URBAN TRAVEL CHARACTERISTICS,

ENVIRONMENTAL AND LAND USE

CONSIDERATIONS
 INTRODUCTIONS

Harikishan Perugu PhD, TE, PTP

Work Experience
Air Resources Engineer at California Air Resources Board May
2012-Now
Transportation Planner/Engineer at OKI Regional Council June
2007- May 2012
Highway Engineer at CES (India) July
2002 – Sep 2004
Education
Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering from University of
Cincinnati 2013
Master of Science in Civil Engineering from University of Cincinnati
2007
Post Graduate Diploma in Construction Management
2002
TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
PROCESS
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM COMPONENTS

System extent of different transportation facilities ( highway, rail,

air, waterways, public transit ) provides basis for Transportation
Planning.
 F U N C T I O N A L C L A S S I F I C AT I O N O F T RA N S P O RTAT I O N
SYSTEM

• Most important part of transportation system- highway

system
• Interstates, Expressways or Freeways
• Type of arterials with lonest uninterrupted distances and
higher speeds
• Arterials
• other forms of limited access roads as well as connections to
major urbanized areas
• Collectors;
• These roads link local streets to arterials and are generally
lower-speed facilities.
• Local Streets
• These primarily serve the adjacent land use with access to
higher-order roads
• Highway systems has been increasing for last 50 years

Source:
 TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

  Traffic Mobility Accessibility

Definition of
Vehicle travel
Transportation
Units of Measure Vehicle miles
Modes Considered Automobile and truck
Vehicle traffic volumes and
speeds, roadway level of
Common Indicators
service, cost per vehicle
mile, parking convenience
Maximum motor vehicle
Assumptions
travel and speed
Treats land use as in input,
Consideration of Land Use unaffected by transportation
decisions
Roadway and parking facility Transportation system
Favored transportation
improvement strategies
improvements to increase improvements that increase
capacity, speed and safety capacity, speed and safety
Generally considers vehicle
Implications for travel travel reductions
demand management undesirable, except if
congestion is extreme
Person and goods movement
Person-miles and ton-miles
Automobile, truck and transit
Person travel volumes and
speeds, road and transit level
of service, cost per person-
mile, travel convenience
Maximum personal travel and
goods movement
Recognizes that land use can
affect travel choices
Supports TDM strategies that
improve personal and freight
mobility
Ability to obtain goods, services Transit Performance (some
and activities examples only)
Trips, generalized costs • Service Effectiveness and
Automobile, truck, Efficiency
transit,cycling and walking
• System accessibility (Coverage, EJ,
Quality of available
transportation choices, Connectivity)
• Bus Stop Inventory and Design
distribution of destinations, cost
per trip • Park-and-Ride
Maximum transport choice and • Paratransit (ADA Paratransit
cost efficiency improvements)
• Fare Equity
Recognizes that land use has
• Major Service Change Policy
major impacts on transportation
• Safety (Incidents, facility, security
Management strategies and
management)
improvements that increase
transport system efficiency and
safety
Supports TDM whenever it is
cost effective

Lately, Safety and Environmental Impact are also considered as

Performance Indicators
 URBAN POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS

• Population Characteristics
• Population growth – including age based distribution
• Household characteristics & vehicle ownership – income levels, number of people
• Distribution of spatial growth – sub-urban, rural and urban areas

• Reliable data is available US Census Bureau – PUMS

 T RAVE L C H A RAC T E R I S T I C S

• Travel Purpose
• Work/School
• Shopping
• Recreational
• Other
• Travel Patterns
• How many trips in day home–to-work, home-to-
other and non-home based
• Temporal Patterns
• How do travel pattern is distributed during the
day
• Modal Usage
• What kind of travel mode people use

Source: FHWA
 T E R M I N O LO GY U S E D I N T RAV E L C H A RA C T E R I S T I C S D ATA

• ADT- Average Daily Traffic: if data is collected less than year

• AADT- Average Annual Daily Traffic: if data is collected for through out
the year

• AAWT- Average Annual Weekday Traffic: daily traffic adjusted only for
weekdays

• Hourly Traffic: traffic volume during an hour

• Short-term counts: traffic counts collected for less than a week

• Vehicle Classification
• VMT-Vehicle Miles Traveled: traffic volume multiplied by distance

