Review of computer software for traffic engineers

The mid‐1970s saw the initiation of several lengthy research and development programmes in the United Kingdom which culminated in a range of software for the traffic engineer. The early 1980s brought cheap, powerful microcomputers, thereby enabling the facilities offered by the software to be exploited to the full. This article describes the range of programs now available and in common usage for the design and appraisal of traffic management schemes in the United Kingdom, and suggests a few of the areas where some research and development effort is still needed.     

Induced traffic: what do transportation models tell us?

Mathematical models of transportation systems have played a prominent role in transportation planning throughout the world since the 1960s. These models are hypotheses of how people use transport systems. They provide a means of extrapolating the necessarily limited empirical evidence of how road users respond to changes in the road system. However, it needs to be recognised that these extrapolations rely for their validity on the realism of the underlying theories; transportation models can only tell us about the relationships actually built into them.This paper reviews the limited number of studies undertaken mainly in the UK in which calibrated transportation models have been used in a systematic way to give some insight into the relative importance of the various components of induced traffic. These studies include analyses of the effects of road schemes using: a theoretical single link model; conventional four-stage transportation models of Cardiff and Belfast; elasticity models in Cardiff, Belfast, West London and Norwich; land-use interaction models in Leeds, Bilbao, Dortmund; and a model of land-use effects in Norwich. The results tell us two things: (a) the scale of the various elements of induced traffic, and (b) the implications for the economic benefits of road schemes.     

Urban transport policy development: two case studies in the Middle East

Abstract

The recent completion of two major transport studies of predominantly urban areas in the Middle East (Amman‐Jordan and Bahrain) has provided the opportunity to compare and contrast the transport characteristics of, and medium term transport policies for, the two areas.

While in structure the two transport systems have many similarities, their base year usage differs significantly. In view of the much lower income levels in Amman, and the resulting lower levels of car ownership, greater reliance is placed on public transport in Amman than in the more car‐oriented society in Bahrain. Against this background, and in the context of broadly similar overall levels of growth in travel demand, their development in the medium term future should follow different paths. Amman will need to depend on public transport very heavily, with only limited road building. Bahrain should be able to develop a satisfactory road system, with public transport playing its current role except for the provision of services for some relatively modest number of restrained private vehicle users. In both cases, however, substantial investment in off‐street parking spaces is needed.

The paper briefly describes the social and economic backgrounds of the two areas, and reviews the transport systems and the organisations responsible for them. Travel demand forecasts are summarized, leading to the transport plan and policy development. The prospects for implementation are discussed, and the paper lastly focuses on some aspects which are key to the development of the transport systems in the two countries.