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
atif.aslam@uet.edu.pk
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