Adama Science and Technology University Urban Transportation System Planning

Civil Eng. Depart.

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. DEFINITION
a) Transportation: this refers to the movement of person and/or goods by various means
from place to place for some particular purposes. It is a purposeful and deliberate
movement or transfer of people and/or goods in a vehicle and route or otherwise using
facilities applied for the purpose of accessibility, mobility of the people and movement of
goods thereby bridging geographic and time gaps between producers and consumers
providing place and time utilities.
b) Transport planning: Planning for our purpose could be defined the determination of
future course of action to achieve desired goals. It means deciding in advance what to do,
how to do it, when to do it and who is to do it. Planning is a comprehensive, multi-
disciplinary, cooperative, pro-active and dynamic process of establishing of goals and
objectives, assessing current conditions and gaps, forecasting future demands, developing
appropriate strategies, evaluating alternatives, determining benchmarks and priorities and
preparing activity plan that encompasses diverse views and homogeneous interests for the
achievement of safe, efficient and affordable movement of persons and goods throughout
the life cycle of the transport system.
c) Urban structure: may be defined as a particular arrangement of adapted spaces, or lands
in different uses, that might exist in an urban area.
1.2. IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORTATION

For as long as human race has existed, transportation has consumed a considerable portion of its
time and resources. For example, in USA 17.5% of the gross national product is consumed by
transportation related expenses.

The primary need of transportation is economic. Personal travel in search of food or work, travel
for trade or commerce, travel for exploration or conquest or personal fulfillment and travel for
improvement of once status in life are a few purposes for transportation. Therefore,
Transportation is the movement of people and goods to accomplish the above-mentioned
objectives, which require transfer from one location to another. For example, farmers must
transport products to market, doctors must see patients, and salesman must visit clients.

Everybody travels whether it to be to work, play, shop or do business. All raw materials must be
conveyed from the land to a place of manufacture or usage and all goods must be moved from
the factory to the market place and from the staff to the consumer. Transportation is the means
by which theses activities occur; it is the cement that binds together communities and their
activities.

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The quality of transportation system (Speed, Cost and Capacity) has a significant impact on the
economic vitality of an area and the ability to make maximum use of its natural resources. This is
by providing route for movement of natural resources to markets and by maintaining a
competitive edge over regions and nations.

Most developed and industrialized societies are noted for their high quality transportation
services. In the past nations with well developed maritime systems (such as British empire in the
1900) ruled vast colonies located around the globe and at present countries such as USA, Canada
and Japan have advanced transportation systems and are leaders in the industry and commerce.

Without the ability to transport manufactured goods, raw materials, and technical know-how, a
country is simply unable to maximize the comparative advantage it may have in the form of
natural or human resources.

A primary function is relating population to land use. As an integrating and coordinating factor
in our highly complex and industrialized society, transportation is involved heavily in movement
of goods. Goods have little values unless given utility, that is, the capacity for being useful and
satisfying human wants. Transportation contributes two kinds of utilities: place and time utility,
economic terms that simply mean having goods where they are wanted when they are needed,
essential functions that can also be applied to the movement of people. In urban areas especially,
transportation provides the connecting link between dwelling-unites to their corresponding
activities.

1.3. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRANSPORTATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

Goods transportation, in and of itself, will not assure success in the market place; however the
absence of excellent transportation will contribute to failure. The above can explain this
mentioned utility advantage that transport adds on goods. The marketer’s need and goods
transported must be in agreement that is in terms of quality, type and price. Transport is a
derived demand, created by the needs and desires of people to move themselves or their goods
from one place to another. It is a necessary condition for human interaction and economic
growth.

The availability of transportation facilities can strongly influence the growth and development of
a region or nation. Good transportation permits the specialization of industry and commerce,
reduces costs for raw materials and manufactured goods and increases competition between
regions, resulting in lower costs and greater choice for the customer. Transportation is also a
necessary element in government services such as delivering mail, defending a nation and
retaining control of its territories.

