Chapter Two

Transportation System

2.1 What is Transportation System?

Transportation systems are a fundamental part of logistics and planning whenever vehicles are
used to move people or items from one location to another. They allow people to get to work on
time using the local bus or train service, and they allow airlines to tell their customers when they
can expect an airplane to arrive at its destination. A transportation system can be defined as the
assemblage of components associated with a specific means of transport.

The characteristics of transportation systems make them especially vulnerable and therefore
attractive to terrorists. Passenger vehicles and facilities often contain large numbers of people in
enclosed spaces. Vehicles moving fast whether in the air, on the surface, or below ground are in
precarious and fragile positions; much damage can be done by introducing a relatively small but
well-placed force.

To be sure, transport vehicles and containers can be tempting weapons in and of themselves, as
most vehicles are powered by flammable fuels and some carry bulk shipments of extremely
hazardous chemicals. By their very nature, they are highly mobile and thus capable of being used
to access a range of targets quickly. And they are ubiquitous, moving unnoticed within industrial
locations and major population centers and across borders. Their mobility, range, and
omnipresence make transportation vehicles a ready means of delivering terrorist weapons, from
conventional explosives to unconventional chemical, biological, and radiological agents. And in
the case of mail and express package services, the weapons could be carried into nearly every
household, business, and government office in the country.

Transportation system is the physical link connecting a company’s:

Customer,
Raw material suppliers,
Plants,
Ware houses &
Channel members (fixed point in a logistic supply chain)

A transportation system incorporates:

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 a) The fixed facilities: are the physical components of the system that are fixed in space
and constitute a network of links (e.g. roadway segments, rail tracks, tunnels) and nodes
(e.g. intersections, interchanges, transit terminals, harbors, airports) of the transportation
system.

b) The flow entities: are the units that traverse the fixed facilities. they include vehicles,
container units, railroad cars, etc. in high way design fixed facilities are expected to
accommodate a variety of motorized and non-motorized modes of transport ranging from
pedestrians to large tractor-trailer combination .Vehicles comprise mobile resources that
accompany persons or shipments as they travel from place to place.

c) The control system (e.g. the management): the control system consists of vehicular
control and flow control. Vehicular control refers to the technology in which individual
vehicles are guided on the fixed facilities. Such control can be manual or automated. The
flow control system consists of the means that permit the efficient and smooth operation
of streams of vehicles and reduction of conflicts between vehicles. This system includes
signing, marketing and signal system. Control represents the rules, regulations and
algorithms that determine movements and trajectories (routes) within transportation
systems.

Urban transport system consists of basically four major components:

i. Infrastructure which includes:

The physical passages:- lines, routes, conduits, tunnels through which mobile matter
move
Junctions and connections: such as squares, T’s or crossings where a number of
passages or lines meet.
Terminals /service stations: spaces and the accompanying physical infrastructure
where moving matter stop to load and/ or unload, make transit and get services.
Traffic signs: are physical structures placed in an urban transport network to caution of,
give information or to prohibit the traffic from a certain (mobility) activity.

ii. Transport Modes (Mobile matter)

 Transport modes are the means by which people and freight are carried.

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 Moving equipments, machineries or animals or pedestrians that carry other
matter (goods/ or passenger) through transport network,

The goods/ or passenger carried by equipments machineries or animals.

iii. Network: is a system of transport lines, junctions and terminals integrated with their
interrelations in terms of hierarchy, size, function, typology, etc so that smooth and efficient
traffic flow is secured.

iv. Services: are the soft components expressed mainly through traffic management and enabling
support activities.

2.2 Importance of Transport System

A. Makes available raw materials to manufacturers or producers,

Transport makes it possible to carry raw materials from places where they are available,
to places where they can be processed and assembled into finished goods.
Operate to serve community priorities.

B. Makes available goods to customers,

Transport makes possible movement of goods from one place to another with great ease
and speed.
Thus, consumers spread in different parts of the country have the benefit of consuming
goods produced at distant places.
Support reliable, efficient movement of people and goods.

C. Enhances standard of living:

Easy means of transport facilitates large-scale production at low costs.
It gives consumers the choice to make use of different quantities of goods at different
prices.
So it raises the standard of living of the people.
Increase opportunities for safe, comfortable walking and bicycling.
Support place making.

D. Helps during emergencies and natural calamities (disaster):

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 In times of national crisis, due to war or internal disturbance, transport helps in quick
movement of troops and the supplies needed in the operation.
During droughts & natural catastrophes aid can be reached by transportation systems.

E. Helps in creation of employment:

Transport provides employment opportunity to individuals as drivers, assistants,

pilots, cabin crew, captain of the ship, etc. who are directly engaged in transport
business.
It also provides employment to people indirectly in the industries producing various
means of transport and other transport equipment's.

F. Helps in labor mobility:

Transport helps a lot in providing mobility to workers.
For example: people from our country go to other countries to work in different
areas of specializations.

G. Helps in bringing nations together:

Transport facilitates movement of people from one country to another.

It helps in exchange of cultures, views & practices between the people of different
countries.
This brings about greater understanding among people & awareness about
different countries.
Thus, it helps to promote a feeling of international brotherhood.
Improve the transit experience.
Collaborate and coordinate broadly.

2.3 Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO)

TSMO is a set of strategies that focus on operational improvements that can maintain and even
restore the performance of the existing transportation system before extra capacity is needed. The
goal here is to get the most performance out of the transportation facilities we already have. This
requires knowledge, skills, and techniques to administer comprehensive solutions that can be
quickly implemented at relatively low cost. This may enable transportation agencies to “stretch”

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their funding to benefit more areas and customers. TSMO also helps agencies balance supply and
demand and provide flexible solutions to match changing conditions.

