Course Information

Meeting Times and Location

11:30am - 12:20pm every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at MUE 153.

Course Personnel and Office Hours

Instructor: Yinhai Wang

Office: 133B, More Hall
Tel: (206) 616-2696
Fax: (206) 543-5965
Email: yinhai@u.washington.edu

Office Hour: 12:30 - 2:00pm every Friday
                    or by appointment (stop by is also welcome).

Teaching Assistant: Yegor Malinovskiy

Office: 112A, More Hall
Tel: (206) 543-7827
Fax: (206) 543-5965
Email: yegorm@u.washington.edu

Office Hour: 12:30 - 2:00pm every M/W.
                    or by appointment (stop by is also welcome).

Syllabus

Course Description and Objectives:

Virtually every aspect of modern economies, and the ways of life they support, can be tied directly or indirectly to transportation. Transportation engineering is definitely one of the most important subjects for modern society. This course introduces important concepts and fundamental knowledge in transportation engineering, including geometric design, pavement design, traffic flow concepts, level of service analysis, intelligent transportation systems, travel demand forecast methods, traffic signal control, and management of transportation systems. Recommendations for further study on specific areas are also provided.

The objective of this course is to provide students with a solid introduction to the principles of transportation engineering, with emphasis on roadways and management of transportation systems. With the instructions, assignments, and projects in this course, students are expected to obtain a general understanding of principles and state of art in transportation engineering and to build up a solid foundation for further studies in advanced transportation issues.

Specific learning objectives are available in pdf format. If you do not have Adobe Reader installed in your computer, click here to download it.

Prerequisite:

None.

Required Textbook:

Fred L. Mannering, Walter P. Kilareski, Scott Washburn. Principles of Highway Engineering and Traffic Analysis (fourth edition). John Wiley & Sons, Inc., U.S.A., 2005.

The textbook can be purchased at the UW Bookstore. If you choose to purchase it elsewhere, make sure you get the 4th edition.  Earlier editions may not work – many equations, methods and assumptions have been changed.

Class Grading Policy

Assignments: 30%
Projects: 15%
Midterm Exam: 25%
Final Exam: 30%

More information about course expectations and policy is available here.

If you want to download the entire course document package handed out in the first lecture, please click here.
 

Schedule

Day-by-day topics and required readings (tentative, subject to change):

Week
 Day Date
Topics
Readings
Note
1
M Mar. 30  Introduction and Course Overview  Chapter 1, RM-1  
W Apr. 1  Vehicle Dynamics: Introduction  Chapter 2.1-2.7   A#1 out 
F Apr. 3  Vehicle Dynamics: Braking Principles  Chapter 2.8-2.9, RM-2  
2
 M Apr. 6  Geometric Design: Introduction and Concepts  Chapter 3.1 - 3.2  
W Apr. 8  Geometric Design: Vertical Alignment  Chapter 3.3  A#1 due; A#2 out
F Apr. 10  Geometric Design: Horizontal Alignment  Chapter 3.4  
3
 M Apr. 13  Geometric Design: Other Issues  RM-3  
W Apr. 15  Pavement Design: Concepts  Chapter 4.1 - 4.3  A#2 due;   A#3 out
F Apr. 17  Pavement Design: Principles and Procedures  Chapter 4.4 - 4.6  
4
 M Apr. 20  Traffic Flow Theory: Introduction  Chapter 5.1 - 5.4   P#1 out;
W Apr. 22  Traffic Flow Models  Chapter 5.5  A#3 due;
F Apr. 24  Midterm Review    Midterm Course Evaluation
5
 M Apr. 27  Midterm Exam (through pavement design)    Midterm Exam Solution
W Apr. 29  Queuing Theory  Chapter 5.6  Travel Survey out
F May 1  Traffic Detection Systems: Introduction  RM-4  
6
 M May 4  Traffic Detection Systems: Loop and Video    P#1 due; A#4 out
W May 6  Signalized Intersections: Overview  Chapter 7.1 – 7.4  Travel Survey due;
F May 8  Signalized Intersections: Signal Timing  Chapter 7.5  P#2 out
7
 M May 11  Signalized Intersections: LOS Analysis  Chapter 7.6  A#4 due; A#5 out  
W May 13  Highway Capacity and LOS: Concepts  Chapter 6.1 – 6.3  
F May 15  Level of Services: Freeways  Chapter 6.4  
8
 M May 18  Level of Services: Highways  Chapter 6.5 – 6.6  A#5 due
W May 20  Transportation Planning: Introduction  RM-5  
F May 22  Trip Generation and Distribution  Chapter 8.1 – 8.5  P#2 due; A#6 out
9
 M May 25  Memorial Day (no class)    
W May 27  Mode Choice and Trip Assignment  Chapter 8.6 – 8.7  
F May 29  Intelligent Transportation Systems  RM-6  A#6 due
10
 M Jun. 1  Future Transportation Technologies   Travel Survey Results (ppsx, pdf)
W Jun. 3  Guest Speech: Applications in Transportation Engineering by Dr. Ryan Avery from PB    
F Jun. 5  Final Review and Course Evaluation    
11 W Jun. 10  Final Exam: 2:30 - 4:20pm    

A#n - Assignment Number n;
P#m - Project Number m;
RM - Reading Material.