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Adama Science and Technology University Urban Transportation System Planning
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1.4. SOCIAL COSTS AND BENEFITS OF TRANSPORTATION

Travel is not without danger; every mode of transportation brings to mind costs and some major
disaster. And in history the society has indicated a willingness to accept some risks and some
change of the natural environment to gain the benefits of efficient transportation systems.

Costs

 Building vast transportation systems requires enormous recourses of energy, material and
land.
 Every mode of transportation brings some form of exposure to danger
 Transportation creates noise, spoils the natural beauty of an area, changes the
environment, pollutes air and water and consumes energy resources.

Benefits

As mentioned in the above transportation plays a major role in the movement of goods. Some of
the important roles of transportation in a society:

 Enables travel and intermingling of people and thus leads to national integration,
 Transportation is important for the defense of country and its strategic need,
 Transportation enables the governance of vast areas under a control of a nation,
 Facilitates national and international trade and commerce,
 Facilitates the exploration of resources,
 Gives time and place utility
 Promotes truism,
 Plays an important role in social development
 Health
 Education
 Family planning
 Housing
 Water supply and resource developments
 Sanitation and others
 Helps in fighting
 Helps in fighting natural disaster and brings relief to the affected areas

Therefore the major task for the modern transportation engineer is to balance society’s needs for
fast and efficient transportation with the costs involved so that the most efficient and cost-
effective system is created. In carrying out this task, the transportation engineer must work
closely with the public and with elected officials and must be aware of modern engineering
practices to ensure that the highest-quality transportation systems are built consistent with
available funds and accepted social policy

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1.5. THE PLAYERS IN TRANSPORTATION

Supply Industry Stake holders

Vehicle providers, etc Not customers/suppliers but are
concerned; for e.g.
Financial Community & environmentalists, the public
Donors concerned with economic
Banks, Debt, … development, quality of life, etc
Transportation The Customer
System
Competition Their needs (travel time, price,
reliability, …) should be recognised
Intra-modal (other taxies), inter-
modal (taxis vs. buses), the General Public
consumers money (buy a Government
house/car?), etc
Taxes, user fees,
monopolies, etc.

1.6. TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS

1.6.1. DEVELOPMENT OF A TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

Transportation system in a nation is an aggregation of flow entities (vehicles, rails, ships, and
airplane), fixed facilities (guide-ways, terminal facilities, etc) and control systems that move
freight and passengers. These systems are usually operated according to established procedures
and schedules in the air, on land, and on water.

The nation's transportation system is a set of physical facilities, control systems, and operating
procedures. Each day, decisions are made that affect the way transportation services are used.
The decisions of a firm to ship its freight by rail or truck, or an investor to start a new airline, or a
consumer to purchase an automobile, or a state or municipal government to build a new highway
or airport are just a few examples of how transportation services evolve and a transportation
system takes shape.

1.6.2. FACTORS IN TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT

Transportation develops because of several and frequently overlapping factors. From the many,
the following are important:

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 Economic Factors

Almost all transport development is economic in origin. The chief preoccupation of the first
human was the procurement of food, shelter and sometimes clothing. As they become more
highly developed their needs increased, often beyond what their local economy could supply.
Means of transporting goods from distant places had to be devised, adding to the costs of the
goods thereby secured. The need for transporting individuals over wider areas also arose.
Increasing transportation productivity and lower unit costs have occurred over the years as the
system of transportation becomes more highly developed and complex.

 Geographical Factor

Geography is closely related to economics. The geographical location of natural resources

determines the transport routes that gives access to those resources and create economic utility,
that is, time and place utility, by taking them from a location where they have little values to
processing and consuming areas where their values is vastly increased.

 Political Polices

Political polices frequently play a deciding role in transport development. Basically is in a way to
form integrated political system and control.

 Military

The military might of a nation is primarily intended to support its political polices and to provide
for national defense. Consequently, often it has direct influence on transport development.

 Technological Factor

Progress in direct and supporting technologies has played an obvious role in transportation, for
instance introduction of new economical transportation mode to the existing system calls for the
development of transportation

 Competition

The competitive urges have given a powerful impetus to transport development. Railroads
compete with railroad also with trucks, barges, pipelines and airlines. Airlines have counted
heavily on speed but have also been forced to greater safety and dependability to meet ground
transport competition. No less real is the competition between products and industries tributary
to transport. Bituminous material competes with concrete as the road surface. Diesel won steam
but may face competition with electricity.

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 Urbanization

The rapid growth of urban areas by an even more rapidly expanding population is a phenomenon
that cannot be overlooked among transport development factors. Accessibility to land and the
intensity of land use are closely related to transport availability.

1.6.3. THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRANSPORTATION

1. On the basis of supporting systems: Transport modes are the means by which people and
freight are carried. They fall into one of three basic types, depending on over what surface
they travel – land (road, rail and pipelines), water (shipping), and air. Each mode is
characterized by a set of technical operational and commercial characteristics:

Road Transportation
■ History
■ Overview • The first land roads were trails
• Large consumers of space. (hunting).
• Lowest level of physical • With the first nation-states trails started
constraints among transportation to be used for commercial purposes.
modes. • Domestification of animals such as
• Environmental constrains are horses, mules and camels.
significant in road construction. • Wheeled vehicles encouraged
• Average operational flexibility construction of better roads.
(vehicles can serve several • Requires a level of labor organization
purposes). and administrative control:
• High maintenance costs, both for • Provided by a central government
the vehicles and infrastructures. offering a level of military protection
• Linked to light industries (rapid over trade routes.
movements of freight in small • 3,000 BC the first road systems in
batches). Mesopotamia.
■ Costs • Roman Empire 300 BC built the first
• Rights of way. comprehensive road network.
• Development costs (planning). ■ Road engineering
• Construction costs. • Construction of reliable and low cost
• Maintenance and administration hard surface roads.
costs. • Improved the reliability and the travel
• Losses in land taxes (urban speed on roads.
environment).
• External costs (accidents and
pollution).
■ Income
• Registration.
• Gas (taxes)
• Purchases of vehicles (taxes).
• Tolls, parking, and insurance fees.

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Rail Transportation • The average length was 1,300 km

■ Overview compared with 700 km for trucks.
• Composed of a traced path on which • Costs:
are bound vehicles. • High construction and maintenance costs.
• Average level of physical constrains: • Transshipments and train assembly
• Linked to the types of locomotives. increase costs.
• Affected by the gradient. • Benefits:
• Heavy industries are traditionally • Accelerated the industrialization process.
linked with rail transport systems. • Accelerated economic development and
• Containerization: human settlements.
• Improved the flexibility of rail • Multiplier effects on industrial activities.
transportation. • Safety; after air transportation, the safest
• Linking it with road and maritime mode.
modes. • Regulation:
■ Geographical setting • Highly dependent from government
• Established differently because subsidies.
different goals were to be achieved. • Governments financing, mainly for the
• Access to resources. sake of national economic imperatives.
• Servicing regional economies. ■ High speed train networks
• Territorial control. • Require special lines, but can also use the
■ Technical issues existing lines at a lower speed
• Space consumption: • Speed of about 300 km/h.
• Small along lines. • Separation between passenger and freight
• Important at terminals. traffic.
• Gradient and turns. • By-passing several centers of less
• Vehicles: importance.
• Very flexible in terms of vehicles • Over average distances, they have proved
and there is a wide variety of them to be able to compete effectively with air
filling different purposes. transportation.
• Bulk, liquids, grain, containers,
passengers, cattle, cars, coal.
■ Economic rationale
• Market area and capacity:
• Transport raw materials over long
distances.
• Move passengers and freight (cars,
agricultural equipment, etc.)
Water Transport .
■ Issues ■ Tend to be small and fast vessels
• Dominant support of global trade: • Cruise ships:
• International and seaborne trade are ■ Passengers are taken on trips of various
interrelated. durations, usually over several days.
• 96% of the world trade is carried by ■ Usually very large capacity ships.
maritime transportation (mass). ■ Before air transportation, serviced by liner
• International trade and maritime passenger ships.

