt in airports
26
Institutional Structure
• Transportation should be the responsibility of government
body
• The government should be in charge of formulating national
polices & research development for transportation facilities
& services
• Transport service & lines are organized by governmental
body
• Transport administration is further organized
geographically into region and district.
• The design, construction, and maintenance of
transportation system is organized by governmental body
• Local government at city level are responsible of setting
standards for design street & roads, maintaining &
operating them & they maybe directly involved in the
design & construction of their facilities.
• Transport planning is responsibility of an agency that exist
at
national level or district level or municipality level.
• Private organization involved in transportation sector are
27
System for financing transportation
Source of funds for transportation are

• User charges include direct charges such as fares, tolls

& indirect sources such as fuel tax.
• General fund revenues collected by different levels of
government are derived from regular taxes “No
direct relationship between source of fund and the
activity which they spent on”
• Private investment occurs in the part of transportation
system that are normally under private control (carrier).
• Cross-subsidization occurs when revenues collected
from users of one type of transportation are used to
finance some other type of system (Gasoline tax
revenue to finance public transport)

28