Urban and Regional Transport Planning

Transport Systems

M.Eng/MSc- UoM 2019 Dr. Namali Sirisoma

Transportation and Civilization

Transportation in another words movement of

goods and people, is as old as civilization.

In fact transportation and civilization are so

interlinked, that it is difficult to imagine the
development one without the other and to
distinguish whether the new transportation
systems enabled changes in society or the
new requirements for transportation led to
improve transportation technologies.
Challenges Facing Urban Transportation

•Traffic congestion and parking difficulties. It is particularly linked with

motorization and the diffusion of the automobile, which has increased the
demand for transport infrastructures. However, the supply of infrastructures has
often not been able to keep up with the growth of mobility. Since vehicles spend
the majority of the time parked, motorization has expanded the demand for
parking space, which has created space consumption problems.

•Public transport inadequacy. Many public transit systems, or parts of them, are
either over or under used. During peak hours, crowdedness creates discomfort for
users as the system copes with a temporary surge in demand.
•Loss of public space. The majority of roads are
publicly owned and free of access. Increased traffic
has adverse impacts on public activities which once
crowded the streets such as markets, agoras, parades
and processions, games, and community interactions.

•Environmental impacts and energy consumption.

Pollution, including noise, generated by circulation
has become a serious impediment to the quality of
life and even the health of urban populations.
Further, energy consumption by urban transportation
has dramatically increased and so the dependency on
petroleum.
• Difficulties for pedestrians. These difficulties are
either the outcome of intense traffic, where the
mobility of pedestrians and vehicles is impaired,
but also because of a blatant lack of consideration
for pedestrians in the physical design of facilities.
• Accidents and safety. Growing traffic in urban
areas is linked with a growing number of accidents
and fatalities, especially in developing countries.
Accidents account for a significant share of
recurring delays. As traffic increases, people feel
less safe to use the streets.
Classification of Transit Systems
(a) Private transportation consists of privately owned
vehicles operated by owners for their personal
use. Most common modes are pedestrian, bicycle
and private car.
(b) Paratransit is transportation provided by
operators and available to parties which hire
them for individual or multiple trips. Taxi, dial-a-
bus, tuk-tuks (3 Wheelers) and jitney are the most
common modes.
(c) Urban transit, mass transit or public transportation
includes systems which are available for use by all
persons who pay the established fare. These
modes, which operate on fixed routes and with
fixed schedules, include bus, light rail transit,
metro, regional rail and several other systems.
 Transportation System
Identification
 Transportation system identification is the
definition of the elements and relation-
 ships that make up the system to be analyzed.
It includes the following steps.
 • Identification of relevant spatial dimensions
 • Identification of relevant temporal
dimensions
 • Definition of relevant components of travel
demand
Relevant Spatial Dimensions

Definition of the study area

Subdivision of the area into
traffic zones (zoning)
Identification of the basic
network
 Trip Distribution

Trip generation only finds the number of trips

that begin or end at a particular zone. These
trip ends are linked together to form an
origin-destination pattern of trips through the
process of trip distribution.

Trip distribution is used to represent the

process of destination choice and leads to
a large increase in the amount of data
which needs to be dealt with.
Travel Movement Types
 With respect to travel concerning a particular study
area, there are basically four types of movements
that need to be identified.

 These are:
 Intra- (travel which has both ends within the same zone in the study area)
 Inter- (travel which has both ends within the study area but in two different
zones)
 External- (travel which has one end within the study area and the other
ends outside)
 Transit- (travel which has one both ends outside the study area but travels
through the study area)
O- D matrix
The sample of data that is obtained from an
OD is then multiplied by the sample rate to
determine the full O-D matrix.

Samples rates may be calculated

according to vehicle type and time of day.
Thus each individual observation will end up
having a weight depending on the
multiplication of the appropriate samples
rates.

The final O-D matrix is arrived by the

aggregating of the weighted trip OD’s
 Attraction
Generation 1 2 ……. i n Total
1 T11 T12
2 T22 T2i
…
…
j Tji

n
Total
 Sample Origin-Destination Matrix
Node 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Total
1 5 2 1 8 6 2 5 4 3 2 1 39
2 2 4 1 10 12 5 2 1 6 7 1 51
3 1 1 8 2 10 4 8 9 3 1 2 49
4 8 10 2 6 3 4 2 9 12 6 2 64
5 6 12 10 3 8 10 15 6 4 2 1 77
6 2 5 4 4 10 3 2 4 8 7 5 54
7 5 2 8 2 15 2 8 6 3 1 2 54
8 4 1 9 9 6 4 6 10 8 4 5 66
9 3 6 3 12 4 8 3 8 2 6 8 63
10 2 7 1 6 2 7 1 4 6 9 3 48
11 1 1 2 2 1 5 2 5 8 3 6 36
Total 39 51 49 64 77 54 54 66 63 48 36 601
Modeling Transportation Systems
Transportation Systems Design and the Decision-Making
Process
Characteristics of Urban
Transit Systems
Modeling Transportation
Systems
Walking

Advantages of walking

• Economy
• Health
• Availability
• Environmental Protection
Constraints on implementing walking

• Distance
• Speed
• Change in Elevation
• Weather Conditions
• Carrying Goods
• Impaired Personal Mobility
• Safety and Security
Pedestrian overpasses bridging heavy
motorways are the easiest type to
implement because they can be relatively
light structures (carrying only people), even
though they may have to be built rather
high to provide enough headroom for large
trucks below.

This fact also embodies the principal problem:

users face a high climb upward, which they
are most reluctant to undertake, even
knowing that coming down on the other
side will be easier.
 Pedestrian Road Crossing Level
of Service (Milazzo, et al, 1999)

Level of Signalized Unsignalized Likelihood of Pedestrian

Service Intersection Intersection Noncompliance

A <10 <5 Low

B 10-20 5-10
C 20-30 10-20 Moderate
D 30-40 20-30
E 40-60 30-45 High
F 60+ 45+ Very High
Possible pedestrian crossing arrangements in a low-density Areas
Activity street with intensive sidewalk use
(green street).
 Auto restricted zones

This includes
• Areas restricted to vehicles
• No drive ways
• Truck restrictions
Auto restrictive zones or truck restrictions
may adversely affect truck deliveries and
impact local business due to loss of access
to an area.
This type of measure would change the time
of day that trip is made
 Bicycles

Advantages of Bicycles

• Direct Access
• Low Energy Consumption
• Absence of Pollution
• Healthful Exercise
• Space Conservation
• Low Public Investment
Disadvantages of Bicycles

• Traffic Compatibility
• Human Capabilities and
Attitudes
• Safety and Security
• The Natural Environment
• Reach and Speed
• Parking
 Motorcycles

• Minimal Space and Fuel Requirements

• Personal Preference
• Accessibility and Ease of Operation
• Can afford by many people
• Good for single rider trips
Disadvantages of Motorcycles

• Personal Danger
• Environmental Impacts
• Traffic Mix
• Medium-Capacity Modes
• Specialized Transit Modes
• Poor discipline of riders
 Paratransit
All this is paratransit—a service that is not quite
full public transit and that has some of the
convenience features of private automobile
operations. It is most often smaller in scale than
real transit, utilizing smaller vehicles, and it can
be legal or illegal as defined by local rules and
regulations.
In many respects there is nothing much new
about paratransit. Names such as shuttle
service, minibus, jitney, and downtown circulator
describe operations that are quite well known
and have been around for some time.
Dolmus in Turkey : Istanbul
and Bodrum
Combis in Lima , Peru
Atlantic City Jitney, since 1915
 Taxis

Advantages of Taxi Service

• Fully personalized service

• Substitute for private automobiles
• Availability and flexibility
• Luggage accommodation
• Technology and skills level
Disadvantages of Taxi Service

• High tariffs
• Motorized traffic issues
• Operators’ behavior
• Operational friction
• Inadequate vehicles
• Low income and job security
Ensuring that a responsive,
responsible, and reliable taxi service
is available in any community, at
any time, for any person, is the core
task of planning and structuring a
local system.
There are a number of discrete
actions that can be taken to
expedite and improve for-hire
service.
Taxi Hub in Kampala Uganda
Buses

Types of Buses and Bus Operations

• Passenger vans
• Minibuses
• Midsize buses
• Standard city buses
• Long-distance buses
• Double-decker buses
• Articulated buses
Types of Buses

• Passenger vans – 12 to 15 seats

• Minibuses - 12 to 20 seats
• Mini buses - 25 to 35 seats
• Standard city buses - 41 to 45 seats
• Double-decker buses - 64 to 92 seats
• Motorcoach - 50 to 65 seats
• Articulated Bus - 55 to 70 seats
Bus Advantages

 Ease of adjust of travel patterns

 Low capital cost
 Short starting time
 Trouble free technology
 Ease of diversion
 Less infrastructure facility
requirement
 Easy access
Bus Disadvantages

 Lower capacity
 Delays and congestions
 Less reliability
 Less efficiency
 Difficult to regulate
 Less comfort
Rural Services
 Bus Transit System Planning

