Transportation Systems Operation

The course introduces methods to better analyzing the

different transport systems, highlighting both demand and
economic aspects. It covers the basic principles regarding
the design, investment, operation and maintenance of
transport systems.
It analyzes microeconomic concepts, economic theories
of businesses and consumers, as well as the markets,
demand models, discrete choice analysis models, cost
and production operations models, and finally pricing
theories.
 In addition, the applications of transport systems theories
are analyzed regarding congestion pricing, technological
change, resources allocation, market structure and
regulation, revenue forecasting and public/private funding
of transport.
Transportation Systems Management and
Operations (TSM&O)

-are planning processes and programs that optimize the

performance of existing multimodal infrastructure
through implementation of systems, services, and
projects to preserve capacity and improve security, safety,
and reliability of the transportation system.
What is transportation engineering and
transportation system?
Transportation engineering is a branch of civil
engineering that is involved in the planning, design,
operation, and maintenance of safe and efficient
transportation systems.

 
 Operations and management involve traffic
engineering, so that vehicles move smoothly on
the road or track. Older techniques include signs,
signals, markings, and tolling.
These systems include roadways, railways,
waterways, and intermodal operations. These
systems are typically large and expensive.
The transportation operations pathway
includes workers who drive or pilot the
vehicles that transport people or freight to
ensure that passengers or cargo are
transported safely and on time.
What is an efficient transport system?

-Efficient transportation systems enable the

movement of people and goods while
minimizing time, cost, and energy.
The purpose of a transportation system
is to coordinate the movement of
people, goods and vehicles in order
to utilize routes most efficiently.
When implemented, transportation
systems seek to reduce transport costs
and improve delivery times through
effective timetabling and route
management
What is the difference between transport
and transportation?
-Transport is an uncountable noun. Don't
refer to a single vehicle as `a transport'.
British speakers also use transport to refer
to the moving of goods or people from
one place to another.
-American speakers usually use
transportation to refer both to vehicles and
to the moving of goods or people.
How does transportation influence our
society?
-Transportation moves people and goods to
different neighborhoods, cities, states, and
countries; and it allows people in those
various places to trade and do business
together.
-Transportationhas influenced each of our
choices about where to live, spend
vacations, shop, or work
The Four Main Locational Influences of Transportation
 Transport costs
-One of the most straightforward influence
involves the costs that transport imposes
on the mobility of passengers and freight.
-Location is therefore influenced by the
goal of minimizing the total cost of
transportation, which is the foundation of 
classic location theory.
 Agglomeration economies
-Lower input costs with the clustering of
economic activities, which is permitted by
the accessibility that transportation
infrastructures, such as roads, can provide
to a user/customer base.
 Economies of density
-Based on the general benefits of higher
densities such as a higher level of
accessibility to labor, goods and services
and lower unit distribution costs. Higher
densities are only possible with high
capacity transportation infrastructures.
 Co-location

-The benefits that economic activities

derive from being located 
directly adjacent to a transport terminal fa
cility
 such as a port, an airport, a rail terminal
or a public transit station.
-The efficiency of the economic activity is
in part derived from the transport capacity
offered by the terminal.
Core Components of Transportation
 Modes

-They represent the conveyances, mostly

taking the form of vehicles that are used to
support the mobility of passengers or
freight. Some modes are designed to carry
only passengers or freight, while others
can carry both.
 Infrastructures

-The physical support of transport modes,

where routes (e.g. rail tracks, canals, or
highways) and terminals (e.g. ports or
airports) are the most significant
components.
Infrastructures also include superstructures,
which are movable assets that usually have a
shorter lifespan.
For an airport, the infrastructure would
be assets such as the runways, while the
superstructure would be the terminals
and control equipment.
For a port, the infrastructure would be piers
and navigation channels while the
superstructure would be cranes and yard
equipment.
 Networks

-A system of linked locations that are used to

represent the functional and spatial
organization of transportation. This system
indicates which locations are connected and
how they are serviced.
Some locations within a network are more
accessible (more connections) than others
(fewer connections).
 Flows

