Timetable Information
Catalog Description
679 Special Topics in Transportation and City Planning. I or II; 3cr. Given on demand. P:Cons inst.
Course Prerequisite(s)
- See catalog description above.
Prerequisite knowledge and/or skills
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Basic understanding of traffic control.
Textbook(s) and/or other required material
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TRAF User Reference Guide, U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C., May 1992.
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TRANSYT-7F Self Study Guide, U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C., July 1990.
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Chang, E.C.P. and Messer, C.J., PASSER II-90 Program User¡¯s Guide, Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, June 1991.
Course objectives
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This course will develop students' knowledge of and ability to conduct traffic simulation and modeling for traffic control and operations.
Topics covered
Model-building in advanced traffic simulation and control by use of analytic techniques and computer tools such as existing traffic simulation and engineering packages. Emphasis in computer applications is on personal computers and existing software packages. Analytic techniques are addressed at three levels: (1) basic concepts; (2) case studies; and (3) review of literature. Transportation packages include TRAF-NETSIM, FREESIM, CORSIM, TRANSYT-7F, and PASSER. The first part of this course will address the TRAF model, which consists of an integrated set of traffic simulation models. TRAF has two major components: macroscopic simulation models (CORFLO) and microscopic simulation models (CORSIM). In this course, CORSIM, which consists of NETSIM and FREESIM, will be investigated. The second part of this course will address TRANSYT-7F model and PASSER model, which are capable of traffic signal timing and traffic flow simulation.
Class/laboratory schedule
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Lecture - two 75 minute periods
Contribution of course to meeting the professional component
This course contributes primarily to the students' knowledge of engineering topics, and does provide design experience.The following statement indicates which of the following considerations are included in this course: economic, environmental, ethical, political, societal, health and safety, manufacturability, sustainability.
This course is related to economic, environmental, societal, and safety considerations for traffic control and operations.
Relationship of course to undergraduate degree program objectives and outcomes
This course primarily serves students in the department. The information below describes how the course contributes to the undergraduate program objectives.
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CEE Outcomes 1-3: Students will obtain basic understanding on how to evaluate traffic control and operations strategies, select appropriate method and simulation software, use instrumentation and methods to obtain data for calibration and validation for traffic control and operational systems.
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CEE Outcomes 4-6: Students will experience team-work in traffic control strategy design, practice presentation skills, and consider economic, environmental, safety and social factors in traffic control analysis.
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CEE Outcome 7: Students will obtain basic understanding for recognizing failure mechanisms of traffic control strategies.
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CEE Outcome 8: Students will obtain basic understanding of economic analysis of alternative, feasible solutions for traffic control and operations.
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CEE Outcome 9: Students will obtain basic understanding of the need for continued learning of traffic control and simulation models and software through their career.
Assessment of student progress toward course objectives
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3 group projects that address real-world traffic simulation, control and operational problems in urban transportation networks.
Person(s) who prepared this description