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transportation: ■ Bulk cargo

• Interrelated. • Freight, both dry or liquid.
• 71% of all freight shipped globally. • Minerals (oil, coal, iron ore) and grains.
■ Domains of maritime circulation • Requires the use of specialized ships such
• Geographical by its physical as oil tankers as well as specialized
attributes: transshipment and storage facilities.
• 71% of the terrestrial surface. • Prone to economies of scale.
• Strategic by its control. ■ Economies of scale
• Commercial by its usage. • Remain a low cost mode.
• Trying to avoid the discontinuities of • Strengthened by containerization
land transport. ■ Technical innovations
• The majority of maritime circulation • Size:
takes place along coastlines. • Expresses type as well as capacity.
■ Maritime enclaves • Each time the size of a ship is doubled, its
• Countries that have difficulties to capacity is cubed.
undertake maritime trade: • The largest tankers are around 500,000
• Not part of an oceanic domain of dwt
maritime circulation. • The largest dry bulk carriers are around
• Requires agreements with 350,000 dwt.
neighboring countries: • Remaining constraints in ship size are the
• Access to a port facility through a capacity of ports and canals.
road, a rail line or through a river. • Speed
• Not necessarily imply an exclusion • Average speed of ships is about 15 knots
from international trade: (1 knot = 1 marine mile = 1,853 meters),
• Substantially higher transport costs. which is 28 km per hour.
• On average 50% higher than • A ship can travel about 575 km per day.
countries that are not landlocked. • Recent ships can travel at speeds between
• Less than 40% of the trade volume of 25 to 30 knots (45 to 55 km per hour).
the median coastal country.
• May impair economic development.

■ Passenger vessels
• Passenger ferries:
■ People are carried across relatively short
bodies of water in a shuttle-type service.
Air transportation. • As compared with other modes of
• Air routes are practically unlimited. transport, air ways can furnish rapid
• Air transport constraints are services for passenger, mail and small
multidimensional and include the site (a shipment of light weight valuable
commercial plane needs about 3,300 commodities where speed of delivery is a
meters of track for landing and takeoff), compelling factor.
the climate, fog and aerial currents. • More recently, air transportation has been
accommodating growing quantities of high
value freight.

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Pipelines
■ Pipeline systems
■ Overview • Construction costs vary according to the
• Single purpose: carry one commodity diameter:
from a location to another. • Increase proportionally with the distance
• Built largely with private capital: and with the viscosity of fluids.
• Has to be in place before any revenues • Longest pipelines:
are generated; significant capital • Gas pipeline: 2,911 km.
commitment. • Oil pipeline: 9,344 km in length.
• Large quantities of products where no • System has very little flexibility:
other feasible means of transport (usually • Cannot respond well to geographical
water) is available. fluctuations of the supply or demand.
• Two main products dominate pipeline • Excessively costly to overcome.
traffic:
• Oil
• Gas.
• Locally pipelines are significant for the
transport of water.
• Low physical constraints.

Advantages and Complementarities of modes

A business trip across the country may involve travel by taxi, airplane, and auto; transportation
of freight may require trucks for pickup and delivery and railroads for long-distance hauling.

Each mode has inherent advantages of cost, travel time, convenience, and flexibility that make it
"right for the job'" under a certain set of circumstances. The automobile is considered to be a
reliable, comfortable, flexible, and ubiquitous form of personal transportation for many people.
However, when distances are great and time is at a premium, air transportation will be selected,
supplemented by the auto for local travel. If cost is important and time is not at a premium, or if
an auto is not available, then the intercity bus may be used.

