ancient cities

828 Transportation Planning
that transportation has in cities, both as a means of
moving people and goods with attendant economic,
environmental, and social impacts and as a powerful
catalyst driving urban transformation and change.
Matti Siemiatycki
See also City Planning; Suburbanization; Transit-
Oriented Development; Transportation Planning
Further Readings
Cervero, R. 1998. The Transit Metropolis. Washington,
DC: Island Press.
Dimitrious, H. T. 1992. Urban Transport Planning.
London: Routledge.
Hanson, S. and G. Giuliano. 2004. The Geography of
Urban Transportation. New York: Guilford Press.
Newman, P. and J. Kenworthy. 1999. Sustainability and
Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence.
Washington, DC: Island Press.
Rodrigue, J. P., C. Comtois, and B. Slack. 2006. The
Geography of Transport Systems. New York:
Routledge.
Tr a n s p o r T a T i o n pl a n n i n G
Transportation planning is concerned with the movement
of people and goods. The discipline has gained
international prominence due to the identification of
rising levels of road congestion in cities around the
world and a growing recognition that transportation
is connected to a wide variety of urban aspirations
including economic vitality, environmental sustainability,
social equity, and personal health.
Transportation planning in cities covers a range
of different scales and investment types, including
roads and bridges, public transit, cycling, and
pedestrian facilities. It also encompasses the drafting
of local and regional plans to integrate varied
transportation investments into the surrounding
urban landscape.
Transportation Planning
Process (1950–1976)
Traditionally, the transportation sector has followed
a highly structured, rational comprehensive
model of project evaluation and planning. The
rational comprehensive model of decision making is
characterized by the search for optimal solutions to
predefined problems, the commitment to problem
solving using a sequence of logical steps, the separation
of analysts and decision makers, and the availability
of full information about the consequences
of each alternative as well as the values and interests
of the general public. Analysts are seen as rational
actors who systematically measure the various costs
of an initiative against its potential benefits to determine
whether a project would benefit the citizenry
and should therefore be approved.
The framework for developing urban area transportation
plans has its origins in studies produced
in Detroit and Chicago in the 1950s. Subsequent
variations of the process have been applied to plan
making in cities around the world, including
London, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Calcutta, Bogotá,
Tehran, Lagos, and Cairo. The process generally
involves six stages:
1. Inventory: To provide a foundation of evidence
on which to draw conclusions, extensive data
are collected to measure current travel patterns,
land uses, and existing transportation facilities
and their usage.
2. Simulation: The data are used to develop
mathematical models that describe current travel
patterns and facility usage and the way that
these patterns might change over time as a result
of shifting demographics and land uses. The
latter are called simulations. Simulations are
generally carried out through a two-step process.
First, historical trends are examined to make
aggregate projections about the future number
of people and jobs that will exist in an entire
metropolitan area. Then the aggregate totals are
distributed to locations within the metropolitan
area, and predictions are made about how these
changes will impact travel flows.
3. Goals: Once simulations of the current and
future transportation landscape are produced,
then problems are identified, and goals and
objectives are defined. The goals and objectives
are the criteria against which the merits of the
plan are measured.
4. Proposed Changes: Proposed changes to the
transportation system are identified to meet the