3.0 Overview of Transportaion Engineering 3.

1 Definition Transportation engineering is the application of technology and scientific princ iples to the planning, functional design, operation and management of facilities for any mode of transportation in order to provide for the safe rapid, comforta ble, convenient, economical and environmentally compatible movement of people an d goods. Transportation engineering can be broadly consisting of the four major parts: i. Transportation Planning ii. Geometric Design iii. Pavement Design iv. Traffic Engineering A brief overview of the topics is given below: Transportation planning deals wit h the development of a comprehensive set of action plan for the design, construc tion and operation of transportation facilities. i. Transportation Planning Transportation planning essentially involves the development of a transport mode l which will accurately represent both the current as well as future transportat ion system. ii. Geometric Design Geometric design deals with physical proportioning of other transportation facil ities, in contrast with the structural design of the facilities. The topics incl ude the cross-sectional features, horizontal alignment, vertical alignment and i ntersections. Although there are several modes of travel like road, rail, air, e tc.. the underlying principles are common to a great extent. Therefore emphasis will be normally given for the geometric design of roads. iii. Pavement Analysis and Design Pavement design deals with the structural design of roads, both (bituminous and concrete) commonly known as (flexible pavements and rigid pavements) respectivel y. It deals with the design of paving materials, determination of the layer thic kness, and construction and maintenance procedures. The design mainly covers str uctural aspects, functional aspects, drainage. Structural design ensures the pav ement has enough strength to withstand the impact of loads, functional design em phasizes on the riding quality, and the drainage design protects the pavement fr om damage due to water infiltration. iv. Traffic Engineering Traffic engineering covers a broad range of engineering applications with a focu s on the safety of the public, the efficient use of transportation resources, an d the mobility of people and goods. Traffic engineering involves a variety of en gineering and management skills, including design, operation, and system optimiz ation. In order to address the above requirement, the traffic engineer must firs t understand the traffic flow behavior and characteristics by extensive collecti on of traffic flow data and analysis. Based on this analysis, traffic flow is co ntrolled so that the transport infrastructure is used optimally as well as with good service quality. In short, the role of traffic engineer is to protect the e nvironment while providing mobility , to preserve scarce resources while assurin g economic activity, and to assure safety and security to people and vehicles, t hrough both acceptable practices and high-tech communications. v. Other important disciplines In addition to the four major disciplines of transportation, there are several o ther important disciplines that are being evolved in the past few decades. Altho ugh it is difficult to categorize them into separate well defined disciplines be cause of the significant overlap, it may be worth the effort to highlight the im portance given by the transportation community. They can be enumerated as below: a. Public Transportation Public transportation or mass transportation deals with study of the transportat ion system that meets the travel need of several people by sharing a vehicle. Ge nerally this focuses on the urban travel by bus and rail transit. The major topi cs include characteristics of various modes; planning, management and operations

; and policies for promoting public transportation. b. Financial and Economic Analysis Transportation facilities require large capital investments. Therefore it is imp erative that who ever invests money should get the returns. When government inve sts in transportation, its objective is not often monetary returns; but social b enefits. The economic analysis of transportation project tries to quantify the e conomic benefit which includes saving in travel time, fuel consumption, etc. Thi s will help the planner in evaluating various projects and to optimally allocate funds. On the contrary, private sector investments require monetary profits fro m the projects. Financial evaluation tries to quantify the return from a project . c. Environmental Impact Assessment The depletion of fossil fuels and the degradation of the environment has been a severe concern of the planners in the past few decades. Transportation; in spite of its benefits to the society is a major contributor to the above concern. The environmental impact assessment attempts in quantifying the environmental impac ts and tries to evolve strategies for the mitigation and reduction of the impact due to both construction and operation. The primary impacts are fuel consumptio n, air pollution, and noise pollution. d. Accident Analysis and Reduction One of the silent killers of humanity is transportation. Several statistics eval uates that more people are killed due to transportation than great wars and natu ral disasters. This discipline of transportation looks at the causes of accident s, from the perspective of human, road, and vehicle and formulates plans for the reduction. e. Intelligent Transport System With advent to computers, communication, and vehicle technology, it is possible in these days to operate transportation system much effectively with significant reduction in the adverse impacts of transportation. Intelligent transportation system offers better mobility, efficiency, and safety with the help of the state -of-the-art-technology. In addition disciplines specific to various modes are also common. This includes railway engineering, port and harbor engineering, and airport engineering. 