CETB 412

TRANSPORTATION
ENGINEERING

T R A N S P O RTAT I O N S YS T E M
Chapter

Transportation
system
Transportation System
■ Functional system of an aggregation of vehicles,
guideways, terminal facilities and control systems
that functions to move goods and people from one
place to another place
Component in Transportation System

Three-legged stool of transportation systems (Fricker & Whitford, 2004)

Component in Transportation System
Fixed facility: physical components of the transportation
system that are fixed in space and are made of
■ Network of links which is a portion of the transportation
system that can be described by its capacity, lane width
and speed. Examples are roadway segments, railroads,
airports, sea ports & pipelines.
■ Nodes are end points of links and represent an
intersection or location where a link changes direction,
capacity, width or speed. Examples are highway
intersection & interchanges, transit terminal, harbor and
airport.
■ A centroid is the location within a zone where trips begin
and end. Examples are housing areas and bus terminals.
Component in Transportation System
Flow entities:
■ units or vehicles that transverse the fixed facilities
that include a variety of transportation users such as
pedestrians, automobiles, railroad cars, airplane and
etc.
Component in Transportation System
Control system:
■ Vehicular control system refers to technological way in
which individual vehicles are guided on the fixed
facilities to ensure that the purpose of the
transportation system is achieved in a safe manner.
An example is a proper geometric design of highways.
■ Flow control system is the means to allow an efficient
and smooth operation of stream of vehicles and a
reduction of conflicts between road users (with
respect to highways). An example is an appropriate
traffic signal timing and coordination at highway
intersections.
Component in Transportation System
Transportation organization:
■ Facility-oriented organizations are those involved in
planning, designing, constructing, maintaining and
operating fixed facilities.
■ Operating organizations operates fleets of vehicles to
provide transportation services – airlines, railroads,
shipping, trucks, transits and etc
Component in Transportation System
Transportation organization:
■ Facility-oriented organizations are those involved in
planning, designing, constructing, maintaining and
operating fixed facilities.
■ Operating organizations operates fleets of vehicles to
provide transportation services – airlines, railroads,
shipping, trucks, transits and etc.
Interrelationship of functional components of a commercial air
transportation system

James H. Banks (2002)

Modes of Transportation System
Physical or medium characteristics:

Purpose:
Modes of Transportation System

Movement of People and freight via Road

Modes of Transportation System

Movement of People and freight via Trains

Modes of Transportation System

Movement of People via cruise Movement of freight via container ship

Bintulu Port, Sarawak George Town Port, Penang

Modes of Transportation System

Movement of People and freight via

airlines

The Kuala Lumpur International

Airport
Modes of Transportation System

Oil and gas pipeline

Oil plant
Selection of Modes of Transportation System –
Example (Nicholas J. Garber)
Selection of Modes of Transportation System -
Example
Transportation Organization in Malaysia
Information about Malaysian transportation system
can be found in the following websites:
 http://www.mot.gov.my
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_in_
Malaysia
 http://www.travelblog.org/World/my-trans.html
Issues and Challenges
Traffic Congestion:
■ Demand and supply
■ Trip generation
■ Construct more capacity vs transportation
management (funding limitation)
o Better urban land-use planning and
control of land development
o Provision of efficient traffic information
(e.g. ITS)
o Traffic Control (e.g. Improved timing and
coordination of urban arterial signal
systems or freeway ramp meters.)
o Promotion and improvement of public
transport system
o Enforcement of various economic
measures such as road pricing
Issues and Challenges
Traffic Safety:
■ Motor vehicle fatality (most)
 Speeding
 Adverse Weather
o Possible solution include improved
highway design and maintenance,
improved vehicle design, driver
education and law enforcement
activities
■ Aviation fatality (very low compared to
those for motor vehicles)
■ Rail traffic (sporadic)
Issues and Challenges
Equality of access:
For the poor, the elderly and the physically handicapped.
Financial challenges to modify vehicle and station to satisfy
their needs.
■ Keep fares low
■ Provision of curb cuts and wheelchair ramps at
intersections of road with sidewalk
■ Provision of wheelchair access, usually ramps at transport
terminals such as airports, bus and railway stations
Issues and Challenges
Environment Impacts:
■ Air quality (vehicle technology and vehicle maintenance --
emissions control devices and inspection programs)
■ Energy consumption (improve vehicle technologies, new fuels)
■ Land use
■ Site-specific impacts
o displacement of residents and businesses due to
construction of transportation facilities
o noise
o impacts on wild-life
o impacts on water quality
o visual impacts
o temporary impacts during construction (noise, dust, reduced
water quality due to erosion of unprotected slopes, etc.)
Intelligent Transportation System (ITS)
■ Travel and transportation management
■ route driver information, route guidance,
traveler services information, traffic
control, incident management, and
emissions testing and mitigation
■ Travel demand management
■ pre-trip travel information, ride matching
and reservation, and demand management
and operations
■ Public transportation operation
■ public transportation management, route
transit information, personalized public
transit, and public transit security
■ Electronic payment services
Intelligent Transportation System (ITS)
■ Commercial vehicle operation
■ commercial vehicle electronic clearance, automated
roadside safety inspection, on board safety monitoring,
commercial vehicle administrative process, hazardous
materials incident response, and commercial fleet
management
■ Emergency management
■ emergency notification and personal security,
emergency vehicle management
■ Advanced vehicle control and safety systems
■ longitudinal and lateral collision avoidance, intersection
collision avoidance, vision enhancement for crash
avoidance, safety readiness, pre-crash restraint
deployment, and automated highway systems
 References
■ James H. Banks (2002); Introduction to
Transportation Engineering, 2rd Edition,
McGraw Hill
■ Fred L. Mannering and Scott S. Washburn
(2013); Principles of Highway Engineering and
Traffic Analysis, 5th Edition, John Wiley & Sons
■ Nicholas J. Garber and Lester A. Hoel (2015);
Traffic and Highway Engineering, 5th Edition,
PWS Publishing.
■ PDRM