Introduction to Traffic Engineering

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Introduction to Traffic Engineering

• Yang Xiao Kuan, Ph.D.
• Professor
• He Yu Long, Ph.D.
• Associate Professor
• Transportation Research Center
• Civil Environmental Engineering College
• Beijing University of Technology
• Spring 2009

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Course Outline

• Total credit hours 40
• Credit 2.5
• Teaching approach English with Chinese
  explanation
• Text book Traffic Engineering
• Course Characteristics --- compulsory
• Final score --- based on final exam, homework and
  attendance

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Objectives of course

• Help students lay solid foundation of traffic
  engineering as a whole
• Help students get general knowledge of traffic
  engineering from both theory and practice
• Lead students to traffic/transportation
  professional world

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Chapter 1. Introduction

• Definition, scope and goal
• Objects of traffic engineering
• Background of traffic engineering development
• Some basic concepts in traffic engineering
• Main elements in traffic engineering
• Characteristics
• Challenges traffic engineers face
• References

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1. Definition, scope and goal

• Definition of Traffic Engineering --- It is 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
  relationships with other modes of transportation

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• Transportation Engineering is defined as a
  discipline applying technology and scientific
  principles to the planning, functional design,
  operation, and management of facilities for all
  modes of transportation
• Transportation mode includes land, rail,
  water,air and pipe (refer to Table 1.1 on page
  8-9)
• The focus of this course is on surface (land)
  transportation and connection with other modes

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• Scope of Traffic Engineering --- surface (land
  ??) transportation relationships and connection
  with other modes of transportation
• Major modes of surface transportation ---
  automobile, bus, truck and bike

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• Goal of Traffic Engineering --- explore how to
  provide for the safe, rapid, comfortable,
  convenient, economical, and environmentally
  compatible movement of people and goods.
• Safe --- public safety
• Rapid --- time value and customer service
• Comfortable/convenient --- level of service
• Economical --- social cost
• Environmental --- clean air and sustainability
• Movement mobility

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2. Objects of traffic engineering

• Roadways --- main object to search for
• Vehicles --- some of them
• Drivers --- key element but difficult to study
• Biker Pedestrians --- education
• Environment --- still remain in concept and
  difficult to exercise in practice

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3. Background of development

• Automobile industry
• Urbanization
• Computer and ITS (Intelligent Transportation
  System ??????)
• Environmentalism (green transportation system
  and sustainable development concept ??????????)

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Trend forecast for auto development in Beijing
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• Development of traffic engineering in China
• Open undergraduate program in 1980 at Beijing
  University of Technology
• About 90 colleges and universities in mainland to
  offer traffic engineering courses
• Status of transportation in urban planning
  process has seen great improvement
• High investments in highway and traffic
  engineering studies

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4. Basic Concepts in Traffic Engineering

• Mobility versus Accessibility(???????)
• Highway Classification (????)
• Uninterrupted (???)and Interrupted (???)flows
• Responsibility and Liability (?????)
• Transportation Legislation (????)

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Mobility versus Accessibility

• Mobility (???) --- refers to the ability to
  travel to many different destinations, while
  accessibility (???) --- refers to the ability to
  gain entry to a particular site or area
• With an increase of mobility the ability to
  access development decreases, and vise versa.

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Graphic description between mobility and
accessibility
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Highway classification

• Location -- urban and suburban (rural)
• Criterion --- specification for roadway design
• Each country has different way in determining
  hierarchy of highways

The purpose of conducting classification for
highway is to clarify the functionality of each
category of roadways in providing services in
terms of mobility and accessibility
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With increase of mobility the accessibility will
decrease Freeway has the highest mobility
whereas local street has the highest accessibility
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• Freeways or expressways --- access-controlled,
  multilane, divided highways devoted to
  high-speed, long-distance travel with little or
  no access adjacent to land
• Arterials --- roadways serving primarily to move
  traffic between principal traffic generators with
  partially access-controlled (residential access
  is discouraged, but commercial access is
  allowed), there are two categories major and
  minor

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• Collectors --- roadways serving internal traffic
  movements within an urban area and connecting it
  with the arterial system, there are two
  categories major and minor
• Local streets --- primarily providing access to
  the development with low-speed

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Uninterrupted and Interrupted flows

• Uninterrupted flow (???)facilities have no
  external interruptions (????) to the traffic
  stream. Pure uninterrupted flow exists mainly on
  freeways and expressways.
• Interrupted flow (???) facilities have external
  interruptions to the traffic stream. Almost all
  urban surface streets and highways are
  interrupted flow facilities.

