Introduction to Transportation

Planning
 1.Introduction
 What is Transport Planning?

Transportation planning is the determination of transport future course of

action to achieve desired goal.
Develops information to help make decisions on the future development and
management of transportation systems, especially in urban areas.
Plans that can be used to set priorities for project
Deciding in advance, What to do? How to do it? When to do it?
Who is responsible to do it?
Includes studying, planning and realization of strategies
Different Scales of transport planning:
National > Regional > Local
 Introduction
Transportation Planning objective is to build or
improve transportation system
Purpose of T.planning is to;
Improve safety
Reduce travel time
Encourage employment
 Attract industries
The benefits of planning transportation system
include : Reduction of travel congestion, length of
trip, travel cost, pollution, etc.
2.1 Transportation planning process
The transportation planning process is direct application of
problem solving via system analysis.

It provides a framework for the identification of transportation

problems and the development of alternative potential solutions.

It involves the determination of the need for transport facilities such

as new highways, transit systems, freight facilities, and
transportation terminals.

The planning process also allows determining the location, capacity

and management of these facilities.
 Cont..
 Problems addressed can be range from broad
issues of policy at the federal or state level to
specific programs and projects at a local level.
Besides problems of congestion and travel growth,
these could include the following:
 Travel demand alternatives for congestion reduction
 Land use/transportation coordination
 Fuel reduction measures
 Air quality measures
 Safety measures
 Economic development/redevelopment activity
 Cont..
 The transportation planning process is continuous- it is
applied simultaneously at multiple levels, including
various spatial scales. It is also characterized by extensive
feedback.
 The process may iterate in defining alternatives and then
estimating and assessing the associated performance.
 The results might be that new alternatives must be found,
or perhaps the problem needs to be re-defined. Note that
the planning process continues both during and after
project construction to assess the effectiveness of the
selected alternative in addressing the identified problems.
 2.2 Basic elements of transportation planning process
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 solutions Consider options (e.g., locations and types, structure needs,
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
 Cont..
Example : Planning the relocation of a rural road
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.
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
 Step 5: Evaluation of alternatives
 Determine how well
each alternative will Improves this way
achieve the objectives
of the project as
defined by the criteria.

Cost-
wise
best
Improves this way

Improvement- This is a multi-objective

evaluation problem.
wise 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.
 2.3 Transport Policy
Policy is a legitimate guideline for any execution &
implementation of action(task) to achieve objective. It is a plan
of action agreed on or chosen by a government, business entity
etc. to satisfy the desires of a society. In this broad sense, a
transport policy is a guiding principle that influences how
the transport system should behave to achieve desired
outcomes and avoid transport problems. Examples of such
policies may include road expansion plans, transit system
priorities, fuel tax, emission limits etc
 CONT..
 It is the task of politicians, and of the skilled professionals
who advise them, to identify the most appropriate solutions to
today's and tomorrow's transport problems.

 These solutions form the basis of a transport policy, which can

be designed for a nation, a city, a town or a rural area. But it is
essential that professionals are clear on the reasons for such
solutions: that is, the objectives which are to be achieved.
 CONT..
 An objective is a statement of a desired end-state. However, that
statement can range from the very general, such as a successful urban
economy or a high standard quality of life, to the very specific, such as
avoiding pollution levels above a specified threshold.

 Both are helpful, the first in providing the context for the strategy, and a
direction to it; the second in providing a basis for assessing whether the
objective is being met.

 Objectives in transport policy can be categorized into four classes:

 Statements of Vision, Higher level objectives, Quantified objectives

& Solution-specific ‘objectives
 CONT..
Statements of Vision: Broad indications of the type of area which politicians or the
public wish to see. These serve to identify long-term goals to which more detailed
transport policy objectives can contribute. These broad statements often say nothing
about transport itself: instead they raise the question: "how best can transport
help to realize this vision?’. The answers to this question help to specify the higher
level transport policy objectives.

Higher level objectives: These higher level objectives, sometimes referred to as

aims or goals, identify attributes of transport system, or its side effects, which
can be improved as a means of realizing the vision. Typical among are to reduce
congestions, protect the environment, avoid accidents and improve accessibility.
These broad objectives indicate the directions in which strategies should be
developed.
 CONT..
 They are sufficient to indicate that the appraisal procedures
should predict and assess the level of congestion, noise,
pollution, accidents and access.
 They also provide a means of assessing the relative
performance of different strategies in reducing pollution
or accidents.
 They do not, however, indicate whether a particular solution
is adequate in its impact.
 To do this more specific,& quantified objectives are needed.
 CONT..
 Quantified objectives: Quantified (measurable) objectives may

indicate a requirement, for example, to avoid residents without

cars being more than 30 minutes from the nearest bus station.

They provide a clear basis for assessing performance of the

strategy, but they do require careful definition if the specified

thresholds are to be realistic. Once this is done, quantified

objectives provide a direct basis for identifying problems, for

current or future conditions, on the basis that a problem occurs

wherever the quantified objective is not met.

 Cont…
 Solution-specific ‘objectives’: It is important to avoid specifying

solutions within the objectives, since this constrains the search for

solutions, and may lead to an overall strategy which is less

appropriate to the area’s needs. Where politicians, or interest

groups, wish to introduce general objectives such as to impose

physical restrictions on car use, it is preferable to ask why this

solution is being proposed and what it is designed to achieve.

Answer to such questions should lead to clearer specification of the

true underlying objectives.

2.3.1The transport policy formulation process

 There are in practice two different types of policy

formulation approaches: objective-led and problem
oriented approaches

 Objective-led strategy formulation: broad (or more

detailed) objectives are first specified. These are then
used to identify problems by assessing the extent to
which current, or predicted future conditions in the
absence of new policy measures, fail to meet the
objectives.
Cont…
 Possible solutions are then identified as ways of overcoming
the problems which have been identified. The potential
solutions are then compared, often by means of predictive
model of transport systems, by appraising them against the
objectives which they are designed to meet. As the measures
are implemented, their impact is assessed, through before and
after studies, again in terms of achievement against objectives..
Objective-led policy formulations
 Cont…
 The main draw back with this approach is that many

elected officials and the public are less familiar with the

abstract concept of objectives (such as improving

accessibility) than they are with concrete problems

(such as the nearest job Centre being 50 minutes away).

CONT..
 Problem oriented approach: The alternative problem-oriented
approach is to start by defining types of problem and to use data
on current (or predicted future) conditions to identify when and
where these problems occur. The objectives are implicit in the
specified problem, and may never actually be stated.
 It has the merit of being easily understood. However, it is critically
dependent on developing a full list of potential problems at the
outset. If particular types of problem (like access to job centers) are
not identified because the underlying objective (accessibility) has
not been considered, the resulting strategy will be partial in its
impact. It is thus probably still wise to check with elected members
and the public that the full set of problems has been identified
 2.3.2 Policy Instruments/Measures
Transport planners have available to them, at least in principle, a
wide range of instruments/ strategies of transport policy. These
are the means by which the objectives described above can be
achieved, and problems overcome.

These instruments can be categorized in several ways:

1. Infrastructures- new or expansion of roads, new rail lines,

parking, pedestrian walk ways etc.

2. Management- traffic management, traffic calming, bus

priorities, lanes etc.
 Cont…
3. Information- signs and markings, signals, real-time etc..

4. Pricing- fuel taxes, bus fares, parking charges etc.

5. Land use- development densities, master plan, urban form etc.

6. Attitudinal and behavioral measures

The key question with each of the measures is its ability to

achieve one or more of the objectives.
 The end
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