CMR
INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY
VTU Semester Examination –June 2018
Solutions
Sub: Urban Transport Planning Code: 10CV843
Branch
Sem: VIII CIVIL
:
1. (a) Explain “Systems Approach”. Explain with flow diagram, systems approach to
transport planning.
SYSTEM APPROACH TO TRANSPORT PLANNING
Urban-transport planning is a continuous process involving an interactionbetween
government and the urban community. The appraisal of conditionswithin the community
leads to a choice among alternative actions within the government and hopefully to the
alleviation of unsatisfactory conditions through the implementation of the chosen action.
Some evidence has been introduced above which suggests that the transport-planning process
most commonly used has not been entirely successful in the alleviation oftransport-related
issues in many urban communities.
In the process the methodology was further refined and applied to various planning
contexts. Steps involved in applying the original methodology after the conduct of planning
inventories and surveys (e.g., land-use data, economic investigations, and travel surveys) and
the postulation and calibration of models forecasting land use and travel demand to fit local
conditions.
Step 1: Forecasts for the target year of the regional population and economic growth for the
subject metropolitan area.
Step 2: Allocation of land uses and socioeconomic projections to individual analysis zones
according to land availability, local zoning and related public policies.
Step 3: Specification of alternative transportation plans partly based on the results of step1 &
2
Step 4: Calculation of the capital and maintenance costs of each alternative plan.
Step 5: Application of calibrated demand-forecasting models to predict the target year
equilibrium flows expected to use each alternative, given the land-use and socioeconomic
projections of step 2 and the characteristics of the transportation alternative (step 3).
Step 6: Conversion of equilibrium flows to direct user benefits, such as savings in travel time
& travel cost attributable to the proposed plan.
Step 7: Comparative evaluation and selection of the best of the alternatives analyzed based on
estimated costs (step 3) and benefits (step 6).
Step 8: Based on the step 7 once best plan is identified, then the transportation plan is
implemented and operated.
This methodology was refined and expanded to cover additional social, economic, and
environmental benefits and costs; to admit a wider range of multimodal transportation
alternatives; to be more sensitive to the relationship between land-use and transportation
planning; and to admit multiagency and public participation.
Decision to adopt planning
BASED
Problem, definition, formulation of goals
Problems, constraints,
potentials, forecasting
Solution Generation
Solution Analysis
Evaluation of possible alternatives & choice
Implementation
Operation
Performance assessment and review
(b) Explain briefly the various stages involved in Transportation Planning process.
The first phase of the transportation planning process deals with surveys, data collection and
inventory. The next phase is the analysis of the data so collected and building models to
describe the mathematical relationship that can be discerned in the trip making behaviour.
Trip Generation:
Trip generation in transportation planning process is to cover the field of calculating
the number of tripends in a given area. It has been pointed out that theprincipal task of the
trip-generation analysis phase is to relate the intensity oftripmaking to and from land-use
parcels to measures of the type and intensity ofland use.
A trip is a one-way person movement by a mechanical mode of transport, having two
trip ends, an origin and a destination.
Two types of trip-generation analysis are carried out and these are normallyreferred toby the
terms trip production (generation) and trip attraction. The term trip production
(generation)is reserved for trips generated by residential zones where these trips may be trip
origins or trip destinations. The termtripattraction is used todescribe trips generated by
activities at the nonhome end of a home-based tripsuch as employment, retailservices, and so
on.
Trip distribution
The decision to travel for a given purpose is called trip generation. These generated trips from
each zone is then distributed to all other zones based on the choice of destination. This is
called trip distribution which forms the second stage of travel demand modeling. There are a
number of methods to distribute trips among destinations; and two such methods are growth
factor model and gravity model. Growth factor model is a method which responds only to
relative growth rates at origins and destinations and this is suitable for short-term trend
extrapolation. In gravity model, we start from assumptions about trip making behavior and
the way it is influenced by external factors. An important aspect of the use of gravity models
is their calibration that is the task of fixing their parameters so that the base year travel
pattern is well represented by the model.
