Urban Transportation Planning Process Research Articles

Applications of Terrestrial Laser Scanner in Detecting Pavement Surface Defects

An entire roadway system represents a crucial element in the sustainable urban transportation planning process. Pavement surfaces are at continual risk of accumulating serious deteriorations and defects throughout their service life due to traffic loading and environmental impact. Since roadway networks are growing rapidly, relying on visual pavement inspection is not always feasible. Therefore, this paper proposes an effective assessment method for evaluating flexible pavement surface distresses using a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) and calculating the pavement condition index (PCI). The proposed terrestrial laser scanner method results in road condition assessments becoming faster, safer, and more systematic. It also aims to determine the geometric characteristics of the investigated roads. A major road in Egypt was selected to test the proposed technique and compare it with the traditional visual inspection method. The evaluation was carried out to assess different types of pavement distress, such as cracking, rutting, potholes, and raveling distresses. Every pavement distress was defined in terms of surface area, the width of the crack, and intensity, and the data from TLS were then processed by MAGNET COLLAGE software. A MATLAB program was developed to match the TLS observational data to plane equations. PAVER software was also used to determine the PCI values for each TLS position. The revealed distresses for the investigated road using TLS observations reveal a significant improvement in determining flexible pavement distresses and geometric characteristics.

A Strategic Approach to the Transportation Planning Process

The underlying premise of the urban transportation planning process is that we can forecast the future. The process typically develops 20-year forecasts of traffic volumes on each link of the transportation network Planners then attempt to devise a master plan that represents an optimal solution for the forecasted conditions. The reality is that we cannot predict the future. Imponderable and unpredictable events will shape the future in ways we cannot hope to anticipate. In addition, social and political bias is a strong contributor to errors in anticipating future events and to our willingness to deal with uncertainty. This paper identifies possible remedies for dealing with uncertainty and bias, including better analytical methods, better process methods, and methods to counter bias. An evaluation of various remedies is performed and practical measures that can be applied to the urban transportation planning process are identified. Finally, specific recommended modifications to the urban transportation planning process are outlined.

Modelling Trip Distribution Using the Gravity Model and Fratar's Method

Trip Distribution is a difficult and significant model in the urban transportation planning process. This paper creates and assesses a satisfactory model of the trip distribution stage for the Nasiriyah city by using two models, Gravity and Fratar methods. A large sample was used for developing the model. The research methodology depends on discussing the theoretical fundamentals of the various methods for estimating the trips distribution and examining the suitability of these fundamentals for the conditions of the selected study area. Two different models had been used, namely; Frater and Gravity model. These models were calibrated using real data. The study tests the accuracy of the models, including overall statistical assessments of the predicted movements. Finally, the study recommended to use Fratar Method. These results had been confirmed to the literature that, if the area is a homogenous growth, the best model is the growth factor (Fratar's method) and if the area is experiencing rapid changes. The gravity model will produce satisfactory results because it takes into account the competition in different land uses.

ROAD FREIGHT TRANSPORT PLANNING UNDER SUSTAINABLE CITY DEVELOPMENT

This research paper devoted to the urban freight transport planning under sustainable city development. Continued urban population growth, traffic congestions, financial losses because of longer delivery times, harm-ful impact on environmental are highlighted as strong arguments for the freight traffic management in the cities. The article aims to help all stakeholders understand the challenges brought about by freight activities in an urban context, and make the planning process consistent and comprehensive for the city freight transportation system improvement. The brief overview of some recent foreign and native studies in urban transport planning and traffic engi-neering reveals main field of interests for modern researchers. The clear focus of the analysed scientific works di-rected on such aspects in sustainable urban freight transport development as energy and economic efficiency, eco-friendliness, safety, institutional and legal issues of freight transportations. Special attention is paid to the analy-sis of government initiatives in sustainable transport system development of Ukraine. Identification of the main freight transportation features in an urban area is carried out on the initial re-search stage. Each feature has an explanation for better understanding necessity of their usage in the freight transport planning process. The other focus of the research devotes to the description of the stages during urban freight transport planning process. Author attends a deep freight transport demand and supply analysis for a de-termination of the basic freight distribution regularities in an urban context. Therefore, a list of indicators for subsystem of city freight transportation evaluation is presented in the article. The whole set of indicators is divid-ed into economical, operational, environmental, social and general groups of indicators. Moreover, the compo-nents of successful measures implementation for an urban freight transport subsystem improvement are highlight-ed. Financial management, political support, institution, organisation and legal framework condition are consid-ered as the key elements of successful plans and measures implementation. Keywords: planning, sustainable development, freight transport, urban population, authorities.