-Movements of people, freight, and

information over their respective
networks. Flows have origins,
intermediary locations, and destinations.
An intermediary location is often required
to go from an origin to a destination. For
instance, flying from one airport to
another may require a transit at the hub
airport.
Factors behind the Development of Transport
Systems
 a. Environmental
At the local scale existing hydrographical and
geomorphological characteristics are strong
factors in transport development, particularly in
terms of the technical challenges (bridge,
gradients) they present to construct and
maintain infrastructure.
Climate, which is more a regional attribute, also
conditions transportation construction and
operations. At the national level, distance
underlines the geographical scale to be serviced,
influencing transport infrastructure development
since servicing the nation becomes imperative
At the global level, the contour of oceanic
masses such as choke-points becomes the
defining factor shaping the structure and
development orientation of transport systems.
b. Historical
• Settlement patterns, which are influenced
by cultural attributes, strongly influence
local transport development, such as street
grids.
• At the regional level, the structure of an
urban system, the result of historical
processes of accumulation, coordinates the
development of transport systems by
connecting them.
• It is also a historical process such as
colonialism and forms of imperialism that
have shaped aspects of national transport
developments, particularly in areas of the
world that were colonized.
• However, it is the process of globalization
that had one of the most enduring
influences in recent decades in shaping
global transport systems.
 c. Technological
• Each transportation technology has a matching scale of
development. Roads, despite their ubiquity, are strongly
associated with local (short distance) mobility. At the
regional level, this mobility becomes more the realm of
railways (or canals when present), although air
transportation also has a strong regional component.
• Corridors, which are mainly long-distance rail and
highway networks, are transport constructs built to connect
at the national or continental level.

• The technologies that have supported the most transport

development at the global level are mainly air
transportation and telecommunications.

• These technologies are mostly used at the regional (air)

and local (telecommunications) levels.
 d. Political

• Transportation development is a process that is managed

and regulated. At the local level, zoning is the regulatory
framework that influences the most transport development
since it dictates what is allowed to be built, including the
function of what is being built.
• Forms of taxation and regulations such as safety and
operating conditions are political aspects that play at the
regional (most transport regulations are at the state /
provincial level) and the national levels.
• Trade agreements have an important transnational implication,
linking neighboring economic entities, which has influenced
transportation development with an attempt to coordinate physical
and trade networks. Multilateral agreements, particularly over
trade have shaped the development of transportation systems by
favoring specific transnational connectivity.
 e. Economic
• Economic processes shape transportation development since its
core purpose is to support economic activities and their
interactions. The more advanced an economy is, the more
intensive and efficient transportation systems are. At the local
level, employment and distribution are key drivers focusing on
transit systems as well as the freight distribution of final goods.
Transportation projects can have various impacts on a
community’s economic development objectives, such
as productivity, employment, business activity,
property values, investment and tax revenues (in this
case "community" can range in scale from individual
households to cities, regions, nations or even the entire
world). 
 In general, transport projects that improve overall accessibility
(i.e., they improve businesses ability to provide goods and
services, and people's ability to access education, employment
and services) and reduce transportation costs (including travel
time, vehicle operating costs, road and parking facility costs,
accident and pollution damages) tend to increase economic
productivity and development. 
Care is needed to avoid double counting impacts that are
already counted in travel time and vehicle cost savings,
emission or safety benefits. Many economic impacts are
economic transfers (one person, group or area benefits at
another's expense) while others are true resource changes
(overall economic productivity increases or declines).
Inmany situations, the distribution of impacts is
important; for example, from the perspective of the
people who gain from an economic transfer, it is a true
benefit, but not from society's overall perspective.
 Itis important to consider the full range of economic
impacts, both positive and negative, that a transport project
may cause. For example, an urban highway expansion may
improve motorists' access and reduce their costs per
vehicle-mile, but by creating a barrier to pedestrian travel
and stimulating more dispersed land use development
patterns, reduces access by other modes, and increases the
total amount of travel required to reach destinations.
 Similarly, improving access to a particular area can expose
businesses to more competition (for example, if previously
captive local customers can more easily access regional
shopping centers), reducing business activity there.
Transportation ensures time and place utility. It results
in the movement of goods from one place to another
place thus making the product available through the
customer at the right time. There can be various modes
of transport or transportation
Modes of Transportation-

The modes of transport include various types

of factors or methods to transfer the goods or
product from one place to another place.
The modes are:

1. Roadways Transportation.
2. Railways Transportation.
3. Water Transportation.
4. Air Transportation.
5. Pipelines Transportation.
1. Roadways Transportation:
A road is an identifiable route way or path
between two or more places. This mode of
transport helps to transfer the goods from one
place to another place by road through various
methods like auto, buses, trucks, cargos, and
other suitable factors.

In road transport, the chances of an accident are

very high and it is also very risky
Advantages of Road Transport:
(i) It is very flexible in nature.
(ii) It helps to facilitate the movement of goods even in remote areas.
(iii) It provides alternatives in the form of car, rickshaw, auto, cars,
bus, trucks, and so on.
(iv) It is good for transporting perishable products
(v) It requires low capital investments.
(vi) It is very suitable for a short distance journey.
Disadvantages of Road Transport:
(i) It is not suited for long distance as it is not economical.
(ii) Slow as compared to railways.
(iii) Goods can be destroyed/damage due to specks of dust
and pollutions.
(iv) It is time-consuming.
(v) Accidents and Breakdowns.
2. Railways Transportation
It is a means of transport in which the goods are
transferred from one place to another place and
as well as transfers the passenger from one place
to another destination. It is preferred due to high
speed. Invariance to road transport, where
vehicles run on a flat road or surface, rail
vehicles are directionally managed by the rail
tracks on which they run.

Rail transport helps to provide administrative

facilities to the government. The public servants
and defense forces run their mobility from the
railways.
Advantages of Railways Transportation:
(i) It is economical for long distances because it can easily cover all
area of states and cities.
(ii) This means of transport is very faster than roadways.
(iii) Most suitable for carrying a bulky amount of goods and products.
(iv) It provides proper protection from exposure to sun and dust
pollutions.
(v) It is the most dependable means of transport.
(vi) It is the very safest means of transport.
(vii) Rail transport helps to provide employment opportunities to both
skilled and unskilled individuals.
Disadvantages of Railways Transportation:
(i) Huge capital required for construction maintenance.
(ii) It is not suitable for hilly areas.
(iii) It is not flexible in nature.
(iv) The cost and time of terminal operations are the major
disadvantages of rail transport.
(v) Monopoly in nature.
(vi) It consists much time for booking of goods through the
comparison of road transport.
3. Water Transportation
It involves the movement of goods through
oceans and seas. It can be categorized into three
several categories:
•Aqueducts, which includes tunnels and canals.
•Containers like tank car, tank ship, and tank
truck.
•Towing, it is very useful to pull a large water
bag or an iceberg.
In water transport, the weights of goods are very
large in comparison to other means of transports.
It plays a very crucial role in the development of
exports and imports of goods in the different
parts of the world.
Advantages of Water Transportation:
(i) It is the very cheapest or easiest means of transportation.
(ii) Goods in bulk are transported.
(iii) It promotes foreign or international trade.
(iv) It can easily carry a huge quantity of goods such as
timber and coal.
(v) In comparison to other transport, the risks capacity is
very low.
Disadvantages of Water Transportation:
(i) One of the drawbacks is there is a delay in the movement
of goods from one place to another.
(ii) Performance is affected by seasonal variations.
(iii) It can be used in a limited area of operations because it
can only run on seas or oceans.
(iv) Water transport is very unsuitable for small businesses
because it carries a small number of goods.
4. Air Transportation
The distinct advantage of air transport is
speed and suitability. It is very useful for
less working goods with a high value of
the price. Air transport is also known
as aviation.

The important characteristic of air

transport is that does not need a particular
surface track for its working operations. It
is the fastest means of transportation.
But the cost of operations is very high
according to other modes.
Advantages of Air Transportation:
(i) Fastest means of transportation.
(ii) Useful moving the goods in the amount of bulk.
(iii) Each and every area of accessible.
(iv) Vital for national security and defense.
(v) Very useful in earthquakes and other floods.
(vi) It provides an efficient, regular, and quick service.
(vii) It is very suitable for emergency services.
Disadvantages of Air Transportation:
(i) The large capital investment needed.
(ii) Not suitable for working goods.
(iii) May be affected by rains.
(iv) Risks of accidents are highest.
(v) This mode of transport requires a specialized skill and a high
degree of training for its working operations.
5. Pipelines Transportation
Pipelines transportation is used for
sending the liquids and gases from one
place to another place. Through this
means of transport, we can also send
chemicals, biofuels, and natural gases.
Advantages of Pipelines Transportation:
(i) They are very flexible in transporting liquids and gases.
(ii) It consumes low energy power.
(iii) It needs a limited area of maintenance.
(iv) Pipelines are very safe and accident-free transport.
Disadvantages of Pipelines Transportation:
(i) It is not flexible in nature.
(ii) It is restricted in a limited area of work.
(iii) Difficult to make security arrangements for this transport.
How does transportation influence
our society?
Transportation moves people and goods to different
neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries; and it
allows people in those various places to trade and do
business together. Transportation has influenced each
of our choices about where to live, spend
vacations, shop, or work.
Transportation moves people and goods to
different neighborhoods, cities, states, and
countries; and it allows people in those
various places to trade and do business
together.