Modal Split
The third stage of travel demand forecasting process has been identified as captive modal
split analysis. The modal split analysis was identified as occurring after the trip distribution
analysis phase. Two submarkets for public transportation services have been labelled as
captive transit riders and choice transit riders. The aim of captive modal split analysis is to
establish relationships that allow the trip ends estimated in the trip generation phase to be
partitioned into captive transit riders and choice transit riders. The purpose of choice modal
split analysis phase is to estimate the probable split of choice transit riders between public
transport and car travel given measures of generalized cost of travel by two modes. The ratio
of choice trip makers using a public transport system varies from 9 to 1 in small cities with
poorly developed public transport systems to as high as 3 to 1 in well developed cities.
Major determinants of Public Patronage are 1. Socio economic characteristics of trip makers
2. Relative cost and service properties of the trip by car and that by public transport.
Variables used to identify the status at the household level are 1. Household income or car
ownership directly 2. The number of persons per household. 3. The age and sex of household
members. 4. The purpose of the trip.
Traffic Assignment
The process of allocating given set of trip interchanges to the specified transportation system
is usually referred to as traffic assignment. The fundamental aim of the traffic assignment
process is to reproduce on the transportation system, the pattern of vehicular movements
which would be observed when the travel demand represented by the trip matrix, or matrices,
to be assigned is satisfied. The major aims of traffic assignment procedures are:
1. To estimate the volume of traffic on the links of the network and obtain aggregate
network measures.
2. To estimate inter zonal travel cost.
3. To analyze the travel pattern of each origin to destination(O-D) pair.
4. To identify congested links and to collect traffic data useful for the design of future
junctions.
2 (a) Define “Zone”. Mention the different factors considered in dividing the whole area into
zones.
ZONING
The defined study area is sub-divided into smaller areas called zones. The purpose of such a
sub-division is to facilitate the spatial quantification of land use and economic factors which
influence travel pattern. The data collected on individual household basis cannot be
conveniently considered and analysed unless they are aggregated into small zones. Sub-
division into zones further helps in geographically associating the origins and destinations of
travel. In large study projects, it is more convenient to divide the study area into sectors,
which are sub-divided into smaller zones. A convenient system of coding of the zones will be
useful for the study. One such system is to divide the study area into 9 sectors. Each sector is
sub-divided into 10 zones. A sub-zone bearing a number 481 belongs to sector 4 and to zone
8 in that sector and is sub-zone 1 in that zone. Zones are modelled as if all their attributes and
properties were concentrated in a single point called the zonecentroid. The centroids are
connected to the nearest road junction or rail station by centroid connectors. Both centroid
and centroid connectors are notional and it is assumed that all people have same travel cost
from the centroid to the nearest transport facility which is the average for a zone. The
intersection from outside world is normally represented through external zones.
The external zones are defined by the catchment area of the major transport links feeding to
the study area. Although the list is not complete, few guidelines are given below for selecting
zones.
1. Zones should match other administrative divisions, particularly census zones.
2. Zones should have homogeneous characteristics, especially in land use, population etc.
3. Zone boundaries should match cordon and screen lines, but should not match major roads.
4. Zones should be as smaller in size as possible so that the error in aggregation caused by
the assumption that all activities are concentrated at the zone centroids is minimum.
5. The zones should have a homogenous land use.
6. Natural or physical barriers such as canals, rives etc can form convenient zone boundaries.
7. Zones boundaries should preferably be water-shed of trip making.
8. The zones should preferably have regular geometric form for easily determining the
centroid which represents the origin and termination of travel.
9. Sectors should represent the catchment of trips generated on a primary route.
10. Land-use is the most important factor in establishing zones for a transportation survey. It
is only when the origin and destination zones reflect properly the land-use can traffic
generated within the zones be predicted, measured and quantified accurately.
(b) Explain the inventory of transportation facilities.
Inventory of Transport Facilities
The inventory of existing transport facilities should be under taken to identify the deficiencies
in the present system and the extent to which they need to be improved. The inventory
consists of:
1. Inventory of streets forming the transport network
2. Traffic volume, composition, peak and off-peak
3. Studies on travel time by different modes
4. Inventory of public transport buses
5. Inventory of rail transport facilities
6. Parking inventory
7. Accident data
Inventory of streets:
An understanding of the extent and quanlity of the road network is very important to
formulate plans for future. The inventory should cover details such as classification of
the street system, length, cross-sectional dimensions, type and condition of the
surface, capacity, intersections, control devices, structures, street furniture, etc.
Traffic volume:
Data pertaining to traffic volume and its composition will be needed to check on the
survey data collected by the home-interview and cordon surveys. The variation of the
traffic volume over different hours of the day, different days of the week and different
months of the year is also needed.
Travel time studies:
An estimate of travel times between different zones by various modes is necessary for
transport planning. Travel times are usually measured for the peak-hour conditions
and non-peak hour conditions.
Inventory of public transport buses:
The inventory of public transport buses includes information on the total number of
buses, their capacity, schedules, routes, operating speeds, terminals, number of
passengers carried, economic picture of the public transport system and the fare
structure.
Inventory of rail transport facilities:
The inventory of rail transport facilities should include the length, capacity, schedules,
operating speeds, stations, number of passengers carried, economic picture of the rail
transport undertaking and the fare structure.
Parking Inventory:
The parking inventory should collect information on the existing on-street and off-
street parking facilities, the parking demand and utilization of existing facilities. Data
on parking charges and the system used for charging should also be collected.
Accident data:
Accident data over the past years will help to understand the nature and extent of the
hazards inherent in the present system and the need to improve the situation.
(c ) Explain with neat sketch about the basic movements in transportation survey.
Types of Surveys
The basic movements for which survey data are required are:
1. Internal to Internal
2. Internal to External
3. External to Internal
4. External to External
For large urban areas, the internal to internal travel is heavy whereas for small areas
having a small population the internal to internal travel is insignificant. The internal to
internal travel is best studied by the home interview technique with checks by screen-
line surveys. The internal to external, external to internal and external to external
travels can be studied by cordon surveys and also be surveyed by home interview
technique.
3. (a) Explain Home-based and Non-home based trip.
Consider a trip from home to work and return trip from work to home. Both these
trips are home based, because one end of the trips is home. Both these trips are considered to
have been generated at the home zone and attracted to the work zone. Thus have two work
purpose trip ends generations in the home zone and two work purpose attractions in the work
zone.
HOME WORK
trip types
Consider another example of the trip from the place of work to shop and return to the place of
work, as it is usual during the lunch recess. Both these trips are non-home based, because
neither end of the trip is the home of the person making the trip. Both these trips are
considered to have been generated at the work zone and attracted to the shop zone. Thus have
two shopping purpose trip end generation (production) in the work zone and two shopping
purpose attraction in the shopping zone.
(b) Explain the assumptions made in category analysis.
( C) Let the trip rate of a zone is explained by the household size done from the fiels survey.
It was found that the household size are 1,2 ,3 and 4. The trip rates of the corresponding
household are shown in the table below. Fit a linear equation relating trip rate ad household
size.
Hence the linear equation is
4. Write short notes on:
(a) Study area :
Transportation planning can be at the national level, regional level or at the urban level.
For planning at the urban level, the study area should embrace the whole conurbation
containing the existing and potential continuously built-up areas of the city. The
imaginary line representing the boundary of the study area is termed as the ‘external
cordon’. The area inside the external cordon line determines the travel pattern to a large
extent and as such is surveyed in great detail.
(b) Expansion of data from samples:
In order to derive the travel characteristics of the whole population from the data derived
from sampling, certain expansion factors have to be used. For the home-interview
surveys, the expansion factor is calculated on a zonal basis as follows:
Expansion factor
𝐶 𝐴
𝐴−(𝐶+ ∗𝐷)
𝐵 𝐵
= 𝐵−𝐶−𝐷
Where, A = Total number of addresses in the original list.
B = Total number of addresses selected as original sample.
C = Number of sample addresses that are ineligible.
D = Number of sample addresses where no response is obtained.