Selecting a mode to haul freight follows a similar approach. Trucks have the advantages of
flexibility and the ability to provide door-to-door service. They can carry a variety of parcel sizes
and usually can pick up and deliver to meet the customer's schedule. Waterways can ship heavy
commodities at low cost, but at slow speeds and only between points on a river or canal.
Railroads can haul an immense variety of commodities between any two points, but usually
require truck transportation to deliver the goods to a freight terminal or to their final destination.
In each instance, a shipper must decide whether the cost and time advantages are such that the
goods should be shipped by truck alone or by a combination of truck and rail.

The technological evolution in the transport industry aims at adapting the transport
infrastructures to growing needs and requirements. When a transport mode becomes more

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advantageous than another over the same route or market, a modal shift is likely. A modal shift
involves the growth of demand of a transport mode at the expense of another, although a modal
shift can involve an absolute growth in both the concerned modes. The comparative advantages
behind a modal shift can be in terms of costs, convenience, speed or reliability. For passengers,
this involved a transition in modal preferences as incomes went up, such as from collective to
individual modes of transportation. For freight, this has implied a shift to faster and more flexible
modes when possible and cost effective, namely trucking and air freight.

2. On the basis of type of load: Passengers and Freight Transportation

With some exceptions, such as buses and pipelines, most transport modes have developed to
handle both freight and passenger traffic. In some cases both are carried in the same vehicle, as
for example in the airlines where freight is transported in the cargo holds of passenger aircraft. In
others, different types of vehicle have been developed for freight and passenger traffic, but they
both share the same road bed, as for example in rail and road traffic.

The sharing by freight and passengers of a mode is not without difficulties, and indeed some of
the major problems confronting transportation occur where the two seek to co-inhabit. For
example, trucks in urban areas are seen as a nuisance and a cause of congestion by passenger
transport users. The poor performance of some modes, such as rail, is seen as the outcome of
freight and passengers having to share routes. This raises the question as to whether freight and
passengers are compatible. The main advantages of joint operations are:

 High capital costs can be justified more easily with a diverse revenue stream (rail,
airlines, ferries).
 Maintenance costs can be spread over a wider base (rail, airlines).
 The same traction sources can be used for both freight and passengers, particularly for
rail.
The main disadvantages of joint operations are:

 Locations of demand rarely match – O/D of freight is usually quite distinct spatially from
passenger traffic.
 Frequency of demand is different – for passengers the need is for high frequency service,
for freight it tends to be somewhat less critical.
 Timing of service – demand for passenger services has specific peaks during the day, for
freight it tends to be more evenly spread throughout the day.
 Traffic balance – on a daily basis passenger flows tend to be in equilibrium, for freight,
market imbalances produce empty flows.

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 Reliability – although freight traffic increasingly demands quality service, for passengers
delays are unacceptable.
 Sharing routes favors passenger traffic – passenger trains are given priority; trucks may
be excluded from areas at certain times of the day.
 Different operational speeds – passengers demand faster service.
 Security screening measures for passengers and freight require totally different
procedures.
1.7. INTERACTION OF TRANSPORT SUPPLY AND DEMAND

The transportation system that exists at any point in time is the product of two factors that act on
each other. These are

(1) The state of the economy, which produces the demand for transportation, and

(2) The extent and quality of the system that is currently in place, which constitutes the supply of
transportation facilities and services.

In periods of high unemployment or rising fuel costs, the demand for transportation tends to
decrease. On the other hand, if a new transportation mode is introduced that is significantly
cheaper to use than those modes that already exist, the demand for the new mode will increase,
decreasing demand for the existing modes.

These ideas can be illustrated in graphic terms by considering two curves, one describing the
demand for transportation at a particular point in time and the other describing how the available
transportation service or supply is affected by the volume of traffic that uses that system.