The benefits to TSMO can include:

Improved quality of life
Smoother and more reliable traffic flow
Improved safety
Reduced congestion
Less wasted fuel
Cleaner air
Increased economic vitality
More efficient use of resources (facilities, funding)

What is meant by "an integrated set of strategies of TSMO"?

TSMO looks at performance from a systems perspective, not just one strategy, project or
corridor. This means that these strategies are coordinated with others across multiple
jurisdictions, agencies, and modes. Integration views the surface transportation network as a
unified whole, making the various transportation modes and facilities work together and
ultimately perform better. TSMO not only provides public agencies with a growing toolbox of
individual solutions but encourages combining them to achieve greater performance on the entire
system. Integration can happen on multiple levels:

System: Implementing and combining strategies as a corridor or region matures in needs.

Technical: Developing a framework used to support information sharing between
technologies deployed on the system.
Cultural: Developing a workforce that values and prioritizes the use of TSMO solutions
across multiple disciplines.
Operational: Coordinating day-to-day operational strategies so that corridor, region, or
system-wide objectives are achieved.
Institutional: Incorporating TSMO policies and processes into an agency's normal way
of doing business. This step includes TSMO integration with various disciplines, such as
planning, program management and design, to support long-term goals for the
transportation system. This can be applied both internally and externally.

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What is meant by "the implementation of multimodal and intermodal, cross-jurisdictional
systems, services, and projects"?

TSMO includes efforts to operate the multimodal transportation system and activities to manage
travel demand, thus crossing over political, modal, and jurisdictional boundaries. TSMO expands
beyond just roads. It emphasizes the door-to-door experience, regardless of the modes of travel.
TSMO requires agencies to look beyond a project or a corridor and consider the impacts of the
entire transportation system. This involves coordination and collaboration among multiple
stakeholders, such as federal, state, and local agencies, the first responder community, and the
private sector to achieve seamless interoperability.

What are examples of TSMO strategies and solutions?

Below is a list of examples of TSMO strategies.

Work Zone Management

Traffic Incident Management
Special Event Management
Road Weather Management
Transit Management
Freight Management
Traffic Signal Coordination
Traveler Information
Slope Management
Congestion Pricing
Active Transportation and Demand Management
Integrated Corridor Management
Access Management
Improved Bicycle and Pedestrian Crossings
Connected and Automated Vehicle Deployment

Many agencies are already doing some of these activities. In addition, many of them specifically
address congestion due to non-recurring events in addition to daily rush hour traffic. TSMO
addresses both types of congestion and brings the strategies together to maximize the safety,
mobility and reliability of the transportation system. Many of them require coordination across

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multiple jurisdictions and modes. While each individual strategy can be beneficial, TSMO means
they are applied with consideration of the entire transportation, not just one specific location.
Many of these strategies can be applied to urban, suburban, and rural environments.

Why should consider to TSMO?

The transportation world is changing, and doing business the way it was done in the past is no
longer effective. Traditionally, congestion issues were primarily addressed by funding major
capital projects, such as adding lanes or building new interchanges and roads, to address physical
constraints, such as bottlenecks. These expansion projects were based primarily on traffic
volumes predicted far out into the future. Operational improvements were typically an
afterthought and considered after the new infrastructure was already added to the system.

Today, transportation agencies are facing trends, such as increased urbanization, that create a
growing demand for travel with less funding and space to work with. As a result, we can no
longer build our way out of congestion. Trends we see today include:

Limited funds – The primary source of federal funding for the U.S. highway system is
the federal gas tax, which has not changed since 1993. Since that time, the financial
constraints for public agencies have increased:

Inflation – The cost to build roads and bridges has increased.

Fuel efficiency – Vehicles today can travel farther with less trips to the gas pump,
decreasing revenue. The growing use of electric and plug-in hybrid cars has also
reduced the purchase of fuel.

Advances in Technology – Transportation agencies can leverage technology to develop

solutions to address congestion issues. However, given the advancement in consumer
technologies (smart phones, apps, GPS, etc.), privately owned mobility services (Uber,
Lyft, etc.), and the availability of more information, the traveling public expects that the
products they use and the technologies they encounter will be "smart" and will ultimately
improve their travel experience. They also expect that the information received will be
accurate and reliable. This creates an added responsibility for the transportation
community to provide the best customer service. Technology will likely have an even

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 greater impact on the transportation network in the future with automation, connectivity,
and big data.

Changing Customer Needs and Expectations – There is a greater demand for

accountability for public officials to ensure that public funds are spent to maximize the
performance of the transportation system in the most cost-effective way. This creates a
trend toward "performance-based" programs. The traveling public is also becoming less
tolerant of unexpected delays in their trips that can result from crashes, bad weather,
work zones, and special events. Such delays can be frustrating for drivers and can impact
businesses as well. The traveling public expects to reach their destinations on time,
regardless of the mode of travel or who owns the road. In urban areas, there is an
additional expectation for multi-modal options and connectivity.

Better Understanding of the Causes of Congestion – Researches has shown that while
some congestion may be caused by typical morning and evening rush hours, a significant
amount comes from non-recurring events, such as crashes, breakdowns, work zones, bad
weather, and special events. In many cases, roadway capacity is not lost due to
bottlenecks or limited capacity, but due to these unexpected events. There may be
opportunities to quickly apply low-cost TSMO improvements that are targeted toward
these specific causes to reduce their impacts.

