CETB 412 Transportation Engineering

Lecture Notes

Transportation System
1. Transportation System
The transportation system is a functional system of an aggregation of vehicles, guideways,
terminal facilities and control systems that functions to move goods and people from one
place to another place.
An example of a transportation system is illustrated in Figure 1 and for an air transportation
system is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1: Three-legged stool of transportation systems (Fricker & Whitford, 2004)

Page 1 of 12
20-Mar-15

Transportation System

CETB 412 Transportation Engineering

Lecture Notes

Page 2 of 12
20-Mar-15

Transportation System

CETB 412 Transportation Engineering

Lecture Notes

Figure 2: Interrelationship of functional components of a commercial air transportation

system

2. Components of transportation system

A transportation system is comprised of the following components:
a. Fixed facilities
These are the physical components of the transportation system that are fixed in
space and are made of,
a. Network of links which is a portion of the highway system (as an example)
that can be described by its capacity, lane width and speed. Examples are
roadway segments, railway track & piping network.
b. Nodes are end points of links and represent an intersection or location
where a link changes direction, capacity, width or speed. Examples are
highway intersection & interchanges, transit terminal, harbor and airport.
c. A centroid is the location within a zone where trips begin and end.
Examples are housing areas and bus terminals.
b. Flow entities
These are units or vehicles that transverse the fixed facilities that include a variety of
transportation users such as pedestrians, automobiles, railroad cars, airplane and etc.
c. Control system
Control system of a transportation system can be viewed as comprised of the
following:
a. Vehicular control system refers to technological way in which individual
vehicles are guided on the fixed facilities to ensure that the purpose of the
transportation system is achieved in a safe manner. An example is a proper
geometric design of highways.
b. Flow control system is the means to allow an efficient and smooth
operation of stream of vehicles and a reduction of conflicts between road
users (with respect to highways). An example is an appropriate traffic
signal timing and coordination at highway intersections.
d. Transportation organization
Transportation organizations may be classified as:
Page 3 of 12
20-Mar-15

Transportation System

CETB 412 Transportation Engineering

Lecture Notes

a. Facility-oriented organizations are those involved in planning, designing,

constructing, maintaining and operating fixed facilities.
b. Operating organizations operates fleets of vehicles to provide
transportation services airlines, railroads, shipping, trucks, transits and
etc.
3. Issues, problems and challenges of transportation engineering
i.

Traffic congestion
It is due to a situation when the demand for the transportation system is more than
its capacity. Rain and accident make it worse.
The effects include: road user frustration and lower road safety (accident).
The possible solutions include:
A better urban land-use planning and control of land development (this
would normally be the responsibility of the government).
Provision of efficient traffic information to road users for example the
application of Intelligent Transportation Information System.
Improved traffic control for example by improving the timing and
coordination of traffic signal system.
Promotion and improvement of the public transport system (an integrated
public transport system is necessary nowadays).
The enforcement of various economic measures such as road pricing
(drivers pay for using the road during peak hours) to influence drivers not
to drive but use other transport services such as the public transport system.

ii.

Traffic safety
Accidents involving transportation facilities particularly roads are everybodys
concern. Some statistical information about road accidents is shown in Figures 3 to
5.
Possible solutions include improved highway design and maintenance, and vehicle
design; effective road user education programs and traffic law enforcement.

Page 4 of 12
20-Mar-15

Transportation System

CETB 412 Transportation Engineering

Lecture Notes

Figure 3: Road accident in Malaysia (1997 2007)

Figure 4: Fatality rates among countries in 2002s and 2003s

Page 5 of 12
20-Mar-15

Transportation System

CETB 412 Transportation Engineering

Lecture Notes

Figure 5: Road accident deaths trend and projection in Malaysia (1972 2000)
Source: Radin Umar (1997)

iii.

Equality of access
Provision of equal access to everyone including: the poor, elderly and physically
challenged (handicapped) people. There are financial challenges to modify vehicle
and station to satisfy their needs.
Possible solutions include:
Provision of curb cuts and wheelchair ramps at intersections of road with
sidewalk.
Provision of wheelchair access, usually ramps at transport terminals such
as airports, and bus and railway stations.
Public transportation vehicles must be fully accessible to wheelchair users
(for example the use of wheelchair lifts; refer to Figure 6).

Page 6 of 12
20-Mar-15

Transportation System

CETB 412 Transportation Engineering

Lecture Notes

Figure 6: Urban transit bus equipped with a wheelchair lift

iv.

Environmental protection
Environmental impact can be due to the transportation system as a whole (air
quality, energy consumption and land-use) and site-specific impacts (displacement
of residents & businesses, noise & dust, water quality and visual impacts).
The possible solutions include:

Broad national policies.

Laws & regulations.
Economic incentives & disincentives.
Environmental Impact Assessment studies.