1.25
1.00
C= cost/mi

0.75
0.50
0.25
0.00
4 6 8 10 12
V=traffic volme (1000units/day)

Figure 1.1. Relationship between Transportation Demand and Cost

The curve in Figure 1.1 shows how demand in terms of vehicles/day could vary with cost. The
curve is representative of a given state of the economy and of the present population. As is
evident, if the transportation cost per mile, C, decreases, then, since more people will use it at a
lower cost, the volume, v, will increase. In Figure 1.1, when the traffic volume per day is 6000,

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the cost is $.75/mi. If cost is decreased to $.50/mi, the volume per day increases to 8000. In other
words, this curve shows us what the demand will be for our product (transportation) under a
given set of economic and social conditions.

1.50

C= cost/mi 1.25
1.00
0.75
0.50
0.25
0.00
0 2 4 6 8 10
V=traffic volme (1000units/day)

Figure 1.2. Relationship between Transportation Supply and Cost

Demand can occur only if transportation services are available between the desired points.
Suppose the demand shown in Figure 1.1 represents the desire to travel between two parts of the
country separated by a water land and currently inaccessible. If a bridge is built, people will use
it, but the amount of traffic will depend on cost. The cost to cross the bridge will depend on the
bridge toll and the travel time for cars and trucks. If only a few vehicles cross, little time is lost
waiting at a tollbooth or in congested traffic. However, as more and more cars and trucks use the
bridge, the time required to cross will increase. Lines will be long at the tollbooth; there might
also be traffic congestion at the other end. The curve in Figure 1.2 illustrates how the cost of
using the bridge could increase as the volume of traffic increases, assuming that the toll is
$.25/mi. In this figure, if the volume is less than 2000 units/day, there is no delay due to traffic
congestion. However, as traffic volumes increase beyond 2000 units/day, delays occur and the
travel time increases. Since "time is money," we have converted the increased time to cost/mile.
If 4000 units/day use the bridge, the cost is $.5()/mi; at 6000 units/day, the cost is $.75/mi. The
curve in Figure 1.2 shows how much transportation volume we can supply at various levels of
cost to the traveler.

We can now use the two curves to determine what volume (v) can be expected to use the bridge.
This value will be found where the demand curve intersects the supply curve, because any other
value of v will create a shift in demand either upward or downward, until the equilibrium point is
reached. If the volume increased beyond the equilibrium point, cost would go up and demand
would drop. Likewise, if the volume dropped below equilibrium, cost would go down and
demand would increase (see Figure 1.3). Thus in both instances we are approaching equilibrium.
In this example, the number of units crossing the bridge would be 6000 units/day. Obviously, we
can raise or lower the traffic volume by changing the toll.

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1.75
1.50
1.25

C= cost/mi
1.00
0.75
0.50
0.25
0.00
1 2 3 4 5 6
V=traffic volme (1000units/day)

Figure 1.3. Equilibrium Volume for Traffic Crossing a Bridge

1.8. FORCES THAT CHANGE THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

At any point in time, the nation's transportation system is in a state of equilibrium as

expressed by the traffic carried (or market share) for each mode and the levels of service
provided (expressed as travel attributes such as time, cost, frequency, and comfort). This
equilibrium is the result of market forces (state of the economy, competition, costs and
prices of service), government actions (regulation, subsidy, promotion), and transportation
technology (speed, capacity, range, reliability). As these forces shift over time, the
transportation system changes as well, creating a new set of market shares (levels of demand)
and a revised transportation system. For this reason, the nation's transportation
system is in a constant state of flux, causing short-term changes due to immediate
revisions in levels of service (such-as raising the tolls on a bridge or increasing the gasoline tax)
and long-term changes in lifestyles and land-use patterns (such as moving to the suburbs after a
highway is built or converting auto production from large to small cars).

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