Transportation Engineering

Chapter 3
Transportation Infrastructure
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Highway transportation is the dominant mode in passenger travel and one of the
principal freight modes.
⚫ A highway system includes the intercity routes, a network of roads, which are
classified as rural or urban and as arterials or collectors.
⚫ Travel movements in a typical trip
✓ Main movement: between the area of origin and the area of destination
✓ Transition: a vehicle might use a ramp to transition from a freeway to a surface
arterial
✓ Distribution: providing drivers and vehicles with the ability to leave a major
through facility and get to the general area of their destination
✓ Collection: taking the drivers and vehicle close to the final destination
✓ Access and termination: providing the driver with a place to leave his or her
vehicle and enter the land use sought
✓ Not all trips will involve all of these components
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Hierarchy

Origination (driveway)

Access (local road)

Collection (collector)

Transition (ramp)

Main movement

Transition (ramp)

Distribution (collector)

Access (local road)

Termination (driveway)
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Two lane highway
✓ Undivided highway with two lanes, one for use by traffic in each direction
✓ Lane changing and passing is possible only in the face of oncoming traffic in the
opposing lane
- Realignment to improve passing sight distance
- Use of paved shoulder
- Use of passing lanes at intervals in each direction
- Three lane roadway with two lanes designed for travel in one direction
- Three lane road sections with continuous two way median left-turn lanes
- Three lane roadway with reversible center lane
- Special intersection treatments
- Truck or heavy-vehicle climbing lanes
- Turnouts
- Short for lane segments
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Multilane highway (Ideal conditions)
✓ 3.65m lane width
✓ Total 1.8m of lateral clearance in the direction of travel (including shoulder)
✓ No direct access points along the highway
✓ A divided highway
✓ Only passenger cars in the traffic stream
✓ A free-flow speed is 100 km/h or more
✓ Driver population consisting primarily of commuters
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Freeway
✓ A freeway is a divided highway facility having two or more lanes in each direction
for the exclusive use of traffic, with full control of entry and exit.
✓ In the highway hierarchy, the freeway is the only facility that provides completely
uninterrupted flow.
✓ This quality of flow is achieved by the physical control of access – permitting
vehicles to enter only from ramps designed to facilitate merging with traffic
already on the freeway.

Freeway ramp
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Three components of a freeway
✓ Basic freeway section (main roads)
✓ Weaving areas
✓ Ramp junctions
Weaving area

Ramp junction

Main roads
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Ramp
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Ramp
✓ Depending on geometric features

(a) Bifurcation type

(b) Trumpet type
(c) Y type
(d) Diamond type
(e) Cloverleaf type
(f) Roundabout type
(g) Turbine type
(h) Stack type
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Capacity
✓ Freeway capacity is the maximum sustained (15 minutes) rate of flow in vehicles
per hours (veh/hr) at which traffic can pass a point or uniform segment of freeway
under prevailing (predominant) roadway and traffic conditions.

⚫ Peak Hour Factor (PHF)

✓ The peak hour factor (PHF) is the hourly volume during the maximum volume
hour of the day divided by the peak 15-minute flow rate within the peak hour; a
measure of traffic demand fluctuations within the peak hour.

𝑃𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 60 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠

PHF = = close to 1 or 0
4 ×𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 15 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠

Time 5:00 - 5:15 5:15 - 5:30 5:30 -5:45 5:45 - 6:00

PHF = 4200/(4*1200) = 0.875
Traffic volume 1000 1100 1200 900
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Perfect freeway (ideal conditions)
✓ At least 3.5m lane width
✓ At least 1.5m right-shoulder lateral clearance
✓ Traffic stream consists of passenger cars only
✓ More lanes
✓ Interchange spaced every 3.2km or more
✓ Level terrain, with grades no greater than 2 percent
✓ Driver population dominated by regular and familiar users of the facility
✓ Capacity: 2,200 pcu/ln

⚫ Freeway performance measures

✓ Density in terms of passenger cars per kilometer per lane (pc/km/ln)
✓ Speed in terms of mean passenger car speed
✓ Volume-to-capacity ratio
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Perfect intersection (ideal conditions)
✓ At least 3.0m lane width
✓ No parking and bus stop permission within 75m
✓ Traffic stream consists of passenger cars only
✓ Interchange spaced every 3.2km or more
✓ Level terrain, with grades no greater than 2 percent
✓ Driver population dominated by regular and familiar users of the facility
✓ Capacity: 1,800 pcu/ln
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ PCE or PCU (passenger car equivalent or passenger car unit)
✓ a metric used in Transportation Engineering, to assess traffic flow rate on a
highway.
✓ Typical values
➢ Private car = 1
➢ Motor cycle = 0.5
➢ Bicycle = 0.2
➢ Bus, truck = 3.0~5.0

Topographical
Type
Flatland Hill Mountain area
Truck (ET) 1.5
3.0 5.0
Bus (EB) 1.3
1. Highway
⚫ Why PCE or PCU?
✓ For the calculation of road capacity & maximum service flow rate

Freeway Intersection
1. Highway
⚫ Why PCE or PCU?
✓ For the calculation of road capacity & maximum service flow rate

𝑀𝑆𝐹𝑖 = 2200 × (𝑣/𝑐 )𝑖 Maximum service flow rate, i service

𝑆𝐹𝑖 = 2200 × (𝑣/𝑐)𝑖 × 𝑁 × 𝑓𝑤 × 𝑓𝐻𝑉 service flow, i service
𝑓𝐻𝑉 = 1Τ[ 1 + 𝑃𝑇 𝐸𝑇 − 1 + 𝑃𝐵 𝐸𝐵 − 1 ሿ Flatland
𝑓𝐻𝑉 = 1Τ[ 1 + 𝑃𝐻𝑉 𝐸𝐻𝑉 − 1 ሿ Hill & Mountain area
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Urban transport systems
✓ Uninterrupted flow: freeway
- No external to the traffic stream.
✓ Interrupted flow: intersections
- Incorporate fixed external interruptions into their design and operation

⚫ Intersections
Signalized Intersection Roundabout Stop and give way
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Signalized intersections (High level traffic volumes)
✓ London (1868)
✓ Priority by traffic signals
✓ Accidents and conflicts decrease

⚫ Roundabout (Mid level traffic volumes)

✓ England (1966), Australia & New Zealand (1970s), US & Canada (1990s), Korea
(2011)
✓ Right of way (give way)
• Drivers must slow down or stop to yield to traffic approaching from the left
• Drivers must wait for a gap in traffic
• Drivers then carefully proceed into the roundabout
⚫ Stop and give-way (Low level traffic volumes)
✓ The simplest control device
✓ Two-way stop or give way
✓ All-way stop or give way
✓ 1.5 - 2s reaction time
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
A: Most likely to be an appropriate treatment
⚫ Guidelines O: May be an appropriate treatment
X: Inappropriate treatment

Major arterial Arterial Collector Local street

(i) Traffic Signal
Major arterial A A O X
Arterial A O X
Collector X X
Local street X
(ii) Roundabouts
Major arterial O O X X
Arterial X O X
Collector A O
Local street A
(iii) Stop or Give Way
Major arterial X X O A
Arterial X O A
Collector A A
Local street A
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Intersection design principle
✓ Reduce conflict points
✓ Reduce vehicle speed
✓ Avoid complicated merging or demerging
✓ Separate conflict points
✓ Give way to high and fast traffic
✓ Reduce intersection area
✓ Separate different modes
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Intersection channelization (using traffic islands or lines)
✓ Motorists should be provided with channel lines that are easy to follow
✓ Sudden and sharp reverse curves should be avoided
✓ Areas of vehicle conflict should be reduced as much as possible
✓ Traffic streams that cross without merging and weaving should intersect at or near
right angles
✓ Island should be carefully selected and be as few as possible
✓ Over channelization should be avoided
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Traffic islands near university

Too wide (more than 2 cars)

 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Rotaries and roundabouts (traffic circle)
✓ Rotaries from US
✓ Roundabouts from UK
✓ Circle island
- Reduction of vehicle speed
- Drivers obtain enough reaction time
✓ Different operating principle

Rotaries Roundabouts
 Transportation Infrastructure
1. Highway
⚫ Stop/Give way intersections
✓ All-way stop is an intersection system that is required to stop before proceeding
through the intersection.
✓ Two-way stop intersection
✓ Give way intersection
 Transportation Infrastructure
2. Railroad
⚫ One of the primary means of transportation, railroad is increasingly of utmost
importance.
⚫ It is a road composed of parallel steel rails supported by ties and providing a track for
locomotive-drawn trains or other wheels vehicles

Railroad
 Transportation Infrastructure
2. Railroad
⚫ Three kinds of tracks
✓ Narrow gauge
✓ Standard gauge: 143.5cm
✓ Broad gauge
⚫ Monorail: a single rail serving as a track for wheeled vehicles traveling on it or
suspended from it

Straddle-beam Suspended Cable car

⚫ Cable railway: a railroad on which the cars are moved by an endless cable driven by a
stationary engine
 Transportation Infrastructure
2. Railroad
⚫ Advantages of railroad
✓ It facilities long distance travel and transport of bulky goods which are not easily
transported through motor vehicles
✓ It is a quick and more regular form of transport because it helps in the
transportation of goods with speed and certainty
✓ It helps in the quick movement of goods from one place to another at the time of
emergencies like famines (歉收) and scarcity (饥荒)
✓ It encourages mobility of labor ad thereby provides a great scope for employment
✓ Railway is the safest form of transport
✓ The carrying capacity of the railway is extremely large
✓ It is the largest public undertaking in the country
 Transportation Infrastructure
2. Railroad
⚫ Disadvantages of railroad
✓ The railway requires a large investment of capital.
✓ Routes and timings cannot be adjusted to individual requirements (inflexibility).
✓ Rail transport cannot provide door-to-door service as it is tied to a particular track.
✓ As railways require huge capital outlay, they may give rise to monopolies and
work against public interest at large.
✓ Railway transport is unsuitable and uneconomical for short distance and small
traffic of goods.
✓ It involves much time and labor in booking and taking delivery of goods through
railways compared to motor transport.
✓ Because of huge capital requirements and traffic, railways cannot be operated
economically in rural areas. Thus, large rural areas have no railway even today.
This causes much inconvenience to the people living in rural areas.
 Transportation Infrastructure
3. Airport
⚫ Airport is a tract of leveled land where aircraft can take off and land, usually equipped
with hard-surfaced landing strips, a control tower, hangars, aircraft maintenance and
refueling facilities, and accommodations for passengers and cargo.
⚫ Airport system includes the airport, aircraft and the airline.
✓ Aircraft is a machine or device, such as an airplane, a helicopter, a glider, or a
dirigible, that is capable of atmospheric flight.
✓ Airline is a system for scheduled air transport of passengers and freight. It is also
called air lane, airway, flight course, a line of flight, a regular route of travel for
aircraft, including domestic service, and international service.
 Transportation Infrastructure
4. Harbors and ports
⚫ Water transportation system is consist of sea-route, or river, harbor and port, and the
ship.
⚫ A harbor is any body of water of sufficient depth for ships to enter and find shelter
from storms or other natural phenomena.
⚫ The modern harbor is a place where ships are built, launched, and repaired, as
well as a terminal for incoming and outgoing ships.
⚫ Harbor and port might look the same from the coastline, but harbor can be manmade or
natural. Port is usually manmade, is bigger and has many facilities (buildings, railways,
warehouse and so on).
 Transportation Infrastructure
5. Traffic control devices
⚫ Traffic control is a central function of traffic engineers and involves the establishment
of traffic regulations and either communication to the driver through the use of traffic
control devices (TCDs).
⚫ TCDs include signs, movable barriers, and signals.
⚫ Categories of traffic control devices
✓ Traffic markings
✓ Traffic signs harmonized
✓ Traffic signals

Traffic marking (ex) Traffic sign Traffic signal

5. Traffic control devices
⚫ Traffic marking
 Transportation Infrastructure
5. Traffic control devices
⚫ Traffic markings
✓ Longitudinal markings: markings that are “long”, such as centerlines, edge lines,
and lane lines
✓ Transverse markings: across the road and are typically white (crosswalks, stop bars,
chevrons, parking lines and so on)
✓ Object markers and delineators: small object mounted reflectors

Longitudinal Transverse
Delineators
markings markings
 Transportation Infrastructure
5. Traffic control devices
⚫ Colors and patterns (traffic markings)
✓ Yellow markings separate traffic traveling in opposite directions
✓ White markings separate traffic traveling in the same direction
✓ Red markings delineate (illustrate) roadways that shall not be entered or used by
viewer or marking
✓ Blue markings are used to delineate parking spaces reserved for persons with
disabilities
✓ Black markings are used in conjunction with other markings on light pavements
 Transportation Infrastructure
5. Traffic control devices
⚫ Colors and patterns (traffic markings)
✓ Different direction or ETC
 Transportation Infrastructure
5. Traffic control devices
⚫ Traffic signs
✓ There are 4 principal groups of regulatory signs, excluding those for pedestrians
- Right of way signs, the most common being stop and yield signs
- Speed signs
- Movement signs, such as turning or one-way signs
- Parking signs
 Transportation Infrastructure
5. Traffic control devices
⚫ Traffic signals
✓ Generally a traffic signal is installed at an intersection for specific reasons
- To improve overall safety
- To decrease average travel time through an intersection, and consequently
increase capacity
- To equalize the quality of service for all or most traffic stream
✓ Misapplied or poorly designed signals can cause excessive delay, signal
violations, increased accidents
⚫ 3 methods of operation
✓ Pre-timed signal
✓ Semi-actuated signal
✓ Actuated signal
⚫ SCATS and SCOOT
✓ SCATS and SCOOT are the most widely deployed adaptive traffic control
systems worldwide
 Transportation Infrastructure
Again!!!
⚫Intersection design principle
✓Reduce conflict points
✓Reduce vehicle speed
✓Avoid complicated merging or demerging
✓Separate conflict points
✓Give way to high and fast traffic
✓Reduce intersection area
✓Separate different modes
 Transportation Infrastructure
6. Intersections
 Transportation Infrastructure
6. Intersections
 Transportation Infrastructure
6. Intersections
 Transportation Infrastructure
6. Intersections
 Transportation Infrastructure
6. Intersections
Quiz
1. What is the definition of transportation?

2. What is “Road hierarchies?” Describe the role of road hierarchy briefly.

3. What is “priority”, and what is “give way (yield)”?

4. Please write at least three (3) principles of intersection design.

5. What are the elementary parameters of a transportation system?

6. Please explain three types of intersection control devices.

7. Why do you need to study transportation engineering?