Apoio à decisão multicritério na priorização de rotas para o transporte urbano

Dentre os grandes desafios que o fenômeno da rápida urbanização impõe encontra-se o do planejamento de transporte urbano. Com isto, é preciso criar estratégias que possibilitem boas escolhas a fim de dar um melhor conforto ao usuário e funcionários deste serviço. Um dos problemas mais recorrentes é a definição de rotas, considerando a capacidade de atendimento com maior quantidade de pontos de demandas e minimizando o tempo e comprimento do percurso. É muito relevante para o planejamento do transporte urbano, a decisão de quais rotas são as melhores, de acordo com todos esses critérios. Como auxílio à seleção e priorização de rotas de ônibus urbanos, este trabalho propõe um modelo baseado no método multicritério de apoio a decisão, ELECTRE I. Para esta análise, 4 alternativas de rotas foram estudadas considerando 5 critérios de desempenho, a saber: Comprimento do conjunto de rotas; Tempo de viagem (ida e volta) no conjunto de rotas; Demanda potencial do conjunto de rotas; Capacidade do trecho mais carregado do conjunto de rotas e Capacidade do trecho mais carregado do conjunto de rotas. Este modelo é aplicado em uma rede de transporte urbano, já estudado em pesquisas anteriores. Como resultado, a alternativa 1 se destaca como a mais relevante, apresentando o menor tempo de comprimento e tempo de viagem, atendendo à maior demanda potencial dentre todas as rotas.

An Origin-Destination Matrix Estimate for Baghdad City Based on GIS

Baghdad suffers a deficiency in the application of urban transportation planning process, especially in selecting the suitable transport policies to solve transportation problems. One of the important inputs to the transportation planning process is the Origin – Destination Matrix. The O-D matrix is the travel demand between the pair of origin and destination zones and is one of the necessary goals of transportation studies. Estimation of an O-D matrix using the conventional process requires the collection of a huge amount of data. In Baghdad city, there has been no O-D matrix formulated. Accordingly, a prior O-D matrix is estimated in this study. The present research methodology is based on the estimated O-D matrix for Baghdad city in 1987 (prior matrix) and then updated to 2014 using the collected traffic count data as the basis for travel forecasting. The results of this study provide a guide to the local transportation agencies to select the right transport policies, maximize their revenue and better allocate their resources.

Macro-Level Modeling of Urban Transportation Safety: Case-Study of Mashhad (Iran)

Abstract Transportation safety can be aimed at the planning stage in order to adopt safety management and evaluate the long-time policies. The main objective of this research was to make use of crash prediction models in urban transportation planning process. As such, it was attempted to gather data on the results of transportation master plan as well as Mashhad urban crash database. Two modelling method, generalized linear model with negative binomial distribution and geographically weighted regression, were considered as the methods used in this research. Trip variables, including trip by car, trip by bus, trip by bus services and trip by school services, were significant at 95%. The results indicated that both finalized models were competent in predicting urban crashes in Mashhad. Regarding to results urban transportation safety will be improved by changing the modal share for example from private car to bus. The application of the process presented in this study can improve the urban transportation safety management processes and lead to more accurate prediction in terms of crashes across urban traffic areas.

The multimodal and multiperiod urban transportation integrated timetable construction problem with demand uncertainty

The urban transport planning process has four main activities: Network design, Timetable construction, Vehicle scheduling and Crew scheduling; each activity has subactivities. In this paper the authors work with the subactivities of timetable construction: minimal frequency calculation and departure time scheduling. The authors propose to solve both subactivities in an integrated way. The developed mathematical model allows multi-period planning and it can also be used for multimodal urban transportation systems. The authors consider demand uncertainty and the authors employ fuzzy programming to solve the problem. The authors formulate the urban transportation timetabling construction problem as a bi-objective problem: to minimize the total operational cost and to maximize the number of multi-period synchronizations. Finally, the authors implemented the SAUGMECON method to solve the problem.