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Uninterrupted flow facilities are fully or
partially access- controlled
Freeway in Germany (2008)
Expressway in Beijing (2007)
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Interrupted flow facilities are not
access-controlled, with external
disruptions, resulting in stop-and-go
Urban street in Atlantic City, USA
Urban street in Beijing
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Responsibility and Liability

• Public safety
• Legal obligation --- legal case
• Communication (??)with people traffic engineers
  work for --- public hearing (???) public
  involvement (????)
• Community protection --- traffic calming (????)

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Lane reduction is one of traffic calming
strategies
Leeds, England
Dresden, Germany
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Transportation Legislation of USA

• Federal-Aid Highway Act (1916 to 1983) (?????)
• Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act
  (ISTEA) from 1991 to 1997 (????)
• Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century
  (TEA-21) from 1998 to 2004 (?????????)
• SAFETEA-LU (Safe, Accountable, Flexible,
  Efficient Transportation Equity Act A Legacy for
  Users 2005 to 2011)

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5. Main Elements in Traffic Engineering

• Traffic studies --- data collection and reduction
  
• Performance evaluation --- set of criteria to
  measure the quality of traffic performance
• Facility design --- functional and geometric
  designs
• Traffic control --- establishment of traffic
  regulation and their communication to the driver
  through signs, markings, and signals

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• Traffic operations --- traffic organization,
  transit (??) operation,
• TSM --- Transportation Systems Management
• ITS --- Intelligent Transportation Systems

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6. Characteristics

• The discipline is still quite young as compared
  to other disciplines. Thus, there leave rooms
  for improvement.
• The coverage is so broad that it is difficult to
  identify the boundary of the discipline.
• The discipline is closely associated with the
  daily life of the public (fishbowl effect)

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7. Challenges Traffic Engineers Face

• Change in notion from increasing capacity to meet
  demand to managing the movement of vehicle and
  people
• Ever-increasing congestion
• Safety and security of transportation facilities
• Technologically sound solutions may not be
  socially acceptable (staggering of work time
  public transit)

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Congestion on Roadway of Beijing
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Evacuation before hurricane in Houston, USA, 2005
9.11 event in 2001, USA
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Traffic paralysis due to snow storm in southern
China 2008
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8. References

• ITE --- Institute of Transportation Engineers
• TRB --- Transportation Research Board
• ASCE --- American Society of Civil Engineers
• MUTCD --- Manual on Uniform Traffic Control
  Devices
• HCM 2000--- Highway Capacity Manual
• AASHTO Green Book --- American Association of
  State Highway and Transportation Officials named
  a book titled A Police on the Geometric Design
  of Highway and Street
• The Traffic Engineering Handbook
• Trip Generation Handbook 2000
• Access Management Manual 2003

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Technical terms

• Traffic (highway) engineering --- automobile,
  engineering-oriented
• Transportation engineering --- all modes, social,
  legal, political-oriented,
• Transport engineering --- British usage having
  same meaning of transportation used as a verb
• Communication ---
• Conveyance --- means of transport

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5E-featured discipline

• Enforcement (??)
• Education
• Engineering
• Environment
• Energy

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Be aware of

• Traffic engineering is still young as compared to
  other discipline, therefore, there leaves much to
  be desired
• Traffic problems cant be purely resolved by
  applying traffic engineering knowledge
• Approaches learned from other countries do not
  necessarily applicable for our situation
• Engineering judgment plays key role

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