• Average vehicle occupancy: number of persons in a vehicle

• Traffic density: vehicles per lane per mile

• Lane capacity: number vehicles that can be accommodated in a lane per mile
 REL ATIONSHIP BETWEEN FUNCTIONAL
CL ASSES AND TRAVEL CHARACTERISTICS

Distance
Usage
Functional Served Distance Number
Access Speed (AADT
Classificatio (and between Significance of Travel
Points Limit and
n Length of Routes Lanes
DVMT)
Route)

Arterial Longest Few Highest Longest Highest Statewide More

Collector Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium

Local Shortest Many Lowest Shortest Lowest Local Few

Highway functional class directly impacts transportation

planning as each functional class different purpose and
performance measure
 TRAFFIC COUNT TECHNIQUES

• Automatic Traffic Recorder

• Weigh-In-Motion
• Video-based counters
• Coverage Counts
• Hourly Counts
Source: http Source: https://metrocount.com/products/
• Screen line & Cordon line ://www.loadcell.cn/weigh-in-motion-system.htm

Counts

Source: https://kotaielectronics.com/vehicle-counter-classifier/ Source:https Source: City of Redmond Public works

 TRAVEL STUDIES

• To identify and understand the transportation problems, we use travel

studies
• Travel time studies
• congestion, accessibility, mobility, point-to-point travel time etc.
• Travel surveys
• External Surveys – post card, road side interviews, license plate, vehicle intercept etc.
• Internal Surveys – Household surveys, Transit surveys, work place studies

• Parking Needs Surveys

• Parking space inventory, parking occupancy, duration & turnover and parker
characteristics

Source: ITE Transportation Planning Handbook

 MODAL STUDIES

• In addition highway data, we need traffic data for different modes of traffic
• Transit Studies
• Transit inventories
• Ridership
• Occupancy of transit
• Service Coverage

• Pedestrian Studies
• Flow rates and capacities
• Walking Speeds
• Door counts

• Good Movement Studies

• Intercept survey
• Interviews
• Truck weight data collection
• License plate surveys
• GPSA-based surveys
 S A M P L E T RAV E L S U RV E Y P R O C E S S

Source:https://wfrc.org/MapsData/UtahTravelStudy
/UtahTravelStudy_FinalReport_130228.pdf
S A M P L E T RAV E L S U RV E Y F O R M
PART II
 DIFFERENT CONSIDERATIONS
IN TRANSPORTATION PL ANNING

• Regional planning considerations

• Urban form
• Urban design
• Highway facilities
• Environmental
• Land use & Economic considerations
 REGIONAL PL ANNING CONSIDERATIONS

• Comprehensive Plans – Created by local governments and communities

• Zoning – Local governments' zoning and land use ordinances

• Parking – Local government’s minimum requirements for min parking spaces.

• Growth Plan – Planning new development that serves the economy, the
community, and the environment

• Transit oriented Development – compact, mixed-use, pedestrian-

friendly developments treating the transit facility as the centerpiece

• Subdivision Regulations – Each sub division or new housing

development has their own set of regulations
 URBAN FORM & URBAN DESIGN

Urban Form
• The cumulative effect of these individual development decisions over time results in a spatial development
pattern referred to as urban form.
• Transportation planning should take care of existing urban form , it should not disturb existing one.

Urban Design
• Concerned with the physical characteristics of the city and the implications of design and planning
decisions for the public realm of the city
• An integrating tool, one that coordinates how various public and private development proposals,
including transportation and public infrastructure, will affect the city physically
 L AND USE PL ANNING

• Population & Employment Forecasting

• Ratio method
• Gradual increase
• Economic growth based

• Relationship between land use & demand for

travel
• Distribution of employment & population
• Different types of land-use models, & economic data analysis
and local development expertise to forecast future land-use
patterns.
 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS

Sustainability:
• Meeting the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.

Environmental considerations at
system level
• Air Quality
• Storm water
• Energy& Climate
• Materials Recycling
• Eco-systems& Wild life
 L AND USE & ECONOMIC IMPACT
CONSIDERATIONS

• Land use impact analysis : regional, sub area or corridor

• Consistency with plans & zoning : with existing transportation

plans

• Impacts on local taxes

• Impacts transportation system
• Economic impacts
• Social & Community impacts
• Natural resources impacts
• Construction impacts
 WHAT WE LEARNT TODAY

• Important Components of Transportation System

• Highway Functional classes and connection with travel
characteristics
• Population & Travel characteristics
• Studies to collect travel characteristics
• Sample survey process
• Different considerations in transportation planning process