Unesco - Eolss Sample Chapters: Transportation Engineering
Unesco - Eolss Sample Chapters: Transportation Engineering
Unesco - Eolss Sample Chapters: Transportation Engineering
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
Izumi Okura
Professor, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Japan
Masao Kuwahara
Professor, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Hirokazu Akahane
Professor, Chiba Institute of Technology, Chiba, Japan
Fumihiko Nakamura
Associate Professor, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Japan
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Keywords: Transportation, traffic flow, highway capacity, level of service, public
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passenger, planning, demand, prediction, geometric design, intersection, traffic
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management, congestion, safety
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Contents
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1. Introduction
2. Traffic Flow Fundamentals
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5.4 Measures that Influence Transport Mode Choices
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5.5. Smoothing of Traffic Flows
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6. Safety
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6.1. Necessity of Systematic Approaches
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6.2. Fundamentals of Accident Analysis in Each Step
6.2.1. Identification of Sites to Be Treated
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6.2.2. Diagnosis: Problems, Causes and Possible Solutions
6.2.3. Selection of Measures to be Applied
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Glossary
Bibliography
Biographical Sketches
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Summary
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engineering should cover a wide spectrum of areas including railways, aviation, water
transportation, pipelines, etc., besides highway traffic engineering.
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It can be said in plain terms that the subject of transportation engineering is concerned
with appropriate knowledge and technology aimed at the best usage of transportation
facilities and systems. Usually in the actual field of road traffic for example, it is
considerably difficult to find and apply the best set of measures, since there are complex
evaluation viewpoints of various users for the design of the transportation systems.
This chapter provides an overview of the fundamentals of planning, design, control, and
management aspects of surface transportation, and among various fields, road
transportation is mainly explained considering both the complicated structure of
revealed problems and many combinations of countermeasures to alleviate the problems.
In each part, some selected typical and essential features are described in some detail
among many relevant items in each field.
1. Introduction
Furthermore appropriate countermeasures are needed not only at the stage of traffic
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planning but also in traffic management. Accordingly transportation engineering should
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cover a wide spectrum of areas including railways, aviation, water transportation,
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pipelines, etc., besides highway traffic engineering. In other words, an integrated system
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of transportation facilities is necessary for the solution of the transportation problems,
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and an efficient system of updating knowledge and experience is essential.
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It can be said in plain terms that the subject of transportation engineering is concerned
with appropriate knowledge and technology aimed at the best usage of transportation
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facilities and systems. In the context of highway traffic engineering, "the best" usage
implies not only ensuring safe, smooth and comfortable conditions for all road users
including vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians, but also providing the benefits which the
roads naturally bring to the roadside inhabitants and land use with the minimum
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Usually in the actual field of the road traffic, it is considerably difficult to find and apply
the best set of measures, since there are complex evaluation viewpoints of various users
for the design of the transportation systems and the mutually exclusive evaluation items
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to be achieved. Even under such conditions, the knowledge of what kind of measures
can respectively have the definite effects must be prepared systematically, concerning
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the aspects of efficiency, safety, amenity and environmental preservation, from the
standpoints of the transportation engineers.
Transportation engineering, as mentioned above, covers a very wide set of areas and
thus an appropriate understanding of each field should be requisite. However sufficient
description of all the fields may not be possible in this chapter due to space limitation.
Therefore, the main descriptions are focused on the road transportation as a
representative of surface transportation.
The reasons for taking up road transportation especially among various fields, are as
follows: firstly, there are specific characteristics such as different structures of the
problems which are associated with different backgrounds, for example, locations to be
discussed, problems to be solved and measures are greatly different by the combination
of transportation facilities, systems, and regulations applied. Secondly, more
complicated counters are needed than in other fields and more considerations for
various aspects seem to be necessary, since correspondent subjects for problems are
many and the viewpoints for the transportation system evaluation are also different
respectively for the problems to be treated.
Among various problems, traffic jams, traffic accidents and traffic pollution are the
three most serious problems to be tackled in the fields of road traffic and the continuous
execution of countermeasures for relieving problems is required urgently. In this chapter,
the prevailing knowledge concerning these issues in transportation engineering is to be
introduced and some new recent challenges and movements are summarized.
This chapter is composed of the following five parts considering the major fields
applied in transportation engineering. In each part, limited typical and essential features
are selected for explanation in some detail among many relevant items in each field.
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The first is the fundamental field which deepens our understanding and recognition of
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traffic phenomena or various characteristics in transportation engineering. It is
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important to know various features of the components of the road transportation and the
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characteristics concerning a traffic flow such as vehicles, two-wheeled vehicles,
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pedestrians, because this kind of information becomes the basis in all sides of
transportation engineering. These include characteristics of traffic flows, traffic flow
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models, traffic capacity -the basic information in the operation, and the fundamental
mechanisms of the generation of traffic jams, etc.
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The second is the field of transportation planning. In this field, the following are
explained: the framework of the plan, the procedures of traffic planning, traffic demand
prediction techniques, the planning of the public transportation system, and
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investigations for traffic planning, etc. In recent years, these have been the subjects of
intense research.
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The third is the field of road design, which examines the relationships between the
structures /facilities, and the road safety, the traffic smoothness and the environmental
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The fourth is the practical field that is concerned with traffic management and operation
of highway facilities. It includes traffic signalization, traffic regulations (one-way
operation, parking regulation, etc.), location of roadway space (lanes, intersection
channelizations, etc.), improvements of bus operations (bus-lanes, bus location systems)
and so on. The following components are applied in these systems: Traffic signs and
variable-message signs, road lighting, comprehensive traffic control systems integrating
these elements efficiently, etc. This is the actual field of transportation engineering, so
to speak.
The fifth part is the field of highway safety. Procedures of highway safety programs are
introduced and the fundamentals in each step are explained for the efficient execution of
the accident preventive measures.
The time-space diagram has been well used by traffic engineers to analyze vehicle
motions. The vertical and horizontal axes respectively show space (distance) and time.
A vehicle motion can be therefore drawn as a trajectory on this two-dimensional
diagram. The slope of a trajectory with reference to the time axis indicates the speed
of the concerned vehicle, the horizontal distance between two adjacent trajectories
shows the headway of the vehicles and the vertical interval of the trajectories gives the
spacing. Since the inverse of headway is flow and the inverse of spacing is density,
dynamic change of flow, density, and speed can be explained from the time-space
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diagram.
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2.1.2 Flow-Density-Speed Relationship
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Flow is defined as the number of vehicles passing at a certain location per unit time.
Density is defined as the number of vehicles at a certain time per unit distance. Speed
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(space mean speed) is defined as flow divided by density. These three are key
variables to analyze traffic flow in traffic engineering. Since a universal relationship
among the three variables, flow = (space mean) speed × density, is maintained, one is
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Greenshields reported a linear relationship between speed and density. If the linear
relationship is combined with the above universal relationship, relationships between
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any two of the three variables can be obtained. For instance, from Greenshields’
model, flow becomes a quadratic function of density and also quadratic function of
speed. There have been quite a few empirical observations that reported slightly
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different relationships, although the general tendencies among the three variables are the
same.
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Queuing theory is another useful tool to evaluate mainly vehicle delay. Conventionally,
we draw the cumulative number of vehicles passing a certain location. The cumulative
figure shows time-dependent vehicle passing time at the particular location. In order
to evaluate delay on a section from location A to B, the cumulative curves at locations A
and B are useful. Then, the area between two cumulative curves shows total delay on
the section for a specified time period. If FIFO (First In First Out) discipline is
assumed for all the vehicles passing the section, individual vehicle delay can be
evaluated as the horizontal time period between two curves. Note that, under FIFO, a
vehicle passing location A earlier than another one is assumed to also pass location B
earlier.
The analysis using the cumulative figures is called as the deterministic queuing theory,
since stochastic fluctuations of vehicle passing times are not explicitly considered. For
traffic phenomena with a huge queue, stochastic effect on the delay may not dominant
and therefore the deterministic theory is sufficient. And also, since the deterministic
analysis is basically based upon only vehicle input and output from the study section but
independent of vehicle motions on the section, the deterministic theory seems robust to
evaluate delay. However, most of the deterministic queuing theories employ point
queues that have no physical lengths. Thus, you cannot evaluate queue backing up
phenomena from the point queue analysis. Recent studies however combine the
deterministic queuing theory with the kinematic wave theory to evaluate queue backing
up.
On the other hand, for phenomena not always with a queue such as traffic at an
undersaturated intersection where a queue forms during red but vanishes by the end of
green, stochastic effect on delay my not be negligible. Especially, the stochastic
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effects become dominant for near saturated condition. In stochastic queuing theory,
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one has to define stochastic passing time distribution. For example, at an intersection,
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traffic engineers have frequently used Poisson arrivals and uniform departures to
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evaluate queuing delay stochastically.
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2.1.4 Kinematic-Wave Theory
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The kinematic-wave theory was developed in 1950s mainly by physicists. They
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applied the theory of wave motion to traffic flow. The theory explains motions of
forward and backward wave along one-dimensional flow stream. A collision of
forward and backward waves is known as a shock that can be physically seen as a
boundary of different traffic conditions. For instance, the tail of a queue is one kind of
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shock because upstream of the tail is free flow condition and its downstream is
congested flow condition. From the theory, in particular, hence we can explain the
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The theory was constructed based upon the flow conservation principle on a highway
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slope of the flow-density relationship. Then, we can obtain an important property that
flow rate does not change on the trajectory of the wave, which is called the
characteristic curve. This means, for example, when a queue starts growing on a
highway section, a contour line of the same flow rate at the downstream end of the
section can be found along the backward wave trajectory.
The kinematic-wave theory was recently combined with the deterministic queuing
theory. This extended theory explains shock-wave propagation from cumulative
curves and flow-density relationship mentioned above.
1950s and has been modified in various ways. The simplest form of the car-following
model assumes that the vehicle acceleration with time lag is proportional to the relative
speed with respect to its leader. The constant coefficient of the linear car-following
model is called the sensitivity. The sensitivity is however sometimes assumed as a
function of its speed and the spacing from the leader.
The linear car-following model and its family were well analyzed because of its simple
form and the mathematical elegance. Local as well as asymptotic instabilities of
change in spacing and derivation of the flow-density-speed relationship are examples of
the analysis. However, since the ability to describe real vehicle motion is limited,
several more complex models have been reported.
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Traffic simulation is a tool, which reproduces complex real traffic phenomena by
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combining relatively simple traffic models and user behavioral models. Due to the
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sophisticated computer technology, various traffic simulation models have been
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developed since the late 1970s. Traffic simulation models cover wide range in terms
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of the size of study area. Generally speaking, a model focusing on small areas such as
a few intersections employs a detailed flow model which reproduces not only
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longitudinal but lateral vehicle motions such as lane changing, overtaking, etc. On the
other hand, models considering thousands of links and nodes have been also developed
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relationship. Also, since simulation models are usually combinations of many simple
models, most users tend to have difficulty to understand the abilities and applicability of
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simulation models.
Traffic capacity of a simple straight pipe section is classified into three categories. The
basic capacity is traffic capacity under ideal conditions such as sufficient lane width and
lateral clearance, good alignment, passenger cars only, and no speed limit. While the
basic capacity of a multi-lane highway is defined as the number of passenger cars being
able to pass per unit time for one lane, one for a two-lane highway is defined for two
lanes together, since traffic capacity on one direction is influenced by traffic in the
opposite direction.
The possible capacity is capacity modified based upon actual traffic condition and
geometric design. The design capacity is furthermore modified taking the level of
service into consideration.
Traffic capacities at merging, diverging, and weaving sections are more difficult to
explain than one for a simple section because of the complicated geometric design as
well as flow streams. For merging and diverging capacities, at least two flow streams
must be considered. And since weaving is merging followed by diverging, four
different streams must be considered. Moreover, their geometric designs are more
complicated depending upon angle of merging and diverging, types of weaving, etc.
Thus, an internationally well accepted method to estimate such capacities from traffic
condition and the geometric design has not been developed, although historical
experimental results have been summarized in capacity manuals.
2.2.3 Intersections
Intersections are classified into two: unsignalized and signalized intersections. For
unsignalized intersections, the capacity must be estimated based upon the traffic
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regulation such as stop and yield control. Experimental results have been summarized
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in manuals. For signalized intersections, the signal control must be considered. In
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general, for both types, the capacity analysis for a simple section is modified based upon
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intersection control mentioned above.
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2.3 Sensing Technology and Surveillance
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2.3.1 Sensors
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Conventional traffic detectors have mainly two types: an ultrasonic detector and an
inductive loop detector. An ultrasonic detector is installed above a road surface and
measures a round trip travel time of ultrasonic signal between the detector and an object
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underneath, while a loop detector is installed under the pavement and measures
inductive impedance. These sensors can measure flow and time occupancy. If the
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sensors are installed as a pair, vehicle speed can be also measured. Recently, an
ultrasonic detector, which identifies vehicle type based upon measured vehicle height,
has been developed.
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An image sensor detects vehicles from their monitored images. Images obtained from
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video cameras are processed to automatically estimate flow, speed, and vehicle types.
Some types of sensors can find out a queue length.
Beacon has two types: infrared and microwave beacons. Similar to the conventional
detectors, both beacons measure flow and occupancy. But, an infrared beacon has not
only sensing but also communication functions. If a vehicle carries on-board
equipment, an infrared beacon can communicate with the vehicle. It receives the
randomized vehicle ID, the previous beacon ID, and travel time from the previous
beacon passed, while it transmits traffic information to the vehicle. Because of the
communication, the infrared beacon identifies individual vehicle and hence a trip route
of the vehicle is observed.
2.3.2 Surveillance
Weather monitoring utilizing various sensors such as rain, fog, snow, and wind gauges
is another important function.
The Dedicated Short Range Communication system developed recently can identify
individual vehicles traveling on highways. The communication with vehicles through
infrared beacons and automatic toll transaction systems through ETC (Electronic Toll
Collection) are already realized technology of DSRC. Data obtained by these recent
tools reveal routes, origin-destinations, intersection-turning movements, which would
be utilized for traffic surveillance as well as for transportation planning.
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Bibliography
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American Association of State Highway and Transportation Official. (1990). A Policy on Geometric
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Design of Highway and Streets. AASHTO, Washington D.C. [This describes the fundamentals of
geometric design in detail.]
Baker J.S. and Fricke L.B. (1986), The Traffic-Accident Investigation Manual, Northwestern University
Traffic Institute, Illinois. [This provides information on various aspects concerning the accident
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investigation process.]
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Box P.C. and Oppenlander J.C. (1976), Manual of Traffic Engineering, Institute of Transportation
Engineers, Washington, D.C. [This describes the various fundamentals of traffic engineering.]
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). (1981), Highway Safety Engineering Studies, Procedural
Guide, Federal Highway Administration, FHWA-TS-81-220, Washington, D.C. [This describes the
procedures of inspecting the procedures to be solved in detail.]
Gazis D.C., Herman R., Rothery R.W. (1961). Non-linear Follow-the-leader Models of Traffic Flow,
Operations Res. 9, pp545-567. [This is one of representative papers on the car-following theory. You
may refer to several papers by the same authors.]
Homburger W.S. (2000). Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering, 15th Edition, Institute of Transportation
Studies, University of California. [This is a standard textbook on traffic engineering explaining
fundamental concepts and terminologies on traffic flow theory and surveillance.]
Japan Society of Traffic Engineers (JSTE). (1988). The Planning and Design of At-Grade Intersections.
JSTE. Tokyo. [This describes the technical knowledge of design, traffic operation and accident preventive
measures at the intersections comprehensively.]
Japan Society of Traffic Engineers. (1994). Manual on Traffic Signal Control, Japan Society of Traffic
Engineers, [in Japanese]. [Manual in which basic theories and experiences of traffic signal control in
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fairly advanced one.]
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Newell G.F. (1993). A simplified theory of kinematic waves in highway traffic; Part II: General theory,
Transportation Research, Vol. 27B, No. 4, pp. 289-304. [This fairly recent paper beautifully connects the
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kinematic wave theory with the deterministic queueing theory especially cumulative curves.]
OECD (1976). Hazardous Road Locations: Identification and Countermeasures. [This can be referred
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about the key information for the diagnosis process.]
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Ogden K.W. (1996). Safer Roads: A Guide to Road Safety Engineering, Ovebury Technical, Aldershot,
England. [Typical and fundamental issues can be referred in textbook basis.]
Ortuzar J.D. and Willumsen L.G. (1995). Modeling Transport, Second Edition, Wiley. [This introduces
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Richards P.I. (1956). Shock waves on the highway, Operations Research, 4, pp.42-51.
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Biographical Sketches
Izumi Okura is Professor of Traffic Engineering at the Department of Civil Engineering, Yokohama
National University, Japan, from 1986. He received Dr.Eng., M.Eng. and B.E. from The University of
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Tokyo. His main research interests lie in traffic engineering and traffic system engineering. He has been
engaged in researches relating to road traffic flow theory, traffic management, road traffic safety, road
traffic surveillance and control systems, traffic flow phenomena and urban environmental problems. He is
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also a member of several scientific societies and has been appointed a member of various committees on
traffic operations/control, transportation planning and urban environmental issues.
Masao Kuwahara is Professor of Traffic Engineering at Institute of Industrial Science, The University of
Tokyo. After he obtained Ph.D from University of California, Berkeley in 1985, he started teaching
and researching in Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Tokyo and moved to the current
institute as Associate Professor in 1987. His research interests include traffic control, highway capacity,
network analysis, traffic simulation and ITS related research. He is currently working on traffic signal
control for an oversaturated network, travel time provision, dynamic network assignment, and parameter
tuning of traffic simulation models. He has been appointed a member of various committees of
ministries, local governments, and public corporations on transportation planning and traffic management.
He has served as a board member of ITS World Congress, an International Advisory Committee member
of ISTTT.
Engineering.
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