CHAPTER 2

Transportation System
Issues and Challenges
Transportation System Issues and Challenges
• Transportation is one of the major functional systems of
modern society. As such, it exists to meet perceived social
and economic needs. As these change, and as the
transportation system itself evolves, situations arise in which
transportation is regarded as a “problem” – as being
inadequate to serve the public interest or, possibly, as
threatening it.
• These problem areas serve as challenges to the
transportation engineering profession, posing both the
threat of diminished public support and the opportunity to
contribute to the solution of perceived social problems.
2.1 TRAFFIC CONGESTION
• Traffic congestion exists wherever demand exceeds the
capacity of the transportation system.
• Urban highway has long been recognized as a challenge. In
earlier stages of the development of the highway system, the
usual response to congestion was to build more capacity.
Suggested possible solutions in the US:
• More sophisticated traffic control, including automatic control of
individual vehicles, which is claimed to have the potential to
reduce time gaps between vehicles in the traffic stream.
• Improvement to more traditional forms of traffic control, such as
improved timing and coordination of urban arterial signal systems
or freeway ramp meters.
In the case of air transportation system, the
following solutions were pursued;
• The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has
authority to control access to the most congested
airports by rationing landing “slots”
• Also, the FAA has adopted a practice of holding flights
on the ground at the airport of origin when it appears
that insufficient capacity will be available at the
destination airport.
2.2 TRAFFIC SAFETY
2.2.1 Trends
• A second major challenge is the continued
improvement of traffic safety. Traffic accidents are of
concern for all modes of transportation, but are
perhaps most visible in highways and commercial air.
• In general, there has been an improvement in safety
for all modes of transportation, at least if accident
rates are used as the main indicator of safety.
2.2.2 Organizational Responsibilities
The organizations focus on the improvement of
safety of vehicles, traffic safety, safety research
and development and collection of accident data.
2.2.3 The Challenges
Traffic safety is a continuing challenge for the
transportation engineering profession because of
public expectations that safety will continue to
improve.
2.3 EQUALITY OF ACCESS

• Another continuing challenge has been to

provide adequate access to the transportation
system for all sorts of people. Three groups in
particular have been seen as generally
underserved. These are poor, the elderly and the
physically handicapped.
2.4 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
One of the most important challenges to the
transportation system is that of dealing with its
environmental impacts and with the impacts of other
economic activities, such as land development, on
transportation.
2.4.1 Site-Specific Impacts
Site-specific impacts are dealt with by means of specific
laws and regulations and through a process
documenting environmental impacts.
2.4.2 System-Level Impacts
• Attempts to deal with the system-level impacts of the
transportation system, such as air quality and energy
consumption, have resulted in broad national-level laws and
regulations.
• These provide for regulation of and economic incentives for
private industry (mostly related to vehicle design); research;
and a planning process to be implemented at the state and
local level which provides for transportation demand
management, traffic control to reduce congestion, and
provision of some additional transportation capacity.
2.5 NEW TECHNOLOGY
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
Scope of ITS:
• Travel and transportation management, to include en-route
driver information, route guidance, and traveler services
information, traffic control, incident management, and
emissions testing and mitigation.
• Travel demand management, to include pretrip travel
information, ride matching and reservation, and demand
management and operations.
Scope of ITS:

• Public transportation operations, to include public

transportation management, en-route transit information,
personalized public transit, and public transit security.
• Electronic payment services
• Commercial vehicle operations, to include commercial
vehicle electronic clearance, automated roadside safety
inspection, on-board safety monitoring, commercial vehicle
administrative process, hazardous materials incident
response, and commercial fleet management.
Scope of ITS:

• Emergency management, to include emergency notification

and personal security and emergency vehicle management.
• Advanced vehicle control and safety systems, to include
longitudinal collision avoidance, lateral collision avoidance,
intersection collision avoidance, vision enhancement for
crash avoidance, safety readiness, precrash restraint
deployment, and automated highway systems.
2.6 FUNDING

• Securing adequate financial resources is

another perennial challenge, both for public
agencies providing transportation facilities and
for private-sector firms providing
transportation services.
2.7 INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
Provision of adequate institutional arrangements for
the transportation system is also a challenge. In most
cases, new institutional arrangements have come about
as a response to perceived deficiencies in the existing
system. In the recent past, the most conspicuous and
enduring areas of institutional change have been .
• Adjustments to the relationship between the public
and private sectors and;
• Attempts to overcome modal and jurisdictional
fragmentation
SUMMARY
The transportation system exists to meet perceived and
social and economic needs. As these change, and as the
transportation system itself evolves, situations arise in which
transportation is viewed as a “problem”, and these situations
create a challenges for the transportation engineering
profession. At present the profession faces a number of
enduring challenges. These include finding ways to manage or
reduce traffic congestion, continuing to improve safety,
providing better access to the system for underserved groups,
protecting the environment, incorporating new technology,
securing adequate funding, and developing adequate
institutional arrangements.
Write an essay on one of the following topics. Your essay should
present a balanced and critical treatment of the assigned topic. Be as
objective as possible, and employ a style appropriate for a professional
document.
• Assessment of the alternative approaches to increasing urban
commute load factors
• Effects of airlines deregulation on commercial air prices, schedules,
and network characteristics
• Assessment of privatization of mass transit services
• Recent developments in automatic vehicle control systems
• Recent development in motorist information systems
• Assessment of congestion management policies and procedures
• Assessment of the provision of toll roads by private sectors