(c ) Trip Distribution
The decision to travel for a given purpose is called trip generation. These generated trips from
each zone is then distributed to all other zones based on the choice of destination. This is
called trip distribution which forms the second stage of travel demand modeling. There are a
number of methods to distribute trips among destinations; and two such methods are growth
factor model and gravity model. Growth factor model is a method which responds only to
relative growth rates at origins and destinations and this is suitable for short-term trend
extrapolation. In gravity model, we start from assumptions about trip making behavior and
the way it is influenced by external factors. An important aspect of the use of gravity models
is their calibration that is the task of fixing their parameters so that the base year travel
pattern is well represented by the model.
( d) Home interview surveys
Home-Interview survey is one of the most reliable type of surveys for collection of origin and
destination data.
The survey is essentially intended to yield data on the travel pattern of the residents of the
household and the general characteristics of the house-hold influencing trip-making. The
information on travel pattern includes number of trips made, their origin and destination,
purpose of trip, travel mode, time of departure from origin and time of arrival at destination
and so on. The information on household characteristics includes type of dwelling unit,
number of residents, age, sex, race, vehicle ownership, number of drivers, family income and
so on. Based on these data it is possible to relate the amount of travel to household and zonal
characteristics and develop equations for trip generation rates.
It is impractical and unnecessary to interview all the residents of the study area. Since travel
patterns tend to be uniform in a particular zone, it is sufficient if a sampling procedure is
employed. The size of the sample is usually determined on the basis of the population of the
study area.
B.P.R.(Bureau of Public Roads) standards for Sampling Size for Home Interview
Survey
Population of Study Area Sample Size
Under 50,000 1 in 5 households
50,000 – 150,000 1 in 8 households
150,000 – 300,000 1in 10 households
300,000 –500,000 1 in 15 households
500,000 – 1,000,000 1 in 20 households
Over 1,000,000 1 in 25 households
The above standards are perhaps too costly to practice. In any case, the sample size should
not be less than given in table
Minimum Sampling Size for Home Interview Survey
Population of Study Area Minimum sample size
Under 50,000 1 in 10 households
50,000 to 150,000 1 in 20 households
150,000 to 300,000 1 in 35 households
300,000 to 500,000 1 in 50 households
500,000 to 1,000,000 1 in 70 households
Over 1,000,000 1 in 100 households
PART- B
5 (a) Explain Average growth factor methods in Trip Distribution.
(c) Explain Fratar Method in trip distribution.
( C) The base year trips matrix for a study area consisting of three zones is given below.
1 2 3 Oi
1 20 30 28 78
2 36 32 24 92
3 22 34 26 82
Di 88 96 78 252
The productions from the zone 1, 2 and 3 for the horizon year is expected to grow to 98, 106
and 122 resp. The attractions form the zones are expected to increase to 102, 118 and 106
resp. Compute the matrix for the horizon year using doubly constrained growth factor model
using Furness method.
6 (a) Define Modal Split and explain in brief the factors affecting Modal Split.
Modal split is a process of separating person trips by the mode of travel. It is
expressed as a fraction, ratio or percentage of total number of trips. It refers to the
trips made by private car as opposed to public transport and useful to understand the
future transportation pattern.
Factors affecting Modal split
(B) Explain the advantages and disadvantages of Pre-distribution modal split.
Advantages:
Less difficult and less costly
Separate public transport and private car distribution afforded by this method is
desirable
Reflects factors like income, car-ownership, family structure, employment
Dis Advantages:
Linked with existing and historical levels of public transport service
But inappropriate to studies involving planning of improvements to public transport
systems where different LOS are contemplated
Characteristics based on average area – wide basis no zone-zone combination
Does not consider the trip generation characteristics
Insensitive to future developments
(C ) Draw the flow diagram for modal split carried out after trip distribution.
7 (a) Explain the application of traffic assignment.
Applications of Trip Assignment
Some of the applications of traffic assignment analysis to the network are:
1. To determine the deficiencies in the existing transport system by assigning the future
trips to the existing transport system.
2. To evaluate the effects of limited improvements and additions to the existing transport
system by assigning estimated future trips to the improved networks.
