Urban Transportation Planning
Class notes-1
Introduction
The first stage in the formulation of a transportation plan is to collect data on all factors that
are likely to influence travel pattern. The data collection involves a number of surveys so as to
have an inventory of existing travel pattern, an inventory of existing transport facilities and an
inventory of existing land use and economic activities. This stage of the planning process
entails voluminous work and may take as much as two years for completion. The cost involved
is also very high and this underlines the need for proper organization and careful planning. It
is for this purpose that standardised procedures and guidelines have been established.
Definition of the Study Area
The study area for which transportation facilities are being planned is first of all defined.
Transportation planning can be at the national level, the regional level or at the urban level. For
planning at the urban level, the study area should embrace the whole conurbation containing
the existing and potential continuously built-up areas of the city.
The imaginary line representing the boundary of the study area is termed as the external cordon.
The area inside the external cordon determines the travel pattern to a large extent and as such
is surveyed in great detail. The land-use pattern and the economic activities are studied in detail
and detailed surveys (such as the home interview) are conducted in this area to determine the
travel characteristics. On the other hand, the area outside the external cordon line is studied to
a lesser degree of detail.
The selection of the external cordon line for an urban transportation study should be done
carefully with due weightage to the following factors:
(i) The external cordon line should circumscribe all areas which are already built-up and
those areas which are considered likely to be developed during the period of study.
(ii) The external cordon line should contain all areas of systematic daily life of the people
oriented towards the city centre and should in effect be the commuter-shed.
(iii) The external cordon line should be continuous and uniform in its course so that
movements cross it only once. The line should intersect roads where it is safe and
convenient to carry out traffic surveys.
(iv) The external cordon line should be compatible with previous studies of the area and of
studies planned for the future.
Zoning
The defined study area is sub-divided into smaller areas called zones.
The purpose of such a sub-division is to facilitate the spatial quantification of land-use and
economic factors which influence travel pattern. The data collected on individual household
basis cannot be conveniently considered and analysed unless they are aggregated into small
zones which reflect the average characteristics of the individual households. Sub-division into
zones further helps in geographically associating the origins and destinations of travel.
Zones within the study area are called internal zones and those outside the study area are
called external zones. In large study projects, it is more convenient to divide the study area
into sectors, which are sub-divided into smaller zones. Zones can themselves be sub-divided
into sub-zones depending upon land-use.
Guidelines for Dividing the Area into Zones
(i) Land-use is the most important factor in establishing zones for a transportation survey. It is
only when the origin and destination zones reflect properly the land-use can traffic generated
within the zones be predicted, measured and quantified accurately. The predominant land-use
for establishing zones are: residential, industrial, commercial, recreational, open space,
shopping, etc.
(ii) The zones should have a homogeneous land-use so as to reflect accurately the associated
trip-making behaviour.
(iii) Anticipated changes in land-use should be considered when sub-dividing the study area
into zones.
(iv) It would be advantageous if the sub-division follows closely that adopted by other bodies
for data collection. This will facilitate correlation of data. Specially useful in this respect is the
sub-division adopted for Census operations, since the census is a very useful source of much
data needed for transportation planning.
(v) The zones should not be too large to cause considerable errors in data. At the same time,
they should not be too small either, to cause difficulty in handling and analysing the data.
As a general guide:
Population of 1000–3000 → optimum for a small area
Population of 5000–10000 → optimum for a large area
In residential areas, zones should accommodate roughly 1000 households.
(vi) The zones should preferably have regular geometric form for easily determining the
centroid which represents the origin and termination of travel.
(vii) Sectors should represent the catchment of trips generated on a primary route.
(viii) Zones must be compatible with screen lines and cordon lines.
(ix) Zone boundaries should preferably be watersheds of trip-making.
(x) Natural or physical barriers such as canals, rivers, etc. can form convenient zone
boundaries.
In addition to the external cordon lines, there may be a number of internal cordon lines arranged
as concentric rings to check the accuracy of survey data. Screen lines running through the study
area are also established to check the accuracy of data collected from home interview surveys.
Screen lines can be conveniently located along physical or natural barriers having few crossing
points, such as rivers, railway lines, canals, etc.