Using community planning method to improve effect of urban barrier-free transportation system

Abstract Many Chinese cities have completed barrier-free transportation infrastructures system but always ignore its efficiency. The study purpose of this research is to find out some community planning method to improve the effect of bus and metro barrier-free transportation system in China. Filed survey are research methods used. Taking Chengdu as the study area, researchers carried out a large scale filed survey to study the current bus and metro barrier-free systems. Through relevant literature research, then find people physically challenged to check whether these infrastructure meet their really need. Finally, based on considerable empirical evidence, the findings can be generalized to suggest five issues relevant to the creation of ‘enabling’ or more accessible city environments for all. Overall, this study provides academic support and empirical analysis for what was ignored in urban transportation planning (UTP) process owing to efficiency first principle.

Yangon's Urban Transportation: Traffic Demand and Its Quality of Service

This paper reported the current traffic conditions in Yangon and discussed the issues with the mobility and the future direction of the urban transportation system. The achievements of the large-scale survey are so valuable that the traffic conditions have been successfully revealed for understanding the current problems and for planning the future transportation policy/network in Yangon. The evidence from these surveys are expected to contribute to the data-based approach in the urban transportation planning and decision-making process in Myanmar.

Forecasting Model for Vehicular Demand: An Alternative Methodology in the Context of Developing Countries

Two most challenging problems facing transportation planners and policymakers in many developing countries are rapid urban traffic growth and lack of financial and technical resources to conduct major planning studies, especially for assessing the impacts of new sites and land-uses. The conventional urban transportation planning process, which is data and time intensive, has been of little value due to many transportation related obstacles (inadequate database, lack of funds, inadequate technical expertise, etc.). Advances in computer technology, especially in the areas of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), offer new ways of dealing with the aforementioned problems. This paper presents a new methodology for conducting transportation planning studies in developing countries. Integrating TransCAD, well-known GIS software for transportation applications, and Excel, spreadsheet software, the new model starts by estimating an Origin-Destination (O-D) table from traffic counts at the base year. Then, a modified O-D table is obtained from a simple procedure before determining the new traffic assignment, taking into consideration the new sites and land uses. The model was developed and applied for conducting regional transportation planning in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. A flexible, yet vigorous transportation planning mechanism was needed to assist planners in their efforts to plan for transportation in that highly populated area with a poor and old highway network. The results of the verification work conducted after each step during the development of the model have been acceptable. Moreover, transportation experts who live and work in the area have conducted complete validation of the results.

Energy Conservation in Urban Transport

The intensity of travel being more in urban areas, it is better that the energy-saving measures are focused on urban transportation. The energy requirement of motorized private transport modes is much more compared to the energy requirement by public transport modes. Urban land-use pattern is also a factor influencing the intensity of travel in a city. Hence, orientation of the urban transportation planning process to facilitate use of public transport modes and non-motorized modes of transport with simultaneous restructuring of the urban land-use pattern will help energy saving.

Calibrating a trip distribution gravity model stratified by the trip purposes for the city of Alexandria

The trip distribution is the most important yet the most misunderstood model in the Urban Transportation Planning Process (UTPP). One overlooked aspect is the different sensitivities in choosing the destinations based on the trip purposes. This paper proposes a framework to calibrate a doubly-constrained gravity model for the trip distribution of the city of Alexandria based on a Household Travel Survey carried out in 2002. The trip ends are estimated from the available census data. Important parameters for the trip attraction models were estimated and validated in the course of this research. Since a small sample is used, a simple, effective weighing technique is applied to mitigate the sample bias. The purpose-based dispersion parameters are estimated based on the weighted sample. The model validation is also introduced in terms of trip length distribution, intrazonal trips and the distribution of the trip interchanges between city parts. The proposed model demonstrates the different patterns of trip distribution per purpose. It also shows a considerable shift toward non-compulsory trip purposes in the city of Alexandria.

Comprehensive Performance Evaluation Framework for Urban Transport Policies

This study describes a framework that is used to analyze urban transport policies in Kaohsiung, the second largest city in Taiwan. The framework is comprehensive in the sense that the full range of transport-related policy elements—investment, pricing, regulation, and subsidies—are explicitly integrated to generate policy alternatives for evaluation. In contrast, past planning processes have tended to focus solely on infrastructure investment. The relationships among these four policy elements were examined in the case study. The results show that an integrated, goal-related transport policy with the four elements is more effective than the traditional, single-element policy. The proposed policy evaluation framework can be implemented in the commonly used urban transportation planning process.

