PIANIFICAZIONE DEI TRASPORTI

Academic Year 2023/2024 - Teacher: GIOVANNI CALABRO'

Expected Learning Outcomes

Acquiring the knowledge and skills to address the typical problems of Transport Engineering through a systemic approach, in the perspective of integrated planning between the transport system and the land use.

Course Structure

Lessons take place through a cycle of lectures, classroom exercises and seminars.

Required Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of calculus, physics and urban planning

Attendance of Lessons

Attendance at the courses is not mandatory, however it is strongly recommended because it facilitates the learning path and the assessment of the student's merit. Registration for the course is mandatory on the studium.unict.it website.

Detailed Course Content

Introduction to Transport Planning and Engineering: Transport Planning - Transport as a complex system - Transport and the shape of the city - Transport, accessibility and social inclusion

Sustainable mobility: Sustainable development - Transport and Energy - Climate change - The future of transport - Mobility Management

Modes of Transport: the components - road transport - soft mobility and micromobility - rail transport - water transport - air transport

Public transport: classification of transit systems - transit planning, design and management - design criteria (frequency and load diagram - optimal distance between stops - network design - Transit Oriented Development) - Demand-Responsive Transport (DRT)

Traffic flow theory: capacity - the Greenshields Model - Level of Service

Mechanics of locomotion: propulsion - adhesion - equation of motion - resistances to motion - internal combustion engines - electric and hydrogen mobility

Transport demand: Zoning - OD matrix - Demand estimation - mathematical, descriptive and behavioral models - discrete choice models - Random utility - Logit model - four-stage model

Transport supply: network graph - generalized transport cost - Dijkstra algorithm

Supply-demand interaction: Assignment models - Congested and non-congested networks - Network equilibrium - Wardrop principles - Optimal fare - traffic microsimulation

Transport planning: steps of the planning process - European, national and regional level - local level (PUMS - PUT) - Catania case study

Mobility Management: Home-Work Travel Plan - Unict case study

Strategies for Sustainable Mobility: safety of mobility users - traffic calming solutions - extended solutions - regulation strategies - new technologies and ITS

Evaluation of transport plans: Strategic Environmental Assessment - Environmental Impact Assessment

Evaluation of transport projects: Cost-Benefit Analysis - Multi Criteria Analysis

Textbook Information

Course notes provided by the teacher, available on studium.unict.it
Marino de Luca, Manuale di Pianiﬁcazione dei trasporti, Franco Angeli
Vukan Vuchic, Urban Transit Systems and Technology, Wiley
Juan Ortuzar e Luis Willumsen, Pianiﬁcazione dei sistemi di trasporto, Hoepli
Stefano Ricci, Tecnica ed Economia dei Trasporti, Hoepli

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

During the lessons, an ongoing test is carried out, covering approximately a third of the program (see the "detailed course content" - topics 2 to 5), which consists of 8 theoretical questions and 2 exercises. The positive outcome of the ongoing test allows direct access to a simplified oral test, in which the theoretical knowledge of the topics covered during the course is verified, excluding those already covered by the test itself.

Students who do not take or pass the ongoing test can also take the exam through a single oral interview, aimed at verifying their theoretical and practical knowledge of the topics covered during the course.

The evaluation of the exam is based on the following criteria: level of knowledge of the required topics, expressive ability and language skills, ability to apply knowledge to simple case studies, ability to connect the different themes of the teaching program, ability to resolve simple problems (calculation of the flows of a transport network, locomotion mechanics exercises, design criteria for a collective transport line, etc.).

Information for students with disabilities and/or Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) to guarantee equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students can request a personal examination in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures, based on the educational objectives and specifications needs. It is also possible to contact the CInAP (Centro per l’integrazione Attiva e Partecipata - Services for Disabilities and/or SLD) reference professor of the Department.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

Transport engineering: the evolution of transport and the structure of the city - difference between mobility and accessibility - the 3 dimensions of sustainable mobility - internal and external costs - the components of a transport mode - types of cycle lanes - advantages and disadvantages of rail transport - possible roles of ports in maritime transport - airport layout

Public transport systems: Classification of transit systems (location, technology, service type, diffusion) - Advantages and disadvantages of the different transit systems - Relationships between public transport and mobility on-demand - Performance indicators related to transit - transit planning phases - definitions of the basic transit-related metrics - Definitions (traction unit, operating frequency, fleet, fleet size, headway, capacity, load factor,...) - calculation of frequency and headway of the service - calculation of the fleet size - load diagram method - method of the optimal frequency - optimal distance between stops - design criteria and shape of the network - density-km traveled relationship - TOD concept

Traffic flow theory: Fundamental Relations of Traffic Flow - the Greenshields model - maximum theoretical flow - Level of Service of a road

Mechanics of locomotion: mechanical conditions for motion - Road and railway adhesion - general equation of motion - resistance to motion (ordinary and accidental) - characteristic curves of internal combustion engines - ideal engine - advantages of the electric engine

Demand analysis: The phases of the study on the mobility of an area - Study area and plan area - Zoning of the study area - OD matrices - Demand estimation methods - Demand estimation with mathematical models - Estimation of the OD matrix with a gravitational model - Statistical descriptive models and behavioral models - Random utility theory - Logit model - four-stage model (emission, distribution, modal choice, path choice)

Supply analysis: Definition of supply model - graph theory - generalized transport cost - Definition of route and circuit - cost functions of an arc - Centrality indexes

Assignment models: purpose of assignment models - congested and non-congested networks - Network Loading Models - User Equilibrium Models - Classification of assignment models - Supply-Demand Equilibrium - Wardrop Principles - Calculation of the optimal fare - Dijkstra's algorithm - Braess Paradox

Transport planning: definition and levels of planning - the approaches to planning - the actors involved in the process - transport planning at European, national and regional level - the TEN-T network - the levels of planning according to the Code of public contracts - the PUMS (guidelines, objectives, participation, monitoring) - the PUT (differences with PUMS) - definition and measures of Mobility Management - contents of a Home-Work Travel Plan

Strategies for sustainable mobility: traffic calming interventions - regulation strategies - ITS technologies for mobility

Project evaluation: principles and methods of a Cost-Benefit Analysis - financial and economic analysis - indicators of a CBA - advantages and disadvantages of the Multicriteria Analysis and comparison with CBA - Phases of a MCA

Degree Course in

Land and landscape planning and protection