3.2 Major Transportation Modes Available In Nigeria The state of transportation in Nigeria can be classified into five modes roadways, railways, waterways, airways and pipelines a. Roadways In this mode of transport, all vehicles use the roadways to travel from one poin t to another. There are various kinds of vehicles in this class. Some are motori zed (like automobiles, trucks, buses etc) and others are human or animal powered (like cycles, bullock carts, etc). Some are private vehicles while others are m eant to move either a large number of people (public transport) or goods over lo ng and short distances. Roads are also of various kinds; some like the intercity roads or by-passes offe r high speed of travel but have limited accessibility that is the road can be as sed only at a limited number of points. At the other end of the spectrum there a re local roads which provide very good accessibility (for example, this kind of road can be accessed by every home on the street) but offer low speed of travel. It may be pointed out that the different classes of roads have different design standards. From a transportation engineer s standpoint, the important aspects related to the ro adways mode of transport include; i. Safe and efficient operation and control of road traffic ii. Layout of roads iii. Structural design of the roadway (pavement design) iv. Roadway based public transportation b. Railways

In this mode of transport all vehicles use rail tracks to move from one point to another. Vehicles in this class consist of a long train of coaches attached to a locomotive. The coaches and the locomotives have steel wheels which run on ste el rail tracks. The locomotive either uses diesel or uses electricity as fuel (l ocomotives which run on coal are hardily used these days). These trains are used for transporting people as well as goods. There are long distance trains as well as trains which run within an urban area. Since the rail tracks provide a dedica ted right of way for the train services, these are good for high speed mass tr ansit facilities. Trains stop at pre-specified locations called stations. At stations, various act ivities take place like (i) boarding and alighting of passengers (ii)loading and unloading of goods (iii) regrouping of coaches or compartments (iv) maintenance activities (v) ticketing etc. the movement of trains on rail tracks is control led through signal systems operated ether manually or automatically. From a transportation engineer s standpoint the important aspects related to the rai lway mode of transport include; i. safe and efficient operation and control of rail traffic ii. Layout of rail tracks iii. Structural design of the sub-grade on which rail tracks run iv. Planning of stations or terminals for railway vehicles. c. Waterways In this form of transport, all vehicles use channels in water bodies (like river s, lakes and oceans) to travel from one point to another. Simply stated a channe l is a charted corridor in expanse water which is safe and a reasonable direct c onnection between the origin and the destination. Various kinds of vessels opera te on the waterways starting from the small ferry boats to the large ocean liner s. Historically, waterways were the only connections between far-off places for tra nsportation of both people and gods. However, due to the slow speed of vessels a nd the advent of airways, waterways are not used today for long distance voyages . Presently, waterways are used either for ferry people and goods over short dis tances or to transport goods over long distances. Ships and ferry boats generall y dock (or stop) at ports. At ports, various activities such as boarding and ali ghting of passengers, loading and unloading of cargo, refueling, maintenance act ivities, ticketing and customs, immigration etc. are carried out. From a transportation engineer s standpoint the important aspects related to this mo de of transport include; i. safe and efficient operation and control of ship traffic especially at and ne ar ports. ii. Planning and operation of ports. d. Airways In this mode of transport, vehicles use air routes to travel from one point to a nother. Simply stated, air routes are charted paths in the air based on various characteristics like directness of connections, prevailing atmospheric and wind conditions, international agreements and safety issues. Various kinds of aircraf t use the airways - from small single engine planes to large jet airplanes. Airways provide the fastest and one of the safest modes of transport. Their use ranges from small shuttle flights over distances of around two hundred kilometer s to long transatlantic flights of well over three thousand kilometers. Airways also help in connecting remotes places in difficult terrain. Presently airways a re extensively used to travel over long distances. Goods, perishable commodities in particular are also transported in cargo planes over long distances. Aircraft touch down and take off using long (sometimes around 4 -5 km) straight pavements called runways constructed at airports. The runways are generally some distance away from the airport terminal buildings and are connected to them thr ough taxiways and large open paved surfaces called aprons. The activities at an airport include boarding and alighting of passengers, loading and unloading of c argo, refueling, maintenance, air traffic control, ticketing, customs immigratio n and so forth. From a transportation engineer s standpoint, the important aspects related to this m

ode of transport include; i. Safe and efficient operation and control pf air traffic especially at and nea r airports ii. Planning the parking pattern of aircraft iii. Planning and operation of airports iv. Orientation of runways and layouts of taxiways v. Structural design of the runways, taxiways and aprons vi. Planning and operation of vehicle circulation and parking on the land side o f airports. e. pipelines Pipeline transport is becoming an important overland mode of transporting petrol eum from refineries. Pipeline routes are practically unlimited as they can be la id on land or under water. The longest oil pipeline is the Trans-siberian, exten ding over 9,344km from Russia arctic oilfields in eastern Siberia to Western Eur ope. Physical constraints are low and include landscape and pergelisol in arctic or subarctic environments. Pipeline construction costs vary according to the di ameter and increase proportionally with the distance and with the viscosity of f ields. Pipeline terminals are very important since they correspond to refineries and harbors. This sub-sector has the potential of substantially relieving the r oad sector of petroleum tankers that contribute to the damage of the highways an d also highway accidents Apart from these five systems for transportation, other minor transportation sys tem like elevators, cable cars, monorails and belt conveyors are also used. 3.3 Factors Affecting Transportation The success of transportation engineering depends upon the co-ordination between the three primary elements, namely the vehicles, the roadways, and the road use rs. Their characteristics affect the performance of the transportation system an d the transportation engineer should have fairly good understanding about them. a. Human factors affecting transportation Road users can be defined as drivers, passengers, pedestrians etc. who use the s treets and highways. Together, they form the most complex element of the traffic system - the human element - which differentiates Transportation Engineering fr om all other engineering fields. It is said to be the most complex factor as the human performances varies from individual to individual. Thus, the transportati on engineer should deal with a variety of road user characteristics. For example , a traffic signal timed to permit an average pedestrian to cross the street saf ely may cause a severe hazard to an elderly person. Thus, the design considerati ons should safely and efficiently accommodate the elderly persons, the children, the handicapped, the slow and speedy, and the good and bad drivers. b. Vehicle factors It is important to know about the vehicle characteristics because we can design road for any vehicle but not for an indefinite one. The road should be such that it should cater to the needs of existing and anticipated vehicles. c. Acceleration characteristics The acceleration capacity of vehicle is dependent on its mass, the resistance to motion and available power. In general, the acceleration rates are highest at l ow speeds, decreases as speed increases. Heavier vehicles have lower rates of ac celeration than passenger cars. The difference in acceleration rates becomes sig nificant in mixed traffic streams. For example, heavy vehicles like trucks will delay all passengers at an intersection. Again, the gaps formed can be occupied by other smaller vehicles only if they are given the opportunity to pass. The pr esence of upgrades makes the problem more severe. Trucks are forced to decelerat e on grades because their power is not sufficient to maintain their desired spee d. As trucks slow down on grades, long gaps will be formed in the traffic stream which cannot be efficiently filled by normal passing maneuvers. d. Braking performance

