Transportation is essential for a nation’s development and growth.
In both the public and private sector,
opportunities for engineering careers in transportation are exciting and rewarding. Elements are
constantly being added to the world’s highway, rail, airport, and mass transit systems, and new
techniques are being applied for operating and maintaining the systems safely and economically. Many
organizations and agencies exist to plan, design, build, operate, and maintain the nation’s transportation
system. [3]
The purpose of transportation is to provide a mechanism for the exchange of goods, people,
information, and to support economic improvements for society. Transportation provides the means
to travel for purposes of employment, exploration, or personal fulfillment and is a necessary
condition for human activities such as commerce, recreation, and defense. Transportation is
defined as the movement of people and goods to meet the basic needs of society that require mobility
and access. There are many examples of transportation movements that occur daily; a family
journeys to another country to seek a better life, a medical emergency requires the immediate transfer
of a patient to a hospital, a sales executive travels across the country to attend a management
conference, a truckload of fresh produce is delivered to a supermarket, and workers commute from
their homes to places of employment.
The quality of transportation affects a society’s ability to utilize its natural resources of labor
and/or materials. Transportation also influences the competitive position with respect to other regions
or nations. Without the ability to transport products easily, a region may be unable to offer goods
and services at an attractive price and thus may reduce or lose market share. By providing
transportation services safely, reliably, and quickly with sufficient capacity and at a competitive
price, a state or nation is able to expand its economic base, enter new markets and import skilled
labor.
Every developed nation and region with a strong economic base has invested in high-quality
transportation services. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, nations such as England and Spain
with a strong maritime presence became the rulers of vast colonial empires and established
international commerce with trade routes to North America, India, Africa, and the Far East. In the
twentieth century, countries that became leaders in industry and commerce—such as the United
States, Canada, Japan, and Germany—relied on modern networks of sea, land, and air transportation.
These systems enhanced the capability of their industries to transport manufactured goods, raw
materials, and technical expertise and thus maximize the comparative advantage over other
competitors. In the twenty-first century, information technology and the integration of land, sea, and
air modes have helped to create a global economy. For countries lacking natural resources, reliance
on transportation is essential to assure the importation of raw materials needed to manufacture
automobiles, electronics, and other export products.
Modern integrated transportation facilities are a necessary but not sufficient condition to assure
economic development and prosperity. Without competitive transportation services, the economic
potential of a region is limited. To succeed, a region must be endowed with natural or human
resources, infrastructure (such as water, power, and sewage disposal facilities), financial
capital, adequate housing, and a strong military defense. When these conditions are in place,
economic growth will depend on the quality of the internal transportation system, which consists of
highways, railroads, airlines, shipping, and ports. It will also depend on the quality of multimodal
linkages with the rest of the world, including maritime, rail, trucking, and air services.
Good transportation provides many benefits to society in addition to its role in economic
development. Advances in transportation have contributed to the quality of life and have expanded
opportunities to engage in the pursuit of happiness, a right of Americans stated by Thomas Jefferson
in the Declaration of Independence. Modern transportation systems have provided the world with an
unprecedented degree of mobility.
In contrast to earlier times, today we can travel by auto, rail, ship, or airplane to any part of the
nation or world to visit friends and relatives and explore new sights. We can also alter our present
living conditions by moving elsewhere. Because of good transportation, health care has
dramatically improved—for example, drugs, transplants, and medical equipment can be transported
in emergency situations to a remote hospital or patients can be moved quickly to specialized medical
facilities. Improvements in transportation have contributed to the worldwide decline of hunger as
food shortages due to famine, war, or weather have been replenished by air and sea lifts. Other
benefits to society include extension of life expectancy, enhanced opportunities for advanced
education and technical training, increased incomes and standards of living, broader recreational
options, reduction of inequality in education and employment, and wider participation in worldwide
multicultural experiences.
The benefits of providing society with improved transportation, whether they are justified on the
basis of economic development or mobility, are not achieved without a price. The costs to society
are both direct and indirect. Direct costs include capital and operating expenses including right of
way, facilities and maintenance. Indirect costs include environmental effects, congestion,
property damage, injuries, and deaths. [4]
3. Transportation Planning
Transportation planning involves the process of developing plans and programs that improve
present travel conditions. Planners ask questions such as: Should an existing airport be expanded or
should a new one be built? Should a freeway be widened? Should a rail transit line be constructed?
The process involves defining the problem, setting goals and objectives, collecting travel and
facilities data, forecasting future traffic demand, and evaluating options. The planner may also be
required to assess the environmental impacts, the effect of the project on land use, and the benefits of
the project compared with the cost. Physical feasibility and sources of funding are also considered.
The final product is a comparison of various alternatives based on established objectives and criteria
and an analysis of how each option will accomplish the desired goals and objectives. A plan is then
recommended for consideration and comment by decision makers and the public.
Transportation design involves the specification of features that comprise the transportation
facility such that it will function efficiently and in accord with appropriate criteria and mathematical
relationships. The final design provides a blueprint for use by the owner and the contractor as it
establishes the detailed specifications for the project. The design process involves the selection of
dimensions for geometric features of alignment and grade as well as structural elements for bridges
and pavements. For runways or highways the pavement thickness is determined. If bridges or
drainage structures are required (for example, at a railroad grade crossing or in retrofitting tunnel
clearances to accommodate double-stacked railroad cars), a structural design is performed. Provision
for drainage facilities, including open channels, culverts, and subsurface elements, is included in the
design. Traffic control devices are also specified (for example at railroad grade crossings and within
marine terminals). Traffic control centers for air, rail, or highway systems will require facilities for
monitoring and modifying traffic patterns as conditions warrant. Design engineers must be proficient
in subjects such as soil mechanics and foundations, hydraulics, land surveying, pavement structure,
and geometric design. The design process results in a set of detailed plans that can be used for
estimating the facility cost and for carrying out the construction.
Transportation construction involves all aspects of the building process. Typically a
construction firm is selected because of its experience, availability of skilled construction workers,
and competitive low bid. Some construction firms specialize in a particular aspect of transportation,
such as highway construction, airports, seaports, and rail transit. For a very large project,
several construction firms usually organize a consortia and subdivide the work into segments.
Construction firms also specialize as subcontractors for tasks such as electrical, foundations, pilings,
bridges, tunnel borings, framing, plumbing, and earth moving. The transportation engineer’s role in
construction is to represent the owner to assure the project is being built according to specifications,
to approve partial payments, to inspect the work in progress, and to represent the owner in
negotiations for changes in work or in disputes that may arise. The transportation engineer may also
be employed by the contractor and in this capacity is responsible for estimating costs, managing day-
to-day work, dealing with subcontractors, and representing the firm in negotiations with the
contracting agency or firm.
Transportation operations and management involves the control of vehicles in real time to
ensure that they are traveling in paths that are secure from interference with other vehicles or
pedestrians. While each transportation mode has unique traffic control procedures, it is the
responsibility of the transportation engineer to devise systems and procedures that will assure both
safety and capacity. On highways, individual drivers are in control of vehicles and thus the traffic
control system consists of signs, markings, and signals, which are intended to warn and direct
motorists. The transportation engineer applies the latest technology to monitor traffic, provide
information to motorists, and respond to traffic crashes. Air traffic control is a one-on-one process
with a controller monitoring the location of every aircraft and providing directions regarding cruising
altitude, speed, take-off, and landing. Rail systems are controlled from a traffic center and by railway
signals that automatically assign right-of-way and dictate speed. The locomotive driver may operate
under visual or radio control. In each instance the transportation engineer is responsible for
developing a control system that is consistent with providing the highest level of safety and service.
Transportation infrastructure maintenance involves the process of assuring that the nation’s
transportation system remains in excellent working condition. Often maintenance is neglected as a
cost-saving tactic, and the result can be catastrophic. Maintenance is not politically attractive, as is
new construction, yet the effects of deferred maintenance—if undetected—can result in tragedy and
ultimately public investigations of the causes and blame for negligence. Maintenance involves
routine replacement of parts, regularly scheduled service, repair of worn surfaces in pavements, and
other actions necessary to maintain the vehicle or facility in a serviceable condition. Maintenance
also involves data management for work activities and project scheduling as well as the analysis of
maintenance activities to assure that they are carried out appropriately and economically. The
transportation engineer is responsible for selecting maintenance strategies and schedules, forecasting
maintenance cycles, managing risk, handling tort liability, evaluating the economic costs of
maintenance programs, testing new products, and scheduling maintenance personnel and equipment.
[4]
4. Transportation Engineering
Transportation engineering is the profession responsible for the planning, design, construction,
operation, and maintenance of transportation infrastructure. The field includes highways, airports,
runways, railroad stations and tracks, bridges and waterways, drainage facilities, ports and harbors,
and rail or bus transit systems. Employment opportunities exist in these areas with
federal transportation agencies, state government, special transportation authorities, consulting firms,
railroad or airline companies, private industry, and professional associations. While this employment
sector has been linked to civil engineering, transportation professionals often have academic training
in other engineering disciplines, such as mechanical, electrical, aerospace, and information
technology. In addition to a basic understanding of transportation principles, the transportation
engineer must be broadly educated with knowledge about engineering fundamentals, science,
statistics, oral and written communications, computers, economics, history, and social sciences.
Typically, the modern transportation engineer has completed a bachelor’s degree in engineering and
a master’s or doctorate in a transportation specialty. [4]
Transportation engineers are typically employed by the agency responsible for building and
maintaining a transportation system, such as the federal, state, or local government, a railroad, or a
transit authority. They also work for consulting firms that carry out the planning and engineering
tasks for these organizations. During the past century, transportation engineers have been employed
to build the nation’s railroads, the interstate highway system, and rapid transit systems in major
cities, airports, and turnpikes. Each decade has seen a new national need for improved
transportation services.
It can be expected that in the twenty-first century, heavy emphasis will be placed on the
rehabilitation of the highway system, including its surfaces and bridges, as well as on devising a
means to ensure improved safety and utilization of the existing system through traffic control,
information technology, and systems management. Highway construction will be required,
particularly in suburban areas. Building of roads, highways, airports, and transit systems is likely to
accelerate in less-developed countries, and the transportation engineer will be called on to furnish the
services necessary to plan, design, build, and operate highway systems throughout the world. [3]