Solving network equilibrium problems on multimodal urban transportation networks with multiple user classes

A modelling approach for solving quite general network equilibrium problems (with fixed trip productions and attractions) intrinsic to the urban transport planning process is presented. The framework can consider a variety of demand models and route choice behaviours within the same implementation, including multiple user classes and combined travel modes that interact on the same physical network. The demand choices are assumed to have a hierarchical structure. When trip distribution is variable, a doubly constrained entropy‐maximizing model is considered at the first level of choice and a hierarchical logit model is used for the remaining demand choices (time of departure, travel mode, transfer point for combined modes, etc.). If trip distribution is considered to be exogenous, the demand choices are modelled as a hierarchical logit. One of the main features of the model is that it considers the effects of congestion on the road network as well as congestion and capacity constraints effects in each public transport service network. The problem is formulated mathematically as a variational inequality, with asymmetric cost functions, and solved following the diagonalization procedure. Each iteration of the aforementioned procedure solves an optimization problem using the Evans algorithm. Sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the solution to the diagonalized problem are obtained. The main results of a simple example (solved with an academic version of the proposed algorithm) are presented to show the consistency of the equilibrium flows and levels of services obtained using the model. Finally, a real scale implementation of the model is briefly described to show the feasibility of its application.

Emerging Techniques for Urban Transportation Planning

Despite several decades of intense effort, urban transportation planning is in its infancy of development and refinement, as evidenced by the fast pace of new techniques and methodologies being proposed and developed. In this series of two special issues on urban transportation planning, the first issue @Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 128~4!, 2002# focused on reviews of recent methodological advances. This second issue covers emerging techniques that extend the boundries beyond the traditional four-step planning methodology. Some of these techniques are drawn from other fields of studies. Others introduce new dimensions to reconsider the problem. All in all, these approaches open up new possibilities and dimensions as well as make planning procedures more robust, thereby enabling the planning results to be applicable to a wider range of scenarios and for the longerterm future. Six papers are contained in this special issue. Drawing from business and organizational scenario planning techniques, the paper by Zegras, Sussman, and Conklin, ‘‘Scenario Planning for Strategic Regional Transportation Planning,’’ proposes a scenarioplanning framework for regional transportation planning. The study reviews the context of scenario planning for regional transportation planning, illustrates the approach through application to the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area, and concludes with findings, lessons learned, and future potentials and refinements of the approach. To improve the analysis of multicommodity demand and traffic patterns of a city with multiple regional activity centers, the paper by Wong, Zhou, Lo, and Yang, ‘‘Improved Solution Algorithm for the Multicommodity Continuous Distribution and Assignment Model’’ develops a new combined distribution and assignment model. A unique feature of this approach is that the dispersion of demand is modeled as a continuous function over space, in contrast to the traditional approach where demands are lumped at origin nodes or centroids. The study then proposes an efficient algorithm to solve the formulation. In the third paper, ‘‘Balance of Car Ownership under User Demand and Road Network Supply Conditions—Case Study in Hong Kong,’’ Tam and Lam propose a new concept for estimating car ownership. It considers the interactions between user demands and road network supply conditions, thereby factoring in the congestion effect to the estimation of car ownership on top of the traditional socioeconomic characteristics of the population. The paper then illustrates the approach through a case study in Hong Kong. Understanding users’ routing strategies is important, as it will lead to the design of more robust transportation networks. The paper by Bell, ‘‘Games, Heuristics, and Risk Averseness in Vehicle Routing Problems,’’ develops an approach for vehicle routing in networks with uncertain travel times. The study focuses on the case of freight carriers, wherein the dispatcher seeks a riskaverse routing and scheduling strategy. The writer formulates the problem with a game theoretic approach and solves it with a method of successive averages scheme. For low-density urban developments that render conventional transit services less competitive or cost-effective, perhaps only demand-responsive transit services are viable, if any at all. The paper by Khattak and Yim, ‘‘Traveler Response to Innovative Personalized Demand-Responsive Transit in the San Francisco Bay Area,’’ investigates the market for Personalized Demand Responsive Transit ~PDRT!. The study attempts to understand travelers’ willingness to use and pay for PDRT based on focus group meetings and a computer-assisted telephone survey. Such results are indicative for the planning of demand-responsive transit services. Finally, the paper by Ceder, ‘‘New Urban Public Transportation Systems: Initiatives, Effectiveness, and Challenges,’’ examines the major elements and challenges for the introduction of a new or an improved public transportation system. Drawing upon experiences in Europe and North America, the paper reviews the current state of practice and covers issues related to the use of public transportation services. The paper concludes by illustrating the case of the city of Auckland, New Zealand. These papers illustrate the range of research directions to improve the urban transportation planning process. Some focus on the methodological framework, others on broader and more connected considerations, better understanding of travelers’ choices, and issues that ought to be carefully considered in new initiatives or improvement schemes. We trust that, collectively, these two special issues serve to broaden the perspective on the new approaches for urban transportation planning. It is our hope that they will inspire and stimulate new research initiatives and efforts in this still evolving field.