As far as highway safety is concerned, the braking performance and deceleration characteristics of vehicles are of prime importance. The time and distance taken to stop the vehicle is very important as far as the design of various traffic f acilities are concerned. The factors on which the braking distance depend are th e type of the road and its condition, the type and condition of tire and type of the braking system. e. Road factors Road factors include road surface, lighting, roughness, pavement colors, night visibility and geometric aspects 3.4 Challenges Facing Transportation Cities are locations having a high level of accumulation and concentration of ec onomic activities and are complex spatial structures that are supported by trans port systems. The most important transport problems are often related to urban a reas and take place when transport systems, for a variety of reasons, cannot sat isfy the numerous requirements of urban mobility. Urban productivity is highly d ependent on the efficiency of its transport system to move labor, consumers and freight between multiple origins and destinations, additionally; important trans port terminals such as ports, airports, and rail yards are located within urban areas, contributing to a specific array of problems. Some problems are ancient, like congestion (which plagued cities such as Rome), while others are new like u rban freight distribution or environmental impacts. Among the most notable urban transport problems are: a. Traffic congestion and parking difficulties Congestion is one of the most prevalent transport problems in large urban agglom erations. It is particularly linked with motorization and the diffusion of the a utomobile, which has increased the demand for transport infrastructures. However , the supply of infrastructures has often not been able to keep up with the grow th of mobility. Since vehicles spend the majority of the time parked, motorizati on has expanded demand for parking space, which has created space consumption pr oblems particularly in central areas. The spatial imprint of parked vehicles is significant. b. Public transport inadequacy Many public transit systems, or parts of them, are either over or under used. Du ring peak hours, crowdedness creates discomfort for users as the system copes wi th a temporary surge in demand. Low ridership makes many services financially un sustainable, particularly in suburban area. In spite of significant subsidies an d cross-financing (e.g. toll) almost every public transit systems cannot generat e sufficient income to cover its operating and capital cost. c. Difficulties for pedestrians These difficulties are either the outcome of intense traffic, where the mobility of pedestrians and vehicles is impaired, but also because of a blatant lack of consideration for pedestrians in the physical design of facilities. d. Loss of public space The majority of roads are public owned and free of access. Increased traffic has adverse impacts on public activities which once crowded the streets such as mar kets, agoras, parades and processions, games and community interactions. These h ave gradually disappeared to be replaced by automobiles. In many cases, these ac tivities have shifted to shopping malls while in other cases, they have been aba ndoned altogether. Traffic flows influence the life the life and interactions of residents and their usage of street space. More traffic impedes social interact ions and street activities. People tend to walk and cycle less when traffic is h igh. e. Environmental impacts and energy consumption Pollution, including noise, generated by circulation has become a serious impedi ment to the quality of life and even the health of urban populations. Further, e nergy consumption by urban transportation has dramatically increased and so the dependency on petroleum. f. Accidents and safety

Growing traffic in urban areas is linked with a growing number of accidents and fatalities, especially in developing countries. Accidents account for a signific ant share of recurring delays. As traffic increases, people feel less safe to us e the streets. g. Land consumption The territorial imprint of transportation is significant, particularly for the a utomobile. Between 30 and 60% of a metropolitan area may be devoted to transport ation, an outcome of the over-reliance on some forms of urban transportation. Ye t, this land consumption also underlines the strategic importance of transportat ion in the economic and social welfare of cities. h. Freight distribution Globalization and the materialization of the economy have resulted in growing qu antities of freight moving within cites. As freight traffic commonly shares infr astructures with the circulation of passengers, the mobility of freight in urban area has become increasingly problematic. City logistics strategies can be esta blish to mitigate the variety of challenges faced by urban freight distribution. 