3. To develop construction priorities by assigning estimated future trips for the intermediate
years to the transport system proposed for those years.
4. To test alternative transportation system proposals by systematic and readily repeatable
procedures.
5. To provide design hour volumes on highway and turning movements at junctions.
Thus the assignment processes is applicable for both transport planners and highway facility
design engineers. The main need of traffic assignment processes is to evaluate:
How the proposed transport system will work presently, and to the latter date.
For the geometric design of highways and intersections.
Developments in computer technology made it possible to facilitate traffic assignment
techniques computations so laborious. A computer network assignment procedure requires:
A way of coding the modal network for computer processing.
An understanding of the factors affecting the trip-maker’s path preferences.
A computer algorithm that is capable of producing the trip-maker’s preferred paths.
For computer analysis, the network is coded, key punched and stored in the computer
memory.
(b) Write a flow chart of fundamental structure of Lowry Model.
(c ) List the various assignment techniques and explain any two methods.
The following are the various techniques of assignment available.
All or nothing assignment
Multiple route assignment
Capacity restraint assignment
Diversion curves
Diversion Curves:
Diversion curve models was developed in early 1950s to know how many drivers would be
diverted from arterial streets to a proposed freeway in order to make decisions related to the
geometric design and capacity of proposed urban freeways. This model employs empirically
derived curves to compute the percentage of trips that would use the freeway in route
between two points on some measure of relative impedance between the
freeway route and the fastest arterial route between the two points.
California diversion curves
These curves used travel-time and travel-distance differences between two alternative paths
to estimate the percentage of trips that would use the freeway.
The formula for determining percentage usage of the freeway in route between two points is
given by
All-or-nothing assignment:
In this method the trips from any origin zone to any destination zone are loaded onto a single,
minimum cost, path between them. This model is unrealistic as only one path between every
OD pair is utilised even if there is another path with the same or nearly same travel cost.
Also, traffic on links is assigned without consideration of whether or not there is adequate
capacity or heavy congestion; travel time is a fixed input and does not vary depending on the
congestion on a link. However, this model may be reasonable in sparse and uncongested
networks where there are few alternative routes and they have a large difference in travel
cost. This model may also be used to identify the desired path: the path which the drivers
would like to travel in the absence of congestion. In fact, this model's most important
practical application is that it acts as a building block for other types of assignment
techniques. It has a limitation that it ignores the fact that link travel time is a function of link
volume and when there is congestion or that multiple paths are used to carry traffic.
8. Write short notes on :
(a) Difficulties in transportation planning for small and medium cities
Small and medium-sized communities face a variety of transportation planning
challenges around the country. Four issues that nearly all small and medium-sized
communities share are
Lack of resources to meet planning requirements;
Education for staff and stakeholders;
Communications and information overload; and
Technology, both in-house and applications.
(b) Quick response technique
(c ) Garin- Lowry model
(d) Furness method
When information is available on the growth in the number of trips originating and
terminating in each zone, we know that there will be different growth rates for trips
in and out of each zone and consequently having two sets of growth factors for each
zone. This implies that there are two constraints for that model and such a model is
called doubly constrained growth factor model. One of the methods of solving such
a model is given by Furness who introduced balancing factors ai and bj as follows:
Tij = tij × ai × bj . In such cases, a set of intermediate correction coefficients are
calculated which are then appropriately applied to cell entries in each row or
column. After applying these corrections to say each row, totals for each column are
calculated and compared with the target values. If the differences are significant,
correction coefficients are calculated and applied as necessary. The procedure is
given below: 1. Set bj = 1 2. With bj solve for ai to satisfy trip generation constraint.
3. With ai solve for bj to satisfy trip attraction constraint. 4. Update matrix and
check for errors. 5. Repeat steps 2 and 3 till convergence. Here the error is
calculated as: E = Σ|Oi − O1 i | + Σ|Dj − D1 j | where Oi corresponds to the actual
productions from zone i and O1 i is the calculated productions from that zone.
Similarly Dj are the actual attractions from the zone j and D1 j are the calculated
attractions from that zone.
