CE 451/551 Urban Transportation Planning and Modeling
Iowa State University
Menu
Please
note: if you are viewing this site on the mirror (http://home.engineering.iastate.edu/~reg/CE451/451.HTM)
some links may still point to the InTrans servers. In general, you can find the files if
you replace http://www.ctre.iastate.edu/educweb/ with http://home.engineering.iastate.edu/~reg/
in the URL box.
· Syllabus, including lectures, labs and exam dates
![[World's+Most+Worst+Incomprehensible+and+Intersections+Traffic+Jams+11.jpg]](451_files/image006.jpg)
General Course Information
Contact Information
Instructor:
Reginald R. Souleyrette, Ph.D.,
P.E.
Office:
Alternate Office: Center for
Transportation Research and Education (CTRE)
ISU Research Park
2711 S. Loop Drive, Suite 4700
Phone: 294-5453
Email: reg@iastate.edu
Office Hours: Generally MW after class. Please feel free to contact me or make an appointment by email.
Class Meeting Time and Place
Monday, Wednesday 8:00 - 8:50 am, 206 Town (lecture)
Tuesday, 10:00-11:50 am, 134 Town (lab)
Objectives
Catalog Data: (C E 451/ 551. Urban Transportation Planning and Modeling. (2-2) Cr. 3. F. Prereq:350 or 355. Transportation data sources and cost analysis; transportation system management; travel demand and network modeling; transport legislation and financing; intelligent transportation systems planning; sustainable transportation concepts. Use of popular travel demand software and applications of geographic information systems and global positioning systems. Term project required for graduate credit.
Goals: To provide you with an intermediate course in the theory and practice of planning, programming, and modeling of urban and statewide transportation systems; to familiarize you with the four step travel demand modeling process, application of state of the practice software and use of models in the overall planning process. Requirement and activities of metropolitan and statewide planning agencies are also covered.
Reading "Texts" and related Resources
Transportation planning models will be developed using a software package entitled "TransCAD Transportation GIS Software". You will be provided two volumes related to the software to explain the modeling concepts and the software applications. Several additional resources are identified in the CE 451/551 Web pages. The TransCAD books are "loaned" to you. We need to collect these at the end of the semester.
Please do not write or mark in these
references unless you find a mistake that needs to be corrected (please let me
know so I can tell everyone to make the same changes).
TransCAD GIS User’s Guide Caliper Corporation, Newton, MA. (Manual “A”)
Travel Demand Modeling with TransCAD 5.0 User’s Guide, Caliper Corporation, Newton, MA. (Manual “B”)
Additional resources.
Travel Model Improvement Program Clearinghouse No specific reading assignment here as there are more than 50 full documents at this site. Check it throughout the semester and read related material that would help you learn better, help you prepare lab reports, e.g., cut and paste supporting figures, with appropriate credit given, etc.), or be useful to you in other classes/research.
Transportation Engineering Online Lab Manual
NCHRP 365, Travel Estimation Techniques for Urban Areas, Chapter 3: Trip Generation (I will provide hard copies or pdf’s of this, estimated reading time: 1 hour
NCHRP 365, Travel Estimation Techniques for Urban Areas, Chapter 5: External Travel (I will provide hard copies or pdf’s of this, 12 pages, estimated reading time: 1 hour
Inside the Blackbox, Making Transportation Models Work for Livable Communities (8000 words, estimated time: 2.5 hours)
Travel Surveys: http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_571.pdf
Calibration and Adjustment of System Planning Models - December 1990 (This is short, but good. I suggest reading this as soon as possible, 6500 words, estimated time: 2 hours)
Model Validation and Reasonableness Checking Manual, 1997 (this is rather large. I suggest you being reading this right after exam 1, 28,000 words, estimated time: 8 hours)
“Chapter 2: A critical review of the trip-based, four-step procedure of urban passenger demand forecasting”. In Activity-based Modeling System for Travel Demand Forecasting. The Travel Model Improvement Program, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation: Washington, DC. http://tmip.fhwa.dot.gov/clearinghouse/docs/amos/ch2.stm. (2000 words, estimated time: 30 minutes)
A Critical Review of Statewide Travel Forecasting Practice
Transportation
planning handbook. John D. Edwards, Jr., ed. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall, 2009. (not an on-line document)
Urban Transportation Planning in the United States, An Historical Overview. USDOT. 5th Edition.
M.P. Meyer and E. J. Miller, Urban Transportation, McGraw Hill, New York, 2001.
Tardiness or missed classes
You are allowed one
tardy without preapproval. Due to
the disruption caused by late arrivals, you will be penalized one percent of
your final grade for additional tardies.
You are responsible
for the materials covered when they have to miss class. Talk to one of your classmates about
material covered, assignments, etc.