3.5 Role of Transportation in Society Transportation is a non separable part of any society. It exhibits a very close relation to the style of life, the range and location of activities and the good s and services which will be available for consumption. Advances in transportati on has made possible changes in the way of living and the way in which societies are organized and therefore have a great influence in the development of civili zations. This chapter conveys an understanding of the importance of transportati on in the modern society by presenting selected characteristics of existing tran sportation systems, their use and relationships to other human activities. Transportation is responsible for the development of civilizations from very old times by meeting travel requirement of people and transport requirement of good s. Such movement has changed the way people live and travel. In developed and de veloping nations, a large fraction of people travel daily for work,shopping and social reasons. But transport also consumes a lot of resources like time,fuel, m aterials and land. a. Economic role of transportation Economics involves production, distribution and consumption of goods and service s. People depend upon the natural resources to satisfy the needs of life but due to non uniform surface of earth and due to difference in local resources, there is a lot of difference in standard of living in different societies. So there i s an immense requirement of transport of resources from one particular society t o other. These resources can range from material things to knowledge and skills like movement of doctors and technicians to the places where there is need of th em. i. Place utility of goods In any country, the natural resources are not evenly located. Transport gives pl ace utility to the goods. ii. Time utility of goods Transport minimizes the time for the movement of people and goods. Thus, transpo rt gives time utility to economic activities. iii. Transport overcomes the Separation between the Producer and Consumer. The production of goods and their consumption do not always take place at the sa me place. The separation between the producer and the consumers is overcome by t ransport. iv. Preservation of Quality of Goods Certain goods like vegetable, fruits, milk and fish are perishable. They have to be quality mined from the production canters to the consumers. Transport enable s the quick movement to preserve the quality of such goods. v. Economics of Scale and Specialization The modern world economy is characterized by specialization and mass production to achieve economics of scale. Transport to enables this to take place.

vi. Exploitation of Natural Resources. Most developing countries depend on expert of raw materials as the back bone of their economy. Transport is the medium of exploitation of natural resources. b. Social role of transportation Transportation has always played an important role in influencing the formation of urban societies. Although other facilities like availability of food and wat er, played a major role, the contribution of transportation can be seen clearly from the formation, size and pattern, and development of societies, especially u rban centers. i. Formation of settlement From the beginning of civilization, the man is living in settlements which exist near banks of major river junctions, a port, or an intersection of trade routes . Cities like Port Harcourt, Lagos and Kano are good examples. ii. Size and pattern of settlements The initial settlement were relatively small development but with due course of time, they grew in population and developed into big cities and major trade cent ers. The use of settlements is not only limited by the size of the area by which the settlement can obtain food and other necessities, but also by consideration s of personal travels especially the journey to and from work. The increase spee ds of transport and reduction in the cost of transport have resulted in variety of spatial pattern. iii. Growth of urban centers When the cities grow beyond normal walking distance, then transportation technol ogy plays a role in the formation of the city. For example, many cities in the p lains developed as a circular city with radial routes, where as the cities besid es a river developed linearly. The development of automobiles and other factors like increase in personal income and construction of paved road network, the set tlements were transformed into urban centers of intense travel activity. c. Political role of transportation The world is divided into numerous political units which are formed for mutual p rotection, economic advantages and development of common culture. Transportation plays an important role in the functioning of such political units. i. Administration of an area The government of an area must be able to send/get information to/about its peop le. It may include laws to be followed, security and other needful information n eeded to generate awareness. An efficient administration of a country largely de pends on how effectively government could communicate these information to all t he country. However, with the advent of communications, its importance is slight ly reduced. ii. Political choices in transport These choices may be classified as communication, military movement, travel of p ersons and movement of freight. The primary function of transportation is the tr ansfer of messages and information. It is also needed for rapid movement of troo ps in case of emergency and finally movement of persons and goods. The political decision of construction and maintenance of roads has resulted in the developme nt of transportation system. d. Environmental role of transportation The negative effects of transportation is more dominating than its useful aspect s as far as transportation is concerned. There are numerous categories into whic h the environmental effects have been categorized. They are explained in the fol lowing sections. i. Safety Growth of transportation has a very unfortunate impact on the society in terms o f accidents. Worldwide death and injuries from road accidents have reached epide mic proportions. Increased variation in the speeds and vehicle density resulted in a high exposure to accidents. Accidents result in loss of life and permanent disability, injury, and damage to property. Accidents also causes numerous non-q uantifiable impacts like loss of time, grief to the near ones of the victim, and inconvenience to the public. The loss of life and damage from natural disasters

