LECTURE 1
Transportation Engineering
Transportation Systems
Classification of Roads
Design Process
Dr. Atif Bilal Aslam
Department of City & Regional Planning
University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore
[email protected] 22 February 2019
Transportation Engineering
Transportation Engineering is the
application of scientific principles to the
planning, design, operation and
management of transportation systems.
Transportation System
Transportation should be
studied as a system,
which is part of many
other systems.
A system is a group of
interdependent and
interrelated components
that form a complex and
unified whole intended to
serve some purpose
through the performance
of its interacting parts. Source: Regionomics.com
Hierarchies in Transportation
Systems
Transportation systems can be classified
by:
Performance:
High speed,
low speed etc.
Area of Service:
Local Transit,
Regional Freeways,
Domestic airlines etc.
Use/ responsibility/ jurisdiction area:
District Roads,
National Highways etc.
Boundaries of Transportation
Systems
Planning process commences with
establishment of the system being analyzed
keeping in view the following
considerations:
System boundaries should be drawn according
to the need of the analysis,
Detailed analysis has to be carried out within the
boundaries,
Boundaries often provide the basis for inflows
and outflows.
Components of Transportation
Systems
The components of transportation system
are:
System users,
Transportation modes,
Networks,
Facilities and services,
Intermodal connections,
Stakeholders.
Classification of Roads
Classification by use/ functionality;
Primary Distributor form the primary network
for the urban center and link up with the national
road trunk system.
District Distributors distribute traffic within the
principal residential and industrial districts.
Local Distributors distribute traffic within
environmental/ study areas.
Access Roads give direct access to buildings and
land within environmental/ study areas.
Pedestrian Streets are primarily for the passage
of pedestrians and sometimes for cyclists.
Hierarchy based on use/ functionality (Illustration)
Classification of Roads
Classification by jurisdiction areas/ responsibility;
National Highway/ Road connects two or more
provinces with each other and are controlled/
administered by some central department e.g.
National Highway Authority.
Provincial Highway/ Road connects two or
more than two districts with each other and are
controlled/ administered by some provincial
department e.g. Regional Transport Authority.
District Roads connects two or more than two
tehsils/ towns with each other and are controlled/
administered by district governments.
Classification of Roads
Classification by jurisdiction/ responsibility;
Tehsil/ Town Road connects two or more union
councils with each other and are controlled/
administered by tehsil/ town municipal
administrations.
Local Roads: Separate controlling authorities are
assigned the tasks of controlling urban roads.
Classification by rural/ urban divide;
Rural Roads
Urban/ City Roads
Classification by connectivity;
Intercity Roads
Intracity Roads
Classification of Roads
Classification by Shape;
Linear
Circular
Curvilinear
Zigzag etc.
Classification by Construction Material used;
Metalled/ Pacca Roads
Un-metalled Roads/ Katcha Roads
Tracks
Reference
James H. Bank (2002) ‘Introduction to
Transportation Engineering’ 2nd Edition
‘Roads and Traffic in Urban Areas’ by The Institute
of Highways and Transportation with The
Department of Transport.
‘Transportation Engineering’, Introduction to
Planning, Design, and Operation by Jason C. Yu
‘Traffic Engineering and Management in Pakistan’
by Murtaza Haider, Ph.D.
‘Introduction to Transportation Engineering’ 2nd
Edition by James H. Banks