Double-Sided Determination of Aggregation Level for Intelligent Transportation System Data

Intelligent transportation system (ITS) data, which are normally collected at a 15- to 30-s interval, are a rich and valuable resource for a variety of applications, including transportation planning. However, raw ITS data exhibit a wide range of fluctuations, which may not be directly useful for planning purposes, for which aggregations taken over longer time intervals are commonly needed. Proper determination of aggregation level of ITS data will ensure the retention of necessary information and the elimination of as much unnecessary information as possible. The traditional approaches to determining aggregation level are intuitive and easy to implement, yet they may be unable to determine whether particular information is kept or lost. The newly developed wavelet-based approach, although good for decomposing original data sets, needs to be further improved. A double-sided technique was developed that could refine the selection of aggregation levels based on two self-defined indices: the dissimilarity index and the information loss index. A computer program coded in MATLAB with the use of the Wavelet Toolbox was developed to implement the proposed technique. A case study illustrating the process was conducted by using real-time ITS data from traffic management centers in the San Antonio TransGuide. It is expected that the proposed technique will maximize the use of real-time ITS data and improve data needs in the urban transportation planning process.

Evaluation of Network Preloads on a Medium-Sized Urban Travel Forecast Model

Transportation engineers and planners attempt to understand urban travel characteristics to develop, formulate, and analyze problems and opportunities better. Transportation professionals use urban transportation models and typically implemented the four-step urban transportation planning process. This study examined a modified planning process that preassigned external trips to the transportation network before distributing and assigning internal trips. The preassignment, or preloading, of external trips helped to ensure that trips passing through the network were assigned to only the major through routes and that internal trips were modeled with the knowledge that external trips were present on the roadways before selecting destination or route. The study concluded that the preload methodology did not affect the validity of a travel model in a medium-sized urban travel forecast model and reduced assignment error on minor arterial roadways, which would not be the typical routes used by external travelers, to a level below the maximum deviation where an incorrect decision would be made regarding improvements to the roadway infrastructure.

Transport Planning in Jakarta

This article is concerned with existing proposals for improving public transport in Jakarta. Although Jakarta has a long history of transport studies, with more than 25 studies undertaken since 1975, public transport has experienced no obvious improvement. This article critically evaluates existing proposals, with the focus on how they attempt to address problems related to bus transport. The analysis reveals that, by adopting the standard Urban Transport Planning (UTP) process developed in the context of Western industrial cities, the transport studies have been largely directed towards inappropriate technology-transfer solutions. The studies uniformly propose replacing the existing bus system with short-term solutions that implement 'bus priority' schemes. The analysis also reveals that, rather than planning coherently, the proposals for Jakarta have been highly fragmented and lacking in detail. This is due largely to the nature of the studies, that regard bus improvement as a temporary measure prior to the implementation of a mass rapid transit (MRT) system, and also because of their over-reliance on market mechanisms, claiming that such mechanisms will allow 'self-correction' of the problems.

Role of Stated Preference Methods in Planning for Sustainable Urban Transportation: State of Practice and Future Prospects

This paper adopts the World Bank’s 1996 definition of sustainable transportation and attempts to identify ways of improving the urban transportation planning process and methodology. After a literature review of related studies conducted in different parts of the world over the past decade or so, the major theoretical and methodological advances in stated preference (SP) surveys are summarized. Then, the paper continues to suggest ways of how SP techniques can be used side-by-side with the traditional four-stage transportation planning model. Lastly, it concludes with some future directions of change if these useful techniques are to play a more important role in planning for sustainable urban transportation.