, industrial accidents, or epidemic often receive significant attention from bot h government and public. This is because their occurrence is concentrated but sp arse. On the other hand, accidents from transport sector are widespread and occu rs with high frequency. For instance, a study has predicted that death and disabilities resulting from r oad accidents in comparison with other diseases will rise from ninth to third ra nk between 1990 and 2020. Road accidents as cause to death and disability could rank below heart disease and clinical depression, and ahead of stroke and all in fectious diseases. Significant reduction to accident rate is achieved in the dev eloping countries by improved road designed maintenance, improved vehicle design , driver education, and law enforcements. However in the developing nations, the rapid growth of personalized vehicles and poor infrastructure, road design, and law enforcement has resulted in growing accident rate ii. Air Pollution All transport modes consume energy and the most common source of energy is from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, petrol, diesel, etc. The relation between air pollution and respiratory disease have been demonstrated by various studies and the detrimental effects on the planet earth is widely recognized recently. The combustion of the fuels releases several contaminants into the atmosphere, i ncluding carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, and other particulat e matter. Hydrocarbons are the result of incomplete combustion of fuels. Particu late matters are minute solid or liquid particles that are suspended in the atmo sphere. They include aerosols, smoke, and dust particles. These air pollutants o nce emitted into the atmosphere , undergo mixing and disperse into the surroundi ngs. iii. Noise pollution Sound is acoustical energy released into atmosphere by vibrating or moving bodie s where as noise is unwanted sound produced. Transportation is a major contribut or of noise pollution, especially in urban areas. Noise is generated during both construction and operation. During construction, operation of large equipments causes considerable noise to the neighborhood. During the operation, noise is ge nerated by the engine and exhaust systems of vehicle, aerodynamic friction, and the interaction between the vehicle and the support system (road-tire, rail-whee l). Extended exposure to excessive sound has been shown to produce physical and psychological damage. Further, because of its annoyance and disturbance, noise a dds to mental stress and fatigue. iv. Energy consumption The spectacular growth in industrial and economic growth during the past century have been closely related to an abundant supply of inexpensive energy from foss il fuels. Transportation sector is unbelieved to consume more than half of the p etroleum products. The compact of the shortage of fuel was experienced during ma jor wars when strict rationing was imposed in many countries. The impact of this had cascading effects on many factors of society, especially in the price escal ation of essential commodities. However, this has few positive impacts; a shift to public transport system, a search for energy efficient engines, and alternate fuels. During the time of fuel shortage, people shifted to cheaper public trans port system. Policy makers and planners, thereafter gave much emphasis to the pu blic transit which consume less energy per person. The second impact was in the development of fuel-efficient engines and devices and operational and maintenanc e practices. A fast depleting fossil fuel has accelerated the search for energy efficient and environment friendly alternate energy source. The research is acti ve in the development of bio-fuels, hydrogen fuels and solar energy. v. Other impacts Transportation directly or indirectly affects many other areas of society and fe w of them are listed below: Almost all cities uses 20-30 percent of its land in transport facilities. Increa sed travel requirement also require additional land for transport facilities. A good transportation system takes considerable amount of land from the society. Aesthetics of a region is also affected by transportation. Road networks in quit e country side are visual intrusion. Similarly, the transportation facilities li

ke fly-overs are again visual intrusion in urban context. The social life and social pattern of a community is severely affected after the introduction of some transportation facilities. Construction of new transportat ion facilities often require substantial relocation of residents and employment opportunities.