Given these trends, a different philosophy and approach is needed than what has been done
before. Addressing congestion issues now requires transportation professionals to seek out
solutions that involve optimizing the performance of our existing facilities.

TSMO provides agencies with the tools to manage and operate what they already own more
efficiently and effectively before making additional infrastructure investments. Applying TSMO
solutions that cost less than road expansion projects can yield a high return on investment. One
major benefit for TSMO is that it can target the unexpected delays, reduce their impacts to the
system, and regain much of the lost capacity.

Intelligent/Modern Transportation Systems (ITS)

While agencies may already be using some of these solutions, TSMO is not limited to deploying
a single strategy. ITS, for example, is just one tool for managing and operating the transportation

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system. TSMO does leverage technology, a toolbox of strategies, and engineering solutions to
maximize the performance of the system. However, TSMO ultimately involves a mindset to
determine the best way to optimize the mobility and reliability of the existing system with
limited resources. TSMO needs to include planning, design, people, processes, technology, and
data.

In the past, such strategies were considered an afterthought to be implemented after major
construction along a highway was completed. TSMO changes this paradigm to become an
investment strategy for long-term and cost-effective performance.

Examples of the Paradigm Shift to TSMO

Traditional Method TSMO

Operating Completed Projects Integration throughout the Project Life Cycle
 Planning
 Project Development
 Construction
 Maintenance
Static and Reactive Responsive, Proactive, and Predictive
Average Travel Time, Level of Service Also Travel Time Reliability
Adding Capacity Preserving and Restoring Existing Capacity as an asset to
manage
Focus on Individual Facilities and Jurisdictions Entire Transportation System
Moving the Car/Truck from Point A to Point B Moving the Person/Cargo from Point A to Point B
Individual Strategies Integrated Strategies

2.4 Transportation and urban form

Urbanization has been one of a dominant trend of economic and social change since the second
half of the 20th century, especially in the developed world. Urban mobility issues, notably the
requirements to satisfy it have increased proportionally with urbanization, a trend reflected in the
growing size of cities and in the increasing proportion of the urbanized population. Since 1950,
the world’s urban population has more than doubled, to reach nearly 3 billion in 2000, about
47% of the global population. This is in part due to demographic growth and rural to urban
migration, but more importantly to a fundamental change in the socio-economic environment of
human activities. Current trends indicate a growth of about 50 million urbanites each year,

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roughly a million a week. More than 90% of that growth occurs in developing countries by 2050,
6.2 billion people, about two thirds of humanity, will be urban residents.

At the urban level demographic growth and mobility have been shaped by the capacity and
requirements of urban transport infrastructures, let it be roads, transit systems or walkways.
Consequently, there is a wide variety of urban forms and urban transportation systems as urban
form is the spatial imprint of an urban transport system. Even if the geographical setting of cities
varies considerably these relationships are articulated by two structural elements which function
remains constant:

 Nodes. They express the centrality of urban activities. This centrality can be related to the
spatial accumulation of economic activities or to the accessibility to elements of the
transport system. Terminals, such as ports, railygards and stations, and airports, are
important nodes around which activities agglomerate at the local or regional level nodes
have a hierarchy related to their importance and contribution to urban functions, such as
production, management and distribution.
 Linkages. They refer to the infrastructures supporting flows from, to and between nodes.
The lowest level of linkages includes streets which are the defining elements of the urban
spatial structure. The hierarchy of linkages climbs up to regional roads and railways and
international connections by air and maritime transport systems.

Urban transportation is organized according to the requirements of collective, individual and

freight transportation. In several instances, these modes are complementary to one another. But
sometimes they may be competing for the usage of available land and /or transport
infrastructures.

Collective Transportation (public Transit): The purpose of collective transportation is

to provide publicly accessible mobility over specific parts of a city. Its efficiency is based
upon transiting a vast number of people while benefiting from economics of scale. It
includes modes such as tramways, buses, trains, subways and ferryboats.
Individual Transportation: Includes the car, walking, cycling and the motorcycle. The
majority of people walk to satisfy their mobility, but this number varies according to the
city considered. Walking while this figure is only 3% for Los angeles and 88% of
movements inside Tokyo.

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 Freight transportation: Cities are dominant production and consumption centers, large
movements of freight accompany these activities. These movements are mostly
characterized by delivery trucks converging to industries, warehouses and retail activities
as well as to major terminals such as ports, rail yards, distribution centers and airports.

Conventionally, movements within cities tended to be restricted to walking making medium and
long distance urban linkages rather inefficient and time-consuming. As such, activity nodes
tended to be agglomerated and urban forms compact. Many modern cities have inherited an
urban form created under such circumstances, which are no longer prevailing. The dense urban
cores of many European, Japanese and Chinese cities, for example, enable residents to make 30
to 60% of all trips by walking and cycling. On the opposite the dispersed urban forms of
Australian and American cities, which were built recently, encourage automobile dependency.

Urban transportation is thus associated with a spatial form, which varies according to the modes
being used. in an age of motorization , an increasing number of cities are developing a spatial
structure that increases reliance on merchandized transportation namely the privately owned
automobile dispersion, or urban sprawl, is taking place in many different types of cities from
dense, centralized European metropolises such as Madrid, Paris and London to rapidly
industrializing metropolises such as Seoul, shanghai and Buenos Aires, to those experiencing
recent fast and uncontrolled urban growth, such as Bombay and Lagos.

