Transport engineering

Transport engineering

Transport engineering (alternatively transportation engineering) is the science of safe and efficient movement of people and goods (transport). It is a sub-discipline of civil engineering.

The planning aspects of transport engineering relate to urban planning, and involve technical forecasting decisions and political factors. Technical forecasting of passenger travel usually involves an urban transportation planning model, requiring the estimation of trip generation (how many trips for what purpose), trip distribution (destination choice, where is the traveler going), mode choice (what mode is being taken), and route assignment (which streets or routes are being used). More sophisticated forecasting can include other aspects of traveler decisions, including auto ownership, trip chaining (the decision to link individual trips together in a tour) and the choice of residential or business location (known as land use forecasting). Passenger trips are the focus of transport engineering because they often represent the peak of demand on any transportation system.

The design aspects of transport engineering include the sizing of transportation facilities (how many lanes or how much capacity the facility has), determining the materials and thickness used in pavement, designing the geometry (vertical and horizontal alignment) of the roadway (or track).

Operations and management involve traffic engineering, so that vehicles move smoothly on the road or track. Older techniques include signs, signals, markings, and tolling. Newer technologies involve intelligent transportation systems, including advanced traveler information systems (such as variable message signs), advanced traffic control systems (such as ramp meters), and vehicle infrastructure integration. Human factors are an aspect of transport engineering, particularly concerning driver-vehicle interface and user interface of road signs, signals, and markings.

Highway engineering

Engineers in this specialization:
*Handle the planning, design, construction, and operation of highways, roads, and other vehicular facilities as well as their related bicycle and pedestrian realms.
*Estimate the transportation needs of the public and then secure the funding for the project.
*Analyze locations of high traffic volumes and high collisions for safety and capacity.
*Use civil engineering principles to improve the transportation system.

Railroad engineering

Railway engineers handle the design, construction, and operation of railroads and mass transit systems that use a fixed guideway (such as light rail or even monorails). Typical tasks would include determining horizontal and vertical alignment design, station location and design, and construction cost estimating. Railroad engineers can also move into the specialized field of train dispatching which focuses on train movement control.

Port and harbor engineering

Port and harbor engineers handle the design, construction, and operation of ports, harbors, canals, and other maritime facilities. This is not to be confused with marine engineering.

Airport engineering

Airport engineers design and construct airports. Airport engineers must account for the impacts and demands of aircraft in their design of airport facilities. One such example is the analysis of predominant wind direction to determine runway orientation.

ee also

*All-four
*Bicycle transportation engineering
*Highway engineering
*Pavement engineering
*Principles of Intelligent Urbanism
*Space syntax (pedestrian and vehicular analysis using similar techniques to standard transportation engineering)
*Transportation planning
*Utility cycling

External links

*http://www.ite.org Institute of Transportation Engineers, a professional society for transportation engineers
*http://www.itsa.org ITS America


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Transport — or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one place to another. The term is derived from the Latin trans ( across ) and portare ( to carry ). Industries which have the business of providing transport equipment, transport services …   Wikipedia

  • Transport network — A transport network, or transportation network in American English, is typically a network of roads, streets, pipes, aqueducts, power lines, or nearly any structure which permits either vehicular movement or flow of some commodity.A transport… …   Wikipedia

  • Transport in New Zealand — Transport in New Zealand, with its mountainous topography and relatively small population mostly located on a long coastline, has always faced many challenges. Before Europeans arrived, Māori either walked or used watercraft on rivers or along… …   Wikipedia

  • Transport economics — is a branch of economics that deals with the allocation of resources within the transport sector and has strong linkages with civil engineering. Transport economics differs from some other branches of economics in that the assumption of a… …   Wikipedia

  • Transport and Telecommunication Institute — (TTI) (Latvian: Transporta un Sakaru Institūts , TSI) (Russian: Институт Транспорта и Связи , ТСИ) (previously known as RCAII and Riga Aviation University) is the largest university type accredited non state technical higher education… …   Wikipedia

  • Transport Layer Security — (TLS) and its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), are cryptographic protocols that provide secure communications on the Internet for such things as web browsing, e mail, Internet faxing, instant messaging and other data transfers. There are… …   Wikipedia

  • Transport a Los Angeles — Transport à Los Angeles La ville de Los Angeles est un centre majeur du transport individuel, de passager et du transport intermodal en Californie. La ville dispose d un système d autoroutes complexe, étendu, et très utilisé ; mais aussi de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Transport à los angeles — La ville de Los Angeles est un centre majeur du transport individuel, de passager et du transport intermodal en Californie. La ville dispose d un système d autoroutes complexe, étendu, et très utilisé ; mais aussi de réseaux de bus, de métro …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Transport a New York — Transport à New York L infrastructure des transports de la ville de New York est l une des plus complexes des États Unis, toutes agglomérations confondues. En la matière, la mégapole détient en effet des records : depuis le métro le plus… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Transport à new york — L infrastructure des transports de la ville de New York est l une des plus complexes des États Unis, toutes agglomérations confondues. En la matière, la mégapole détient en effet des records : depuis le métro le plus étendu du monde en… …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”