Lec 20, Ch.11: Transportation Planning Process (objectives)

1. Lec 20, Ch.11: Transportation Planning Process (objectives) • Understand how decisions to build transportation facilities are made • Understand basic elements of the transportation planning process • Understand basic elements of travel forecasting (This topic will be discussed in detail in CE565, winter semester. CE361 is the only prerequisite for CE565 according to the course catalog, but I recommend you to take CE370 (old) or CE470 (new) before you enroll in CE565.)

2. What we cover in class today… • Basic elements of transportation planning (This concept applies to any transportation planning including urban transportation planning, pp.509-514) • Urban transportation forecasting process • Four-step travel demand forecasting – A general introduction

3. The transportation planning process • It has become “institutionalized,” meaning federal guide guidelines, regulations, and requirements for local planning are often driving forces behind existing planning methods. Have you heard of MPOs (metropolitan planning organizations) like the Mountain Land of Governmentsor the Wasatch Front Regional Council? Or, have you heard of Envision Utah? • It is intended to furnish unbiased information about the effects that the proposed transportation project will have on the community and on its expected users. • It is intended to give the appropriate information to those who will be responsible for deciding whether the transportation project should go forward.

4. Basic elements of transportation planning

5. Example 11-1: Planning the relocation of a rural road (simple, yet good enough to explain the steps…) • Step 1: Situation definition: • to understand the situation that gave rise to the perceived need for a transportation improvement

6. Step 2: Problem definition Purpose of the step: Describe the problem in terms of the objectives to be accomplished and translate those objectives into criteria. • Example: • Objective = Statements of purpose: Reduce traffic congestion, Improve safety, Maximize net highway-user benefits, etc. • Criteria = Measures of effectiveness: Travel time, accident rate, delays (interested in reductions in these MOEs)

7. Step 3: Search for solutions Brainstorm options at this stage.

8. Estimate how each of the proposed alternatives would perform under present and future conditions. Step 4: Analysis of performance

9. Step 4: (cont) Ranking of alternatives (in terms of MOE)

10. Improves this way Improves this way Step 5: Evaluation of alternatives • Determine how well each alternative will achieve the objectives of the project as defined by the criteria. Cost-wise best This is a multi-objective evaluation problem. Improvement-wise superior

11. Step 6: Choice of project • Based on the alternative evaluation in Step 5, we will choose the best alternative for design and eventual construction. The best choice may not be built because of opposition by the people of the community that is affected. Step 7: Specification and construction • Once the project has been chosen, a detailed design phase is begun, in which each of the components of the facility is specified.

12. Urban transportation (demand) forecasting process • This task is a technical effort to analyze the performance of various alternatives. We must define the study area first. Then further subdivide the area into traffic (analysis) zone, TAZ, for data tabulation and analysis. • Homogeneous socioeconomic characteristics: e.g., high-income residential • Minimum intra-zonal trips • Use of physical, political, and historical boundaries, where possible • Zones, once created, should not be subdivided into smaller zones during analysis • Zones generating and attracting approximately equal trips, households, population, or area • Use of census tract boundaries, where possible (easier to collect data from the Census Bureau’s publications)

13. Travel demand model flowchart

14. Four basic elements of the urban transportation forecasting process

15. Analysis zones for transportation study (TAZ)

16. Link-node map for highway system • Link-node maps are the starting point for the 4-step transportation demand forecasting process

17. 4-step transportation demand forecasting process • Preparation: population and economic analysis and land use analysis

18. Graphical way of understanding the 4-step demand forecasting process 200 trips from zone 46 to zone 29 1000 trips attracted 1000 trips generated 70% this route Auto total: 95% Public transit: 5% 25% this route