2.4.1 Evolution of transportation and urban form

The evolution of transportation has generally led to a change in must forms. The more radical
the change the more the urban form was altered. Among the most fundamental changes is the
emergence of new central areas expressing new urban activities and new relationships between
elements of the urban system. In many cities the central business district (CBD) once the primary
destination of computers and serviced by public transportation, is being challenged by changing
manufacturing retailing and management practices. Whereas traditional manufacturing depended
on centralized work places and transportations schemes advanced technology a rendered modern
industry more flexible.

From the 1950s the growth of suburbs was mainly taking place adjacent to major road corridors,
leaving a lot of vacant/farm land in between. Later intermediate spaces were gradually filled up,

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more or less coherently. Highways and ring roads which circle are radiated from cities, have
favored the development or suburbs and the emergence important sub-centers that compete with
the central business district for the attraction of economic activates. As a result many new job
opportunities have shifted to the suburbs (if not to entirely new locations a broad) and the
activity system of cities has been considerably modified where different parts of a city have
different dynamism. These changes have occurred differently according to the variety of
geographical and historical contexts notably in North America and Europe [Muller, 1995]. In
addition, these cities have seen different changes in urban density.

However, there are two processes.

Dispersed urban land development patterns have been dominant in North America
over the last 50 years, where land is abundant, transportation costs are low, and the
economy has become dominated by service and technology industries. Under such
circumstances, it is not surprising to find that there is a strong relationship between urban
density and car use. Many cities have also experienced a faster growth rate of their built
areas than their population. for instance, between 1950 and 1990 while the population of
Chicago grew by 38% its built area grew by 124% in addition, commuting has become
relatively inexpensive compared with land costs so households have an incentive to buy
lower-priced housing at the urban periphery. Similar patterns can be found in many
European cities, but this change is occurring at a lower pace.
Decentralization of activities resulted in two opposite effects. First commuter journeys
many of which now occur from suburb to suburb have remained relatively similar in
duration. Globally, people are spending about 1.2 hours per day commuting wherever this
takes place in a low or high mobility setting [Schafer, 2000]. Second, commuting
increasingly tends to be longer and made by privately owned cars rather than by public
transportation a trend occurring in developing as well as in developed countries. Most
transit and road systems were developed to facilitate suburb-to-city, rather than suburb-
to-suburb commuting. as a result, suburban highways are often as congested as urban
highways.

Although transportation systems and travel patterns have changed considerably over time, one
enduring feature remains that most people travel less than 30 minutes in order to get to work.

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Different transport technologies, however, are associated with different travel speeds and
capacity. As a result, cities that rely primarily on non-motorized transport tend to be different
than auto- dependent cities. In other words, transport technology plays a very importance role in
defining urban form, i.e., the spatial extent of the built-up area and the spatial pattern of various
activities.

2.5 The Spatial Imprint of Urban Transportation

In the pre-automobile era about 10% of the land of a city was devoted to transportation but this
figure has changed tremendously as the mobility of people and freight increased a growing share
of urban areas is allocated to circulation and the transport infrastructures supporting it. Large
variations of the spatial imprint of urban transportation are observed between different cities as
well as between different parts of a city such as between central and peripheral areas.
The major components of the spatial imprint of urban transportation are:

Pedestrian areas: refer to the amount of space devoted to walking. This space is often
shared with roads as sidewalks may use between 10% and 20% of a roads right of way. in
central areas, pedestrian areas tend to use a greater share of the right of way and in some
instances, whole areas are reserved only for pedestrians. However, in motorized context,
most of pedestrian areas are for servicing people’s access to parked automobiles.
Roads and parking areas: refers to the amount of space devoted to road transportation
which has two states of activity: moving or parked. In a motorized city, on average 30%
of the urban surface is devoted to roads while another 20% is required for off-street
parking. This implies for each car about 2 off street and 2 on street parking spaces. In
North American cities, roads parking lots account between 30 to 60% of the total urban
surface.
Cycling areas: In a disorganized form, cycling simply shares access to road space.
However, many attempts have been made to create a space specific to the circulation of
bicycles in urban areas, namely with reserved lanes and parking facilities.
Transit systems: Many transit systems, such as buses and tramways, are sharing road
areas, which often impairs their efficiency. Others, such as subways and rail have their
own infrastructures and consequently, their own areas. Many attempts to mitigate
congestion have resulted in the creation of road lanes reserved to buses.

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 Transportation terminals. Refer to the amount of space devoted to terminal facilities
such as ports, airports, rail yards and distribution centers. Globalization has increased the
amount of people and fright circulation and consequently the amount of urban space
required to support those activities. Many major terminals are located in the peripheral
areas of cities, which are the only locations where sufficient amounts of land are
available.

The important of all these spaces varies according to a number of factors, density being the most
important. If density is considered as a gradient rings of mobility represent variations in the
spatial importance of each mode at providing urban mobility. Further, each transport mode has
unique performance and space consumption characteristics. The most relevant example is the
private car. It requires space to move around (roads) but it also spends 98% of its existence
stationary in a parking space. Consequently, a significant amount of urban space must be
allocated to accommodate the private car, especially when it does not move and is thus
economically and socially useless.

2.6 Systems of Urban Transportation

2.6.1 System hierarchy

A common theme in most disciplinary perspective is that every system is part of another system.
This perspective leads to a focus on the linkages and relationships among these system and on
the hierarchy thus provide order and function to the operation of the individual components in
the context of more global system goals.

Functionally, the transportation system is just one of many systems that allow urban areas to
exist. Others might include water supply and distributes electric power grids, sanitary and waste
facilities, educational facilities, public safety services, and telecommunication infrastructure.
Relevant planning questions at this level in the hierarchy includes:

How does the transportation system with these other systems to provide livable
communities?
What is the cause and effect of relative investment in transportation as compared to other
unity development?
What are the demands placed on transportation systems by changes in the urban system?