4. Modes of Transportation
There are many modes of transportation that may be classified based on:
a. Physical or medium characteristics (highway, railways, air and water transportation).
Refer to Table 1.

Table 1: Modes of transport based on physical characteristics

Modes of transportation

Remarks

1. Land transportation.

Roads and highways; and railways.

2. Water transportation.

Inland, coastal and ocean.

3. Air transportation.

Domestic and international.

4. Pipelines.

Oil, gas and others.

b. Purpose (for freight or passenger and either for urban, intercity or special purpose).
Refer to Table 2.
Page 7 of 12
20-Mar-15

Transportation System

CETB 412 Transportation Engineering

Lecture Notes

Table 2: Modes of transport based on purpose

Freight

Passenger

1. Urban

Truck (highway)

Private automobile (highway)

Transit (highway / railway)

2. Intercity

Truck (highway)
Railway
Ocean shipping
Inland water
Pipeline
Air

Private automobile (highway)

Bus (highway)
Railway
Air

3. Special purpose.

Conveyor belt
Cable systems

Each mode of transportation offers certain characteristics and levels of service in terms of
travel time, frequency, comfort, reliability, convenience and safety.
Public transportation refers to any and all of the family of transit services available to urban
and rural residents. Modes of transportation in public transportation include:
a. Mass transit is characterized by fixed routes and published schedules that make use
of vehicles such as buses and light rail or rapid transit, that travel through designated
routes with specific stops.
b. Paratransit is characterized by a more flexible and personalized services compared
to mass transit, and it is available to the public on demand, by subscription or on a
shared-ride basis.
c. Ridesharing is characterized by two or more people who travel together by
prearrangement such as carpool, vanpool, buspool or shared-ride taxi.
Example 2.1 illustrates the decision-making process of a transportation system user to
choose between alternative modes of transportation.

Page 8 of 12
20-Mar-15

Transportation System

CETB 412 Transportation Engineering

Lecture Notes

5. History of Transportation

2000 B.C Roads designed by the Romans became the standard for later civilisation
which made from paving blocks cut out from blocks of stone or granite

Page 9 of 12
20-Mar-15

Transportation System

CETB 412 Transportation Engineering

Lecture Notes

These designs later adopted by Americas and serve well for horse driven carts, chariots
and similar vehicles.

Since the advent of pneumatic tire vehicles, the Romans road to be inadequate due to its
width, riding condition and in some cases load carrying capacity.

Also, the automobiles were faster moving and required braking distance, turning
clearance and sight distance, where the roman-based designed roads were surely
inadequate in these aspects.

6. Overview of history of transportation in Malaysia

Refer to Table 3.
Table 3: History of transportation in Malaysia
Year

Transportation milestone
Malaysia before independence

1881

Construction of first railway from Port Weld to Taiping.

1885

Construction of railway from Larut to Port Weld.

1893

Port Klang (earlier known as Port Swethenham) was founded.

1901

Official opening of the port at Port Klang.

1903

Construction of paved road with the introduction of motorcar.

1918

Opening of Pasir Gudang port for black pepper trading.

1920

Ferry services introduced in Penang.

1948

British government constructed more paved road.

Railway infrastructure and services made under the responsibility of the
Malayan Railway Administrative.

1952

Opening of the first international airport at Sungai Besi.

1957: Malaysia achieved independence

1965

Sultan Abd Aziz Airport became the international airport for Malaysia.

1960s

Construction of the Federal Highway from Port Klang to Kuala Lumpur.

1974

First toll expressway from Tanjung Malim to Slim River.

1980

Opening of Kemaman Port for liquefied petrol gas transportation.

1985

Start of Proton car production.

1986

Opening of the North-South Expressway.

1992

Malayan Railway Administrative changed to Keretapi Tanah Melayu

Page 10 of 12
20-Mar-15

Transportation System

CETB 412 Transportation Engineering

Year

Lecture Notes

Transportation milestone
Berhad (KTMB).

1995

Introduction of the electrified train (KTM commuter).

1998

Introduction of the Light Rail Transit.

1998

Opening of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang.

2002

Start of the KLIA express.

7. Transportation system and organization structure in Malaysia

The organization structure of the Ministry of Transport, Malaysia is shown in Figure 7.
Information about Malaysian transportation system can be found in the following websites:
http://www.mot.gov.my
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_in_Malaysia
http://www.travelblog.org/World/my-trans.html
Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) which is also known as the Public Works Department and the
Road Engineering Association of Malaysia (REAM) have published a number of highway
design standards for Malaysia.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has
been trying to standardize highway design in United States. The standards for geometric
design are published by AASHTO in Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and
Streets.

Page 11 of 12
20-Mar-15

Transportation System

CETB 412 Transportation Engineering

Lecture Notes

Figure 7: Ministry of Transport Organization Chart

Latest Updated: 18th October 2013.

Page 12 of 12
20-Mar-15

Transportation System