Ch 1. The Profession of Transp. Engineering

Know that transportation is a derived demand Understand that the quality of transportation

services will affect the economic growth Be able to identify some of the social benefits

and costs of transportation Understand that balanced intermodal

transportation systems are necessary to reduce social costs

Understand that public policies affect the direction of transportation development

Lecture Objectives:

Transportation and Economic GrowthCouple of statements in page 4 help you understand why providing excellent transportation services are essential for a country.

Good transportation, in and of itself, will not assure success in the market place; however, the absence of excellent transportation services will contribute to failure.

Transportation is a necessary condition for human interaction and economic survival.

Transportation is a necessary element of government services such as delivering mail, defending a nation, and retaining control of its territories.

Transportation systems are developed and built to ensure easy mobilization of armies in the event of a national emergency.

Producers – Transportation Networks – Consumers(Essential links)

Based on an article in the Daily Herald, 8/21/00

NYC

Daikich Sushi

LA

Osamu Corp.

Tuna - the Philippines

Salmon – Chile

Shrimp - Indonesia

Social Costs and Benefits Need for a Balanced Intermodal System

Environmental Disruption (Air, water, noise)

Divided communities

Loss of lives

Loss of lands

Loss of the natural beauty

Breakdown of livable communities

Congestion and delay

Services to rural areas Expanded

mobility

Expanded economic activities

UDOT, I-15/I-215 Interchange

Faster delivery of goods and services

Freeway as an example

Transportation in the U.S.The major contributor to its GNP

Transport Bill as % of the GNP

Transport Bill

0

1000

2000

1960 1980 1990 1993

Year

Bill

ions

% of GNP

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

1960 1980 1990 1993

Year

Pe

rce

nt

Source: Transportation in America, 1993, Eno Foundation

See page 5 of the text for recent values

Highway travel consumes a lot of petroleum

0

20

40

60

80

100

Percentage

1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1992 1993

Year

Transport's Share of Total U.S. Demand for Petroleum

% of Transport Demand by Hwy % Transport of Total

Fuel, oil, asphalt 1993: Total=6.23 billion barrelsSource: Transportation in America, 1993, Eno Foundation

Other Facts

Over 80% of eligible drivers have driver’s licenses (185 millions in 1998). About 208 million registered vehicles. Population About 270 millions. (This is probably one reason why so much money is pumped into highways. But is it alright to ignore 20% of the people who are eligible but not able to have licenses? Remember they do pay taxes. Gasoline taxes are used basically for construction of new roads. They are not enough for maintaining/operating highways. They come from other general taxes.)

Travels an average of 12,000 miles/year Transportation industries employ over 11% of work force 14.3

million people in transportation industries in 1998 (11.1% of total employment)

Why automobile travel surged?

Public policies favored automobile travel Successful lobbying by special interests Large public investments (subsidies) in

highway travel and a miniscule amount of public investments in public transit

Unrealistically low out-of-pocket costs (Drivers do not think of the true cost of driving a car.)

Are drivers really paying enough?

UD = User direct costs

UF = User fixed costs

SS = Subsidies

SC = Social costs

EC = Environmental costs

Vuchic, “Transportation for Livable Cities,” p.236

Recent Trend Management of the existing facilities

Less new constructions of highways

Reinvestment in public transit (TRAX for instance)

Intermodalism

Reduction of vehicle kilometers (miles) of travel – VKT or VMT – and delays due to congestion

Intelligent Transportation Systems

Coordination of land use and transportation network

Example of intermodalism in our community (in the near future…)