Urban Transportation Planning
MIT Course 1.252j/11.380j
Fall, 2000
Departments of Urban Studies and Planning and Civil and Environmental Engