TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

Prepared By:
Manny Anthony M. Taguba, CE, EnSE
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
 Course Requirement / Grade Computation:
Periodical Exam : 40%
Class Standing : 60%
 Quiz 60%
 Seatwork 20%
 Assignment 15%
 Attendance 5%

Final Rating = 30% Prelim Grade + 30% Midterm Grade

+ 40% Final Grade
COURSE SYLLABUS
PRELIM TOPICS MIDTERM TOPICS FINAL TERM TOPICS
Geometric Design of
Highways & Highway
Introduction to Transportation
Facilities
Engineering Railroad Engineering
- Review of Highway Eng’g
-Transportation Planning - Definition and History
- Sight Distances
Process -Railroad Engineering
- Minimum Radius of
-Basic Terminologies on Computations
Curvature & Superelevation
Transportation Engineering
- Design of Rigid & Flexible
Pavement
Traffic Engineering
Coastal & Harbor
-Basic Traffic Flow Theory
Engineering
- Local Traffic Signs & Other Introduction to Travel
Air Transportation
Prescription signs Demand Forecasting
Engineering (Airport
- Pavement Marking &
Engineering)
Object Markings
Traffic Engineering Intelligent Transportation
Computations System (ITS)
Assessment of Road Safety
and Road Safety Issues
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
 Course Syllabus:
 Introduction to Transportation Engineering
 Traffic Engineering
 Terminologies in Traffic Engineering
 Traffic Signals
 Regulatory or Mandatory Signs
 Warning or Cautionary Signs

 Informatory and Guiding SIgns

 Traffic Engineering Mathematical Analysis and

Formulas
 Sight Distance
 Higway Engineering
 Higway Safety and Car Collision Analysis
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
 CourseSyllabus:
 Parabolic Curves
 Ports and Harbor
 Miscellaneous Topic
Reference Books:
Basic Fundmentals of Transportation Engineering by Besavilla
Fundamentals of Transportation Engineering by: Hennes, Robert G.
And Martin Ekse
Elements of Roads and Highways by Max Fajardo
REFERENCES

 Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering by Ricardo G. Sigua

 Transportation Infrastructure Engineering by L. Hoel, N.
Garber & A. Sadek
 Fundamentals of Transportation Engineering by: Hennes,
Robert G. and Martin Ekse
 Basic Fundamentals of Transportation Engineering by V.
Besavilla
 Highway Engineering 7th Edition by P.Wright & K. Dixon
 Principles of Highway Eng’g & Traffic Analysis by
F.Mannering & W. Kilareski
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
 What is Transportation Engineering?
 Transportation Engineering is the application of
technology and scientific principles to the planning,
functional design, operation and management of
facilities for any mode of transportation in order to
provide for the safe, rapid, comfortable, convenient,
economical and environmentally compatible
movement of people and goods.
 It is one of the disciplines of Civil Engineering along
with Structural Engineering, Geotechnical
Engineering, Water Resources, Construction
Management and Environmental Engineering*
*to some schools and universities
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

Why there is a need

to study
Transportation
Engineering?
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
 Traffic Engineering as a phase in Transportation
Engineering:
 Definition from the Institute of Transportation
Engineering (ITE)
“The phase of transportation engineering that
deals with the planning, geometric design and
traffic operations of roads, streets, and
highways, their networks, terminals,
abutting lands and relationship with other
modes of transportation”
ELEMENTS OF TRAFFIC ENGINEERING
1. Traffic Studies and Characteristics
2. Performance Evaluation
3. Facility Design
4. Traffic Control
5. Traffic Operations
6. Transportation System Management
7. Intelligent Transportation Systems
GENERAL HISTORY OF TRAFFIC
ENGINEERING

70’s 80’s 90’s 00’s

Capital Intelligent
Communication
Investment TSM Control
& Information
TDM Capital
Investment
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
TERMINOLOGIES

 Basic Elements of the characteristics of Traffic

Flow on the Highway System:
1. Drivers

2. Vehicles

3. Roadway

 Distinct Actions encountered by the driver of a

vehicle during reaction to cues and stimuli:
1. Perception 2. Identification Emotion 3. Reaction
or volition
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
TERMINOLOGIES

 Comprehensive planning process – is the

traditional transportation planning process.
 Transportation planning process – it is an
ongoing process which seeks to assess the short
and long range transportation problems of a region
and to develop, evaluate, select and implement
plans and strategies for solving these problems.
This is based on the interaction between two basic
systems, the transportation system (origins,
destinations, volume of people and goods) and the
activity system (land uses, population, social and
economic activities) within which transportation
system operates.
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
TERMINOLOGIES

 Travel demand modeling – it describes the

relationships between trip-making and the
regions pattern of population, land use and
economic activities which creates that demand.
4 Basic Phases of the Traditional Approach to
Travel Demand Modeling:
1. Trip generation

