CE 501 Transportation Systems Engineering

Transportation Systems Engineering explores the issues and concepts that are fundamental to transportation planning, design, operations and management. Drawing on engineering, economics, operations research, political science, and other fields, the course develops a framework for systematic transportation analysis. Subjects include demand, service, performance, networks, evaluation, and decision-making. Urban and regional multimodal examples demonstrate the concepts. 3 credit hours.  
   
   
Prerequisite
  

CE 305 or introductory transportation course or consent of instructor.

 
Course Objectives  

By the end of the course the students will be able to:

  • Synthesize information on transportation needs, define transportation problems, identify system objectives, and develop a systematic approach to accomplish team-oriented transportation projects having to do with transportation supply and demand.
  • Apply appropriate professional transportation software for computer-aided network simulation and analysis in order to test alternative system designs including land use configurations, as well as multi-modal transportation options.
  • Evaluate and compare a variety of system performance measures versus cost and impacts in order to select the most effective transportation system design.
  • Document the projects with appropriate network diagrams, impact assessments and reports.

 
Course Requirements  

HOMEWORK: Occasional; usually they are introductions to the projects.

EXAMINATIONS: Midterm exam and final exam.

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS: Access to a computer with MS Word and Excel. Some students apply software learned in other courses - Highway Capacity Software. Student versions of MATLAB or MAPLE are not needed, but are acceptable tools.

PROJECTS: Typically three team projects.

 
Textbook  

N.J. Garber and L.A. Hoel, Traffic & Highway Engineering, 4th Edition, Brooks/Cole Thompson Learning, Pacific Grove, CA, USA. ISBN 0-534-38743-8

 
Computer and Internet Requirements  

NCSU has recommended minimum specifications for computers used for classes. Depending on your computer needs, we recommend your computer meet or exceed the following minimum specifications below.

PCs must have an Intel-compatible 1 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB hard drive with 1 GB free space available, 256 Color Display, CD-ROM drive, 1024x768 (min.) video adapter, sound card, and speakers. The operating system should be Windows XP Pro. Real One Player Basic (available free online) and high speed Internet connection such as cable, DSL, T1 or LAN will be required for EOL courses.

MAC users must have a G4 processor with firewire and USB factory built-in, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB with 1GB free space available, 256 Color Display, CD-ROM drive, 1024x768 (min) video adapter, sound card, and speakers. The operating system must be MacOS 10.4 (minimum) along with the above RealOne and Internet specifications above.

For more detailed information on computer specifications and recommendations, please refer to our website at: http://engineeringonline.ncsu.edu/currentstudents/computeraccess.htm

 

Instructor  

Dr. John R. Stone, Associate Professor
Dept. of Civil, Construction & Environmental Engineering
North Carolina State University
424A Mann Hall
Campus Box 7908
Raleigh, NC 27695-7908

Phone: (919) 515-7732
Fax: (919) 515-7908
E-Mail: stone@ncsu.edu
Instructor Website: http://www.ce.ncsu.edu/faculty/stone/