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 In general, a transportation system itself consists of a hierarchy of subsystems, components and
relationships: starting at its lowest level this hierarchy consists of individual vehicles or travelers,
facilities, and terminates and modal networks/services all leading to an integrated transportation
system with effective connections among all of the other system elements (transit services,
pedestrian facilities, airports, ports and bicycle paths). Within each subsystem a hierarchy can
also be established to define function and form.

Planning Applications of system hierarchy

 Transportation can be viewed as one system that relates to and is part of many other
systems. This perspective leads to important planning questions reflecting the interaction
among.
a. Transportation and the other system that help an urban area function
b. Transportation and higher-level system for example, ecological or economic
systems.

Transportation systems themselves consist of hierarchies or classification schemes that relate to the
respective role of different system components for example, a road functional classification system
or transit service categories.

A transportation system can be viewed in both ways. One perspective, focusing primarily on the
transportation function itself, identifies the purpose of a transportation system as providing
opportunities for mobility and accessibility, defined as follows.

Mobility: the ability and knowledge to travel from the location to another in a reasonable
amount of time and for acceptable costs.
Accessibility: the means by which and individual can accomplish some economic or
social activity through access to that activity.

2.6.2 System Purpose

The purpose of transportation system can be defined in a variety of ways and often reflects the
perspective of those involved in the planning process. The definition could be narrowly targeted

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on the specific functioning of the system or more broadly reflect the enabling influence of
transportation on other system.

The evolution of transportation planning after the past 4o years has broad end the definition of
system purpose to include these important linkages between transportation system performance
and other system such as the economy, environment or community as considerations in planning
activities and in decision making. In United States, for example identified several issues that had
to be considered by the planning process including economic vitality, safeguarding the
environment, energy conservation, and quality of life

Defining the transportation system purpose during the planning process most often occurs in the
vision statement and in the statement of goals and objectives.
The first major component of transportation system is thus the mode or means of
transportation used.
Infrastructure, the second component of a transportation system, provides the modal
networks, facilities and services necessary for mobility.
The inter-modal connections- for example, transfer points, terminals and stations where
movements occur between modes- are critical components of an effective multi- modal
transportation system.
Finally, there are many stakeholders that are affected by transportation. such as

Employers expect employees to arrive on time

Producers expect goods to deliver reliably
Government services rely on the ability to reach the public
Retail stores depend on customer accessibility.

2.6.3 System components

Systems consists of individual parts of components that, when interconnected allow the system
to perform. A transportation system consists of many different components, all of which have to
function together for the system to work successfully, for the purpose of basic understanding:
four major system components of transportation systems are presented. These components can
be best illustrated by considering the characteristics of a hypothetical trip from an origin to
destruction.

For transportation to take place, four core components are essential:

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1. Modes: They represent the conveyances, mostly taking the form of vehicles that are used to
convey mobility to passengers or freight. Some modes are designed to carry only passengers
or freight, while others can carry both.
2. Infrastructures: The physical support of transport modes, where routes (e.g. rail tracks,
canals or highways) and terminals (e.g. ports or airports) are the most significant
components.
3. Networks: A system of linked locations that are used to represent the functional and spatial
organization of transportation. It indicates which locations are serviced and how they are
serviced. Within a network some locations are more accessible (more connections) than
others (less connections).
4. Flows: Movements of people, freight and information over their respective networks. Flows
have origins, intermediary locations and destinations. An intermediary location is often
required to go from an origin to a destination. For instance, flying from one airport to another
may require a transit at hub airport

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The first critical component of this is the system user. Thus transportation planners devote
considerable attention to understanding the characteristics of system users that influence travel
behavior.

 The degree of on time delivery for goods movement

 Schedule adherence for transit service and
 The number/severity of transportation accidents.

The term level of service is often used in transportation planning to describe these types of
measures. Level of service is a measure that describes performance condition in terms of
operational characteristics condition in terms of operational characteristics of interest to users,
for example speed and travel time, freedom to maneuver, and comfort and convenience.

Planning Application of system components

Multi-modal transportation systems consists of numerous components whose

interaction becomes a key factor for system effective ness. These components
include system users: transportation modes; infrastructure such as networks
facilities, and services: inter-model connection: and stakeholders.

The challenge to transportation planning is provide the coordination and fore sight for all these
components to work together effectively.

2.6.4 System Performance

System performance shows the success or effectiveness of a system to its performance. In a very
simple system, this performance can be directly related to the level and quality of the outputs
being produced. In a more complex system, which the transportation system certainly is,
performance extends to how these outputs ultimately affect society and the environment.
A simple perspective on system performance that focuses on immediate transportation outputs
might include as:
The number of vehicle traveled
The level of congestion and thus average travel delay

Planning Application System performance:

System performance is an important consideration guiding the definition of problems

and opportunities that become the focus of planning effort

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 System performance measures should be defined to provide information to the decision
making process thus implying that such measures should be broadly defined only as
outputs out also as the ultimate impacts or outcomes on society.

2.6.5 System Boundary

Given that systems are parts of other systems, analysts after establish a boundary that permits
them to focus on the key relationships with in and across the boundary. The application of this
concept in transportation planning is seen in the study boundaries that are established at the
beginning of each planning effort to define the focus of analysis and the domain for decisions.

The scale of the problem will influence the size of the system boundary. for example an
investigation of traffic impacts at a new development site will encompass surrounding
transportation facilities and service and perhaps key locations in the road network some distance
away that will be affected by the new trips being generated.