Lectures (accessible to registered students only):

Lecture 1: Introduction and Course Overview (ppsx file, pdf file), Mar. 30, 2009.
Lecture 2: Vehicle Dynamics: Introduction (ppsx file, pdf file), Apr. 1, 2009.
Lecture 3: Vehicle Dynamics: Braking Principles (ppsx file, pdf file), Apr. 3, 2009.
Lecture 4: Geometric Design: Introduction and Concepts (ppsx file, pdf file), Apr. 6, 2009.
Lecture 5: Geometric Design: Vertical Alignment (ppsx file, pdf file), Apr. 8, 2009.
Lecture 6: Geometric Design: Horizontal Alignment (ppsx file, pdf file), Apr. 10, 2009.
Lecture 7: Geometric Design: Other Issues (ppsx file, pdf file), Apr. 13, 2009.
Lecture 8: Pavement Design: Concepts (ppsx file, pdf file), Apr. 15, 2009.
Lecture 9: Pavement Design: Principles and Procedures (ppsx file, pdf file), Apr. 17, 2009.
Lecture 10: Traffic Flow Theory: Introduction (ppsx file, pdf file), Apr. 20, 2009.
Lecture 11: Traffic Flow Models (ppsx file, pdf file), Apr. 22, 2009.
Lecture 12: Midterm Review (ppsx file, pdf file), Apr. 24, 2009.
Lecture 13: Midterm Exam, Apr. 27, 2009.
Lecture 14: Queuing Theory (ppsx file, pdf file), Apr. 29, 2009.
Lecture 15: Traffic Detection Systems: Introduction (ppsx file, pdf file), May 1, 2009.
Lecture 16: Traffic Detection Systems: Loop and Video (ppsx file, pdf file), May 4, 2009.
Lecture 17: Signalized Intersections: Overview (ppsx file, pdf file), May 6, 2009.
Lecture 18: Signalized Intersections: Signal Timing (ppsx file, pdf file), May 8, 2009.
Lecture 19: Signalized Intersections: LOS Analysis (ppsx file, pdf file), May 11, 2009.
Lecture 20: Highway Capacity and LOS: Concepts (ppsx file, pdf file), May 13, 2009.
Lecture 21: Level of Services: Freeways (ppsx file, pdf file), May 15, 2009.
Lecture 22: Level of Services: Highways (ppsx file, pdf file), May 18, 2009.
Lecture 23: Transportation Planning: Introduction (ppsx file, pdf file), May 20, 2009.
Lecture 24: Trip Generation and Distribution (ppsx file, pdf file), May 22, 2009.
Lecture 25: Mode Choice and Trip Assignment (ppsx file, pdf file), May 27, 2009.
Lecture 29: Intelligent Transportation Systems (ppsx file, pdf file), May 29, 2009.
Lecture 30: Future Transportation Technologies (ppsx file, pdf file), June 1, 2009.
Lecture 31: Applications in Transportation Engineering (ppsx file, pdf file), June 3, 2009.
Lecture 32: Final Review and Course Evaluation (ppsx file, pdf file), June 5, 2009.
 

Assignments:

Assignment #1, due at the class on Apr. 8, 2009. If you are not familiar with Excel, you may find this tutorial helpful. Solution to assignment #1 is here.
Assignment #2, due at the class on Apr. 15, 2009. Solution to assignment #2 is here.
Assignment #3, due at the class on Apr. 22, 2009. Solution to assignment #3 is here.
Assignment #4, due at the class on May 11, 2009. Solution to assignment #4 is here.
Assignment #5, due at the class on May 18, 2009. Solution to assignment #5 is here.
Assignment #6, due at the class on May 29, 2009. Late turn-ins are not acceptable after June 1. Solution to assignment #6 is here.

 

Projects:

Project #1 due at the class on May 4, 2009. For your convenience, the WSDOT pavement design tables can be downloaded: flexible pavement and rigid pavement. The 1993 AASHTO interactive equations in the Pavement Guide Interactive can be found here. A sample solution to Project #1 is here.
Project #2 due at the class on May 22, 2009. The loop detector data for this project can be downloaded here. More information about the SR-520 Bridge Replacement can be found at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/SR520Bridge. Please be noticed that for study purposes, the data we use for this project are not necessarily the same data used by the WSDOT. Click here to submit the Excel file that contains calculations and results for Project #2 through E-Submit (CollectIt). A sample solution to Project #2 is here.
 

Resources: