PTE - Module 1

Introduction to Transportation Planning and Engineering

Transportation

Moving goods and people from one place to another. Safe, efficient, reliable, and sustainable movement over time and space.

Transportation System

Combination of elements and their interactions, which produce the demand for travel within a given area and the supply of transportation services to satisfy this demand.

Transportation Engineering

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.

Transportation Planning

The development of a transport model which will accurately represent both the current as well as future transportation system.

Geometric Design

Deals with physical proportioning of other transportation facilities, in contrast with the structural design of the facilities. The topics include the cross

Pavement Analysis and Design

Deals with the structural design of roads, both bituminous and concrete, commonly known as flexible pavements and rigid pavements respectively. Deals with the design of paving materials, determination of the layer thickness, and construction and maintenance procedures.

Traffic Engineering

It covers a broad range of engineering applications with a focus on the safety of the public, efficient use of transportation resources, and mobility of people and goods. Sub

Modes of Transportation

The means by which people and freight achieve mobility. They fall into one of three basic types, depending on over what surface they travel: land, water, and air.

Road Transportation

Large consumers of space with the lowest level of physical constraints. Have high maintenance costs both for the vehicles and infrastructures. Mainly linked to light industries where rapid movements of freight in small batches.

Rail Transportation

Composed of traced paths on which are bound vehicles. Average level of physical constraints. The land transportation mode offering the highest capacity with a 23,000 tons fully loaded coal unit train being the heaviest load ever carried.

Pipelines

Routes are practically unlimited as they can be laid on land or under water. Physical constraints are low. Construction costs vary according to the diameter and increase proportionally with the distance and viscosity of fluids.

Maritime Transportation

The most effective mode to move large quantities of cargo over long distances. Has high terminal and inventory costs. Linked to heavy industries such as steel and petrochemical facilities adjacent to port sites.

Air Transportation

Routes are practically unlimited. Constraints are multidimensional and include the site, climate, fog, and aerial currents. Has been accommodating growing quantities of high value freight and is playing a growing role in global logistics.

Intermodal Transportation

Concerns a variety of modes used in combination so that the respective advantages of each mode are better exploited.

Transportation Planning

The process of looking at the current state of transportation in the region, designing for future transportation needs, and combining all of that with the elements of budgets, goals, and policies. It helps shape how a community or city grows by evaluating everything from streets and highways to cargo ships to public transit and bike lanes.