Planning application of system boundary

One of the first steps in any planning is to establish the boundaries of the system being
analyzed. these boundaries will vary in relation to the problem definition, decision
domain and scale of analysis

The level of technical analysis within the system boundary is much more detailed than
that associated with the area outside which is often represented vary simply. The
boundary itself can become an important part of the analysis by examining the inputs and
outputs that cross it.
Because a system boundary becomes a key determining factor in the breadth and depth of
the attention focused on system operation and impacts this boundary must be initially
defined broadly enough (or allowed flexibility to change later on) to cover the spatial and
temporal interrelationships associated with system effects.

2.6.6 System capacity

System capacity can handle only a finite number of inputs in the process of producing desired
outputs this limit is called system capacity.
For both roads and transit the capacity of a facility is defined as the number of units using a
given point during a given time period. For example the theoretical design capacity of a transit

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line is defined as the number of people per hour that can be carried by the service under specified
operating conditions. for roads capacity is defined as the maximum hourly rate at which persons
or vehicles can reasonably be expected to traverse a point or uniform section of a lane or
roadway during a given time period under prevailing roadway, traffic, and control conditions.

Planning application system capacity

Transportation system capacity (persons flow or vehicle flow per hour) is an important
consideration in transportation in transportation planning and is the focus of much
technical analysis. Transportation policies aimed at reducing the use of single occupant
vehicles have led to increasing use of person flow rate capacity measures.
The capacity of individual facilities or services can be affected by a variety of factors,
most often incorporated into the design of the facility or service itself.
Network and system capacity is directly related to the capacity of the weakest link in the
network. Thus much planning attention is given to improving the efficiency of flow
through, or enhancing the capacity of these bottlenecks.

2.6.7 System control

The interaction of the many different components of a system usually requires some means of
system coordination. In transportation system control can be viewed from many different
perspectives. A technical/operational perspective would look at such things as traffic
management centers coordinated traffic signal strategies, transit guidance technologies and
traffic control devices. intelligent transport system ITS) technologies have the potential for
providing new levels of system control at the metropolitan level by monitoring system
performance and feeding this information back to system users and service providers.

Another perspective on system control, however, focuses on the institutional structure for
transportation planning, operations, management and decision making.

The institution structures for transportation planning also include groups, not associated with
public agencies. These groups can include community group’s special interest groups, business
organizations, etc. these groups as well as individual citizens. Play an important role in the
transportation planning process.

Planning application of system control

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 The transportation system is usually planned designed built, operated and maintained by
organizations and individuals with different objectives, mandates, constituencies and
problem definition.
Changes to the urban transportation system can include a wide variety of infrastructure
and service actions that are applied at different geographic scales by the public and
private sectors to improve mobility and the urban environment.
Increasingly, private sector groups and organizations are playing a major role in
providing transportation services and funding. The effective cooperation of public and
private sector entities thus becomes an important criterion for successful transportation
planning.

2.6.8 System feedback

There are two primary feedback mechanisms that relate to the components of the transportation.
a) System defined earlier monitoring of system performance by the agencies that operate
facilities and networks, and

b) The influence of travel costs on user behavior as determined by the market.

The other important feedback mechanism in the transportation system is the market that is the
general interaction between the demand for transportation services and the supply of these
services. This interaction results in a price for the good being consumed. Thus as the price of
transportation decreases more transportation will be consumed, that is more trips will be made.
Form policy perspective the opposite relationship is gaining interest that is, increase the price of
travel through a variety of means and thus decrease the number of auto trips.

Planning applications of system feedback

The most important feedback mechanism to the users of a transportation system is the
cost of travel, determined in the market by the interaction of supply and demand.
Changing transportation costs as perceived by users can influence in the short-term route
choice time of travel, trip frequency and linking of trips. over the long term, these
changes could influence urban form through residential and business location decisions,
auto ownership, and the technology of transportation.

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 Increasing attention has been given to the use of road pricing strategies as a means of
reducing congestion (i.e. as a feedback mechanism to system users). although such
strategies are often difficult to implement from a political perspective they will likely
become part of the strategy mix that planners will be investigating in the future.
Transportation service providers have increasingly used more sophisticated management
systems and advanced technologies to provide surveillance and control of transportation
system management. Thus, they will be part of the strategies likely to be considered
during the planning process.

2.7 Characteristics of Urban Travel/Trip

The previous section has used a system perspective to describe the general characteristics of
transportation. However, there are some specific characteristics of transportation systems relating
to their use that is urban travel characteristics, that are important for understanding much of the
technical analysis in the planning process and the types of strategies considered.

Six characteristics of trip making behavior should give special attention:

Trip purpose,
Temporal distribution of trip making,
Spatial distribution of trip making
Model distribution of trip making
Transportation safety and cost of making the trip
City size and transportation

2.7.1 Trip Purpose

Transportation planners have modeled passenger trips by the purpose they serve classified by
the rip origin. Common trip types include:
Work trip: trips made to a person’s place of employment such as a factory, a store or an
office.
Shopping trips: trips made to a retail establishment regardless of the size or type of
purchase. Trips made to a store just to look are shopping trips even though no purchase is
made.

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 Social or recreation trips: cultural trips made to recreational or entertainment facilities
(e.g. church, civic meetings, and concerts, sporting events). Travel to social activities
(parties, visiting friends) would be included.
Business trips: trips made in the course of performing a normal days work. The origin of
such trips. The origin of such trips is often the place of employment.
School trips: trips made by students to an institution of learning.

From transportation planning perspective and analysis of urban travel by trip purpose is
important because it can be used to deduce demand patterns of urban travel. for example
information on the number of home-to-work trips originating in one area and destined for
another can be used to derive levels of demand on transportation facilities/services linking these
two locations. such information is also useful for determining the magnitude of problems that
occur when the needs of two or more trip types conflict. for example, the allocation of limited
down parking space between computers who park all day and shoppers who park for only a few
hours is an important policy issue in many urban areas. with regard to goods movement,
information on trip purpose can be used to assess major truck routes and analyze terminal or
truck stop congestion.

2.7.2 Temporal Distribution of Trip Making

Given the transportation is the primary means by which people participate In urban activities that
by their very nature occur at different times of the day, it is not surprising that the profile of
urban travel over the day shows temporal variation. the best example of this phenomenon is the
periods or rush hours of 6:00 a.m. when many activities such as work and school either begin or
end.

Work related travel in the morning and evening produced larger travel demands during the peak
periods than during off peak periods. although work related travel is still more peaked than other
trips purposes, overall travel on an urban transportation system today tends to be more evenly
distributed throughout the day because non work trip making has increased over the past years.

Peak periods for truck traffic tend not to correspond with peak passenger traffic. in fact, many
urban goods providers try to avoid congested locations and times. thus in many cities, truck
activity is most intense right after the morning passenger peak and just before the evening rush

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hour. In other cases, such as inter-modal terminals, peaking characteristics reflect more the
operations of the terminal and the need to transfer goods to waiting transportation services.

The peaking of travel demand in specific item results in congested highway facilities and transit
services. Congestion is simply a condition of any transportation facility in which use of the
facility so great that there are delays for the users of that facility. Usually this happens when
traffic approaches facility capacity.

Different approach used to handle the congestion problem of peaking hours involves.
work hours so that large groups of employee arrive and leave work at different times in
order to reduce or flatten the peak: the so called variable work hour problem
Increasing the person carrying capacity of facilities and services. Actions such as
preferential treatment of high occupancy vehicles ride sharing programs, and alternative
transit operating strategies have been used in many cities. reduce the demand by
encouraging employees to telecommunication
expanding the capacity of the high ways and transit network to accommodate increased
demand during peak hours
Traffic congestion management strategies.

2.7.3 Spatial Distribution of Trip Making

Each trip begins at an origin and ends at destination located at specific geographical points in an
urban are. Thus the spatial distribution of travel in an urban area is directly related to the patterns
of land use and the network configuration of the transportation system.

Understanding the spatial distribution of trip making becomes an important element of urban
transportation planning in that it indicates where transportation problems are likely to occur in an
urban area, the level of which the existing transportation system satisfies this need, and those
areas where action must be taken to improve system performance.

2.7.4 Model Distribution of Trip Making

Models of transportation are basic components of a transportation system. the proportion of trips
made in an urban area by different travel modes (e.g. bus, taxi, automobile, walking) varies
markedly from city to city and from country.

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Several factors influence an individual’s choice of travel mode. One of the most important
factors is the different in trip time between modes for particular trips. For example, in those cases
where an automobile is available, and actual or perceived transit trip time that is longer than that
for driving would probably result in the trip being made by car. As desire to make transit more
competitive with the automobile has led to numerous projects to provide preferential treatment to
high occupancy vehicles, thus resulting, in travel time savings. Other important factors include
mode availability, such as auto ownership or accessibility to transit, and differences in actual
costs, perceived costs, comfort, or convenience, such as availability of parking close to the
destination. Modal distribution can also be related to factors such as occupation, income, age and
other socio-economic characteristics.
2.7.5 Transportation Safety and Travel Cost

Transportation safety and travel costs are important consideration in transportation planning.
Crash rates have increased in developing country cities such as A.A. and declined in USA in
recent years due to better vehicle design and laws. However, safety is still one of the most
important goals for transportation investment. Travel costs are not only important to the
individual decision on which mode to choose, but they become critical evaluation criteria for
investment strategies when the definition is broadened to include societal cost.

2.7.6 City Size and Transportation

The efficiency of an urban transport system depends on the condition under which the system
operates. These conditions appear to vary quite systematically with city size.

For small cities and towns in developing countries (with less than 100,000 inhabitants) trip
length tends to be quite short between relatively proximate employment and residential locations.
Non-motorized transport can provide sufficient mobility for most people: motorized transport is
chosen mainly for its convenience by the higher income groups or for commercial transport,
although minibuses may provide a useful mode of transport to all but the poorest in the smaller
towns of middle –income countries. Some minor efforts of traffic management may be required
such as traffic lights at the few busy intersections and limiting on parking in the central square or
on main streets to avoid problem to urban transport in these towns, and it therefore may deserve
special attention and remedies.

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For intermediate size cities (100,000 to 500,000 inhabitants) average trip length begins to reach a
level at which motorized transport takes on increased importance, especially if economic activity
is highly concentrated or if incomes are relatively high and permit a high degree of car
ownership and the provision of motorized public transport for the major corridors. Traffic
management can be improved particularly in the central areas and public transport particularly
buses, becomes an area of official intervention. more important, However, is the fact that many
of the cities falling in to this size class are growing rapidly and will in a decade or less fall in to
the next larger size grouping, where urban transport becomes a major problem for city
management unless steps have been taken early to ensure an appropriate urban transport pattern
the most important aspect here is the encouragement of land use pattern that reduces need for
lengthy commuting tips by encouraging a balanced spread of employment opportunities as the
city grows.

