Principles of Transportation Engineering

At the end of this course, it is expected that Civil Engineering students of BISCAST should be able to conduct traffic studies through Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) Reports in preparation for their capstone projects. Through the use of statistical techniques and thorough analysis of existing traffic conditions, TIA preparers will be able to forecast the potential traffic impacts of certain development and provide mitigating measures as well to prevent further deterioration of traffic flows.

Transportation engineering is the application of technology and scientific principles to the planning, functional design, operation, and management of facilities in any mode of transportation in order to provide a safe, rapid and convenient movement of people and goods. Having a fast, efficient transport system plays a major role in every aspect of our lives, because of its multi-disciplinary characteristics. Due to the increasing demand for leasable spaces, diverse movement of the public for commercial and other premises, as well an increasing mobility for all societal functions, having a fast and efficient transport system becomes a necessity.

Here are the Course Learning Objectives (CLOs) containing different topics and assessments relevant to the methods and principles of transportation system analysis :

clo1. define concepts of transportation systems analysis and planning

During the first week of the course, our instructor gave us a brief, yet concise recap about transportation engineering and its importance to every individual’s way of living. Due to the abrupt changes in social mobility, there is a need for the public to have constant access to transportation systems. People need to travel for their business, professional, and other personal premises. Such necessities for transport urged engineers to develop further the existing transportation and traffic conditions that will cater to the demands of the general public. This resulted in a multi-faceted approach when it comes to transportation management for engineers to find suitable solutions for recurring traffic problems.

Transportation engineering is subdivided into four parts, which are as follows:

1. Transportation Planning – It involves the utilization of transportation modeling, transportation planning, and traffic control to forecast transportation networks and develop as well traffic control strategies.

2. Geometric Design – It deals mainly with road geometrics and physical proportioning of transportation facilities.

3. Pavement Analysis and Design – It deals with the structural design of roads, taking design factors, layer thickness, and construction maintenance into consideration.

4. Traffic Engineering – It involves collection of traffic flow data and analysis in order to extend roadway capacity and provide mitigating measures that will effectively lessen factors causing vehicular delays.

clo2. recognize current transportation issues and policies, economic safety, and environmental concerns

Last June 15, 2021, our instructor posted a webinar about Traffic Impact Assessment. The webinar was held last September 2020 by UP-National Center for Transportation Studies. Dr. Cresencio Montalbo Jr. was the resource speaker for the webinar. He tackled the different aspects of TIA report, and the rationale on how do TIA becomes necessary considering the potential traffic impact brought by development demand. The stages on how to conduct TIA was compactly deliberated throughout the webinar session.

Traffic Impact Assessment - A Tool for Sustainability.mp4

After watching the webinar I have grasped buckets of takeaways and started applying the learnings which I have gained from the webinar by identifying first the current transportation problems in Naga City. Since I reside in the city, the existing traffic conditions in major intersections, and selecting the fastest route to take and mode of transport to ride on were no longer difficult for me to identify. As a Civil Engineering student it is important for us to be cognizant of the traffic problems for such reason that we might be able to find a solution on how to mitigate these problems.

Here are the following transportation issues that I have identified and I think should be addressed in order to minimize traffic congestion in Naga City.

Inequitable sharing of lanes
Limited width of lanes, hence restricting vehicles to experience free flow of traffic
Lack of quality transport system that is accessible to all major routes with designated lane.
Inadequate parking spaces
The city itself being automobile dependent

ASSESSMENT TASK/S FOR CLO1 & CLO2 (REACTION PAPER)

Reaction Paper_BARTOLOME

clo3. APPLY TRAVEL DEMAND FORECASTING COMPUTATION AND ANALYSIS

The main purpose of conducting a traffic impact study is to determine the traffic generated by a certain development project and provide mitigating schemes to reduce or eliminate the traffic impacts which may deteriorate the level of service in existing roadways. This can be made through the use of travel demand forecasting wherein the future level of traffic within the vicinity of the development will be assessed.

Shown on the left figure is the computation for the combined potential traffic volume used to approximate the future trips attracted and produced by the development.

Shown on the right figure is the 4-Step Model for Travel Demand Forecasting, which are as follows:

Trip Generation - This refers to the number of person trips attracted and produced in each zone
Trip Distribution - This refers to values of person trips coming from one-zone to another, which is useful to predict Origin-Destination (O-D) flows
Modal Split - It refers to the percentage of traffic flows depending on transportation modes used
Trip Assignment - It refers to the assessment of trip patterns based on the routes taken by each person trip for each mode of transportation

clo4. Prepare traffic impact assessment reports

For us to apply the concepts of TIA report, we conducted a thorough traffic analysis wherein we are going to forecast the potential traffic impacts of selected proposed developments in Naga City. In order to gather relevant data that will serve as the basis for outlining the recommendations in the TIA report, we've also conducted an origin-destination survey to determine primarily the trip patterns of the survey respondents and how would the proposed development affect the existing traffic conditions in Naga City.

The proposed development to be assessed is a four-story establishment with a parking basement, commercial spaces on its first two floors, and hotel rooms on its upper floor. Because the said development is located within Naga's Central Business District, this necessitates the use of TIA for us to identify and evaluate its traffic impacts so that TIA evaluators (LGU-Naga) would be able to find ways effectively on how to address these impacts on transportation networks.

After gathering information about the development's total floor area and with the help of existing traffic volume count from the city, our group has started analyzing and evaluating the forecasted travel demand in Naga City. Using the results from the Origin-Destination (O-D) survey, as well as estimating the trips generated by existing developments in the barangay where the said proposed development is located, we were able to interpret and provide substantial results from the calculations performed in forecasting traffic impacts once the development has started its business operations.

Attached link is the online origin-destination survey that we used for analyzing trip patterns of commuters and motorists in Naga City.

assessment task/s for clo3 & clo4 (chapter 1-8 TIA report):

Group 2 - TIA

reflection:

After conducting and analyzing the data that our group has gathered for the TIA report, I learned that conducting such traffic studies is highly relevant due to the fast-paced demand in the transportation system. Thus, proactive assessment of traffic conditions will help us to effectively prepare TIA documentations and attenuate the traffic impacts of critical development projects. Our TIA report was made successful with the help of the City Government of Naga and our instructor in this subject course for giving us existing traffic data and other information relevant for pursuing the study, the project proponent for giving us necessary details about the proposed development, and co-preparers for helping me analyzing and interpreting gathered data for us to come up with adequate schemes to improve traffic networks in Naga City. Conducting thorough traffic studies such as TIA allowed us to have a shared understanding of how to prepare systematic transportation planning methods and techniques. However, most of TIA related studies are based on International Standards such as determination of study area, where I believe our country must have a local standard for determining the minimum area to be assessed in TIA, due to the country's economic & geophysical parameters, land use patterns, and limited spaces for development in business districts. With this, I do hope that there will be a reinforced local standard for conducting TIA that is feasible across cities within the country. Lastly, I have learned that there should be a constant communication between project proponent, TIA preparers, and TIA evaluators in order to preemptively identify mitigating schemes prior to the projected year that the development will start its business activities. This will truly help transportation engineers to provide a more accurate transportation model as well as to determine appropriate mitigating measures for the betterment of traffic conditions in our country.

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