Most materials will be posted to the web site, but this is not always
the case – so please check with a colleague. There is no specific penalty for missing
class other than missing out on a learning opportunity you have paid quite a
bit to obtain. For serious illness,
job requirements or family emergency, please let me know so I can assist you as
much as I can.
Late Assignments
Labs are due at the beginning of the next lab class unless a lab is designated as a multi-week lab in which case they are due at the beginning of a new lab topic. Homework will generally be due one week after it is assigned. Please do not print labs at the beginning of the lab period. Coordinate with your lab partner(s) to get it printed before class begins.
Late labs or homework will be penalized 10% per day. Assignments handed in after the beginning of lab are counted late.
If the reason for late work is lab computer or plotting problems beyond your control, I will consider accepting late work without penalty. However, do not wait to the last minute to do the work or to print/plot it. Please let me know as soon as you can if you think the computers or plotters are having trouble, so that I may be of help. Also – it is important that you let the CCEE IT services know if there are computer network, hardware, operating system, or plot/print (paper, jams, ink, …) problems so that they have time to fix them and it won’t delay your handing in assignments.
Evaluation Criteria
Examination #1: 20%
Examination #2: 25%
Homework/quizzes: 10%
Labs: 20%
Final Examination: 25%
* Graduate students' total grade will be adjusted upwards or downwards up to one letter grade based on a graduate project.
QUIZZES appear throughout the syllabus. The quizzes are from a US DOT overview document which reviews the basic transportation planning process steps. Many of these readings will be familiar. You must email your answers to me prior to class time on the day they appear on the syllabus.
Use the following
subject heading on quiz email:
subject: quiz x
where
x is the quiz number (one email per quiz please)
format for body of email: one line
for each answer (they need not be numbered)
Note: failure to submit quizzes in the required
format and at the required time will result in a zero for the quiz.
To Menu
Students with Disabilities
"Please address any special needs or special accommodations with me at the beginning of the semester or as soon as you become aware. Those seeking accommodations based on disabilities should obtain a Student Academic Accommodation Request (SAAR) from the Disability Resources (DR) office (515-294-6624). DR is located in Room 1076 of the Student Services Building."
Lab Reports
You are required you to present your results in writing in good technical writing style. Getting the answer is usually only half the work.
· Include a title sheet with a title, your names, lab# and date.
· Lab reports should be explanatory with text, maps, graphics, or other specifically required materials per the lab instructions. Label all figures and tables, and refer to them by number in the text.
· Labs should be free of spelling or grammatical errors.
· Always use page numbers.
· Present all results in the main body of the report. Lengthy printouts may be attached as appendices, but do not use appendices as an easy way to avoid integration of materials into the text. If you have an appendix, don't write "the answer is in the Appendix." Make sure you refer to all appendix material by number, somewhere in the text. Your reader should be able to easily find the results in the body of the report.
· An introduction section should include a brief overview of the topic and layout the structure of the report. A table of contents is appropriate if you have several sections of a lengthy lab report.
· Include a section detailing any problems you had, your solution to the problem, plus any recommendations for improvement of the particular lab exercise.
· Spell-out all abbreviations or acronyms the first time.
· Proof-read your work.
· Reports that are confusing, sloppy or difficult to read will be penalized 20% from the start.
· Submit your lab assignments in hard copy format. One hardcopy per group. Note: labs are due at the beginning on the following lab period and if late, will receive a penalty (see above).
Plagiarism/Citation: ANY work that is not your own must be clearly marked as having been taken from another source. This includes all figures and tables. Do not be vague … you cannot simply include a reference number at the bottom of an entire section that is taken from another source. Use quotation marks for single sentences or less; use indent from left and right and small font for longer sections taken from other work. Use Author/date reference format, e.g., (Souleyrette, 2005) and include a reference list with enough information for me to be able to find the original source. Penalty for improper citation: 1st offense: warning, 2nd offense: you cannot get an A for the course, 3rd offense: you will be reported to University Administration for disciplinary action.
Prerequisites by Topic
1. A basic understanding of highway transportation concepts as
presented in CE 350 or 355.
2. A working knowledge of PCs and Windows operating system, MS Word, Power
Point and Excel.
Graduate Project (required of those taking 551 only)
To receive graduate credit for this class, 551 students must have an additional work component (beyond that required for the undergraduate students). You may propose a transportation planning topic to me that you would like to learn about in more detail. Project topic must be approved by Oct. 1, proposal (with references) due October 15. Deliverable: ~10 page paper (including figures) due at beginning of final exam period (electronic and hardcopy, please). Include at least 1500 words of text (excluding tables, figures, references). Include proper citations and a bibliography/list of references.