For large cities (500,000-2million), the average length of trips increases to the point where
walking is no longer an option for many commuters, especially when employment opportunities
are highly concentrated. Congestion and pollution are taken as more widespread proportions,
particularly since car ownership and use is likely to be higher in large than in small cities. Cities
of this size tend to be mononuclear in that most employment opportunities are concentrated in
one major cluster or along an axis. Cities with more than 2 million inhabitants are often
characterized by the emergence of multi nuclear employment concentrations.

In most large cities the investments in mass transit facilities will probably be reserved for buses.
Buses have a degree of operational flexibility, do not require separate rights of way (or where
they do, this can be provided with relative ease on the basis of existing streets), and may need
only minimal involvement of scarce governmental administration and financial resources.

Finally, even in large cities increased attention should be given to non-motorized traffic such as
walking, bicycling and other forms of traditional transport, this is especially true for cities of low
income countries, where these travel models still account for sizable shares of urban transport.
Pedestrian malls, widened sidewalks and pedestrian over passes, low income neighborhood walk
ways, and bicycle paths are among the possible policy instruments to achieve a more effective
system of non-motorized transport.

2.8 Urban movements

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Rapid urban development across much of the globe implies increased quantities of passengers
and fright moving within urban areas, movements also tend involve wider distances, but
evidence suggests that commuting times have remained relatively similar in the 20 th century,
approximately 1.2 hours per day. This means that commuting has gradually shifted to faster
transport modes, namely the automobile, and consequently wider distances could be traveled
using the same amount of time. Specific movements are linked to specific urban activities and
their land use. Each type of land use involves the generation and attraction of an explicit array of
movements. This relationship is complex, but is linked to factors such as recurrence, income,
urban form, spatial accumulation, level of development and technology. Urban movements are
either obligatory, when they are linked to scheduled activities (such as home-to-work
movements), or voluntary, when those generating it are free to decide of their scheduling (such
as leisure).

Pendulum Movements: obligatory movements involving commuting between places of

residence and places of work. They are highly cyclic since they are predictable and
recurring on a regular basis, most of the time on a daily basis. 6+3
Professional Movements: Movements linked to professional, work-based activities such
as meetings and customer services.
Personal Movements: Voluntary movements linked to the location of commercial
activities which includes shopping and recreation.
Touristic Movements: Important for cities having historical and recreational features
and involves interactions between landmarks and amenities such as hotels and
restaurants. They tend to be seasonal in nature or occurring at specific moments. major
sort events such as the world CUP or the Olympics are important generators of urban
movements during their occurrences
Distribution Movements: Concerned by the distribution of fright to satisfy consumption
and manufacturing requirements. They are often concerning distribution centers retail
outlets.

2.9 Components of an Urban Transit System

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The above figure represents a hypothetical urban transit system. Each of its components is
designed to provide a specific array of services conferring mobility. Among the defining factors
of urban transit services are capacity, frequency, flexibility, costs and distance between stops:

Metro (subway) system: A heavy rail system, often underground in central areas (parts
above ground at more peripheral locations), with fixed routes, services and stations.
Transfers between lines or to other components of the transit systems (mainly buses and
light rail) are made at connected stations. The service frequency tends to be uniform
throughout the day, but increases during peak hours. Fares are commonly access driven and
constant, implying that once a user has entered the system the distance traveled has no
impact on the fare. However, with the application of information technologies in many
transit fare systems, zonal/distance driven fares are becoming more common.
Bus system: Characterized by scheduled fixed routes and stops serviced by motorized
multiple passengers vehicles (45 – 80 passengers). Services are often synchronized with
other heavy systems, mainly metro and transit rail, where they act as feeders. Express
services (or bus rapid transit), using their own right of ways and only a limited number of

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stops can also be available, notably during peak hours. Since metro and bus systems are
often managed by the same transit authority the user’s fare is often valid for both systems.
Transit rail system: Fixed rail comes into two major types. The first is the tram rail system,
which is mainly composed of streetcars (tramways) the are mostly operating in central areas.
They can be composed of up to 4 cars. The second is the commuter rail system, which are
passenger trains mainly developed to service peripheral / suburban areas through a heavy
(faster and longer distances between stations) or light rail system (slower and shorter
distances between stations). Frequency of services is strongly linked with peak hours and
traffic tends to be imbalanced because of the influence of commuting. Fares tend to be
separate from the transit system and proportional to distance or service zones.
Shuttle system: Composed of a number of privately (dominantly) owned services using
small buses or vans. Shuttle routes and frequencies tend to be fixed, but can be adapted to fit
new situations. They service specific functions such as expanding mobility along a corridor
during peak hour, linking a specific activity center (shopping mall, university campus,
industrial zone, hotel, etc.) or aimed at servicing the elderly or people with disabilities.
Para transit system: A flexible and privately owned collective demand-response system
composed of minibuses, vans or shared taxis commonly servicing peripheral and low
density zones. Their key advantage is the possibility of a door-to-door service, less loading
and unloading time, less stops and more maneuverability in traffic. In many developing
countries cities, this system is informal, dominant and often services central areas because of
the inadequacies or high costs of the formal transit system.
Taxi system: Comprises privately owned cars or small vans offering an on-call, individual
demand-response system. Fares are commonly a function of a metered distance/time, but
sometimes can be negotiated. A taxi system has no fixed routes, but is rather servicing an
area where a taxi company has the right (permit) to pick up customers. Commonly, rights
are issued by a municipality and several companies may be allowed to compete on the same
territory. When competition is not permitted, fares are set up by regulations. Information
technologies have enabled new forms of on-demand taxi services with mobile reservation
systems.

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