2. Trip distribution

3. Mode choice

4. Traffic assignment
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
TERMINOLOGIES
 Traffic assignment – is the allocation of traffic flows
among routes available.
 Traffic volume – the number of vehicles that pass a point
on a highway during a specified time interval.
 Perception and reaction time – the period of time from
when the driver recognizes an object or a hazard on the
roadway to the time the driver actually applies the brakes.
 Detection and recognition time – the amount of time
required for a driver to detect and recognize that an object
or hazard is being approached.
 Decision and response initiation time – the amount of
time for the driver to decide on the proper maneuver to be
taken and to initiate the required action.
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
TERMINOLOGIES
 Maneuver time – the time required to accomplish a vehicle maneuver
 Sight distance – the distance at which a driver can see an object
lying in the roadway ahead. It should equal or exceed the stopping
sight distance.
 Decision sight distance – distance required for a driver to detect an
unexpected object, information source (traffic signal) or hazard in the
roadway and to recognize the hazard, select an appropriate speed
and path, and initiate and complete the required safety maneuver.
 Breaking sight distance – the distance needed to bring the vehicles
to complete stop after the brake have been applied.
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
TERMINOLOGIES
 Passing sight distance – the shortest distance sufficient for a vehicle
to turn out of a traffic lane, pass another vehicle, and then turn back to
the same lane safely and comfortably without interfering with the
overtaken vehicle or an incoming vehicle traveling at the design speed
should it come into view after the passing maneuver is started.
 Stopping sight distance – the sum of the braking distance and the
perception and reaction distance.
 Non-passing sight distance – the length between vehicles as it
enters a crest curve (vertical parabolic) and the farthest distance
visible to the driver to the top of the object. It is typically assumed that
the height of eye is at 3.75 feet above the roadway surface and the
farthest distance visible is at an elevation of 6 inches above the
roadway.
TRAVEL DEMAND
 Trip Generation:
 How many trips will be generated by a particular site
and when will they occur?
 Trip Distribution:
 Where will trips generated by a particular site
terminate?
 Mode Choice:
 By what mode will trip generated by a particular site
travel to the
 Route Choice:
 What route will the various modes use for trips
generated by a particular site with a particular
destination?
 “Shortest Path” Algorithm
PERFORMANCE MEASURE
 Purpose:
 1.Assess Existing Conditions

 2.Evaluate Alternative Improvements

 3.Quantify Associate Costs and Benefits

TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT
(TDM)
 Reducing Demand
 •Telecommuting • Trip Chaining
 •Shorter Work Week
 •Residential Relocation
 •Alternative Land Use Pattern (Company Town?)
 Shifting Demand
 •Flexible Working Hours
 •Staggered Working Hours
 •Business Operating Hours
 Repacking Demand
 •Car Pooling and Van Pooling
 •Transit
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM MANAGEMENT
(TSM)
 Facility Design
 •Add Lanes
 •Remove Bottlenecks (Bridges, Tunnel,…)
 •Revise Geometrics to Increase Speed
 •Vehicle Improvement to Reduce Headways
 Traffic Control
 •Ramp metering
 •Signal Coordination
 •Signal Phase Sequence
 •Left Turn Treatments
 •Parking Restrictions
EMERGING ISSUES AND TRENDS
 Intelligent Transportation System(ITS)
 “ITS collect, store, process and distribute
information relating to the movement of people
and goods. Examples include systems for traffic
management, public transportation management,
emergency management, traveler information,
advanced vehicle control and safety, commercial
vehicle operations, electronic payment and
railroad grade crossing safety.”
 ---US DOT’s ITS Joint Program Office
ITS
 ITS involves the
application of advanced
technology to enhance
safety, provide services to
travelers, and assist
transportation system
operators in implementing
suitable traffic
management strategies.
ITS SOLUTIONS INCLUDE
Transportation Management
 Traffic Operations Centers

 Communications

 Incident Management

 Public Transportation

 Traveler Information

 Enhanced Safety

REFERENCES
Transportation Engineering by Besavilla
Traffic Engineering presentation by Dr. Henry Liu
ROAD AND TRAFFIC SIGNS

Regulatory or Mandatory signs

Warning or Cautionary signs
Informatory and Guiding signs
REGULATORY OR MANDATORY SIGNS
These are traffic signs which are
used to inform road users on
certain rules and regulations
which have to be observed for
safe and free flow of traffic.
REGULATORY OR MANDATORY SIGNS
WARNING OR CAUTIONARY SIGNS
INFORMATORY AND GUIDING SIGNS
TRAFFIC SIGN STANDARD COLOR
 Orange – is used as a background color for
construction and maintenance signs.

 Red – is used as background color for stop, do not

enter and wrong way signs, as a legend color for
parking prohibitions signs, route markers, the
circular outline and the diagonal bar for prohibitory
symbols.
TRAFFIC SIGN STANDARD COLOR
 Yellow – is used as a background color for school
signs and warning signs (except when orange is
specified).

 Green – is used as background color for milepost

and guide signs (other than those using brown or
white) and as a legend color on white background
for certain directional signs and permissible parking
regulations.
TRAFFIC SIGN STANDARD COLOR
 Blue – is used as a background color for
information signs related to motorists services,
rest areas and evacuation route markers.

 Brown – is used as background color for guide

and information signs related to points of
recreational, service or cultural interest.
TRAFFIC SIGN STANDARD COLOR
 Black – is used as a background color for certain
one way and weigh station signs, as well as for
specific night speed limit signs, and as the
legend color for white, yellow and orange signs.

 White – is used as background color for route

markers, guide signs, and regulatory signs
except for the stop sign, for the legend on brown,
green, blue, black and red signs.
FIXED TIME, TRAFFIC ACTUATED AND
FLASHING SIGNALS
 Fixed Time Signals – type of road signals which are
set to repeat a cycle at regular time intervals. These
signals are designed for peak time traffic
requirements. However, they cause delay during
off-peak hours.
 Traffic Actuated Signals – type of road signals
which are designed so that the phase and cycle can
be changed according to traffic demand. A
policeman observes these signals suitably. These
signals are very expensive.
FIXED TIME, TRAFFIC ACTUATED AND
FLASHING SIGNALS
 Flashing Signals – type of road signals
which are installed on main roads and
cross roads. A red signal is to provided
on the cross road to warn the driver to
stop and proceed. A yellow signal
installed on the main road warns the
driver to slow down.