Route Planning
Scheduling
Crew Assignment
Run Cutting
Route Design Standards

 Population density
 Employment density
 Spacing between other bus routes and corridors
 Limitations on the number of deviations or branches
 System design considerations such as enhancement of timed transfers
 Streamlining/reduction of routing duplications
 Network connectivity
 Service equity
 Route directness
 Proximity to residences
 Proximity to non-residential generators
 Limitation on the number of transfers required of passengers
 Bus stop spacing requirements.
 Schedule Design Standards
 Differing levels of service, i.e., local service versus express
service
 Differing character of service, e g., cross town versus feeder
 Maximum number of standees
 Maximum intervals
 Peak periods versus off-peak periods
 Minimum intervals
 Standees versus no standees
 Duration of standee time
 Timed meets, or time to be spent waiting at a transfer point
 Economic and Productivity
Standards
 Passengers per hour
 Cost per passenger
 Passengers per km
 Passengers per trip
 Passenger km
 Revenue per passenger per route (either in absolute rupee or
as a percentage of variable cost)
 Subsidy per passenger
 Route level minimum variable cost recovery ratio
 Route level performance relative to other routes in the system.
 Passenger Comfort and
Safety Standards
 Passenger complaints
 Missed trips
 Unscheduled extra buses or trips
 Accidents
 Passenger environment conditions (e.g., vehicle
cleanliness, vehicle condition, broken seats, poor
destination signs)
 Special information (or special intervals) in areas
where riders do not feel secure waiting for buses.
 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

• Reduced travel time, by saving time at stops and

while under way
• Improved reliability, by minimizing all factors that
can interfere with vehicle flow and providing
responsive management controls
• Upgraded human amenities, by providing
attractive facilities and spaces inside and outside
the vehicle and offering useful information to
riders
• Improved safety, by providing monitoring systems,
removing potentially dangerous features, and
bringing many riders on the system
Light Rail Transit (LRT)

• Flexibility in design and

implementation
• Mechanical efficiency and power
conservation
• Reliability and safety of operations
• Labor productivity
• Quality and attractiveness of ride
• Environmental characteristics
• Image and community acceptance
• Capacity and cost
 The factors on suitability for LRT
service

• Density. Sufficiently high to generate enough trips to make

the service practical
• Population size. Having enough critical mass to generate
concentrated demands for travel
• Urban structure. A clustering of activity so that destination
points are also concentrated, and a structure of corridors
with intensified development along them.
• Topography. Not excessively difficult for rail vehicles
• Available right-of-way space.
• Civil image and local government policy.
 Monorails

Types of Monorail Operations

Rapid Transit Service with a

Citywide Network
Shuttle Service Connecting
Nodes Within a City
Internal Connectors Within
Controlled Areas
• Monorails are nonpolluting, quiet,
safe, controllable, and can be
automated.
• Limited visual impact. Overhead
structures for support of the
guideway, the elevated viaduct
of the monorail beam or channel
is smallest in cross-section
• A narrow right-of-way is needed.
Because of the limited width of
the structure and vehicle
• Vehicles are not likely to derail.
 Urban Rail

• Urban rail is a high capacity transit mode

connection either short distances or long
distances
• Can be partially grade separated
• Use of both passenger and freight transport
• High efficiency
• Low operating cost
• Low fair for passengers
• Commuter rail service has passenger
cars/coaches that are pulled or pushed by
one or more locomotives or has self-
propelled cars
• Several systems use double-decked cars
• Diesel locomotives or electric powered
• One or two stations in the central business
district; car parking is provided at outlying
stations
• Popular on work trips in urban areas
Advantages of Rail
• High Capacity and Low Space
Utilization
• Avoidance of Surface Congestion
• Mechanical Efficiency and Energy
Conservation
• Speed and Quality of Ride
• Environmental Quality
• Safety and Reliability
• Civil Image
 High Speed Rail (HSR)

 a rail line and service designed for high

speed operation - cruising speed of 200+
km/h
 Japanese introduced the first high speed
trains in the mid 1960s – Shinkansen (Bullet
Train)
 today high speed rail lines are common in
France, Germany, United Kingdom,
China, and many other countries
 Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)
 This mode may name as: rapid transit, heavy rail
transit, subway, metro, the tubes or the
underground
 metro is defined as a passenger transport mode
for urban use which built to operate rapidly and
safely while carrying large loads of patrons in
multicar trains.
 Highest capacity, highest performance rapid
transit system .It is fully grade-separated,
dedicated running way and stations, no grade
crossings
 Can carry up to 75,000 passengers per hour
Advantages of MRT Systems

• Efficient operations
• Fast and comfortable service
• Reliability and safety
• Service can be implemented
quickly
• Good public image
References

 http://www.ppiaf.org/freighttoolkit/knowledge-
map/rail/
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_freight_transport
 Urban Transportation Systems – Choices for
communities by Sigurd Grava
 TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS ANALYSIS Models and
Applications, ISBN 978-0-387-75856-5 e-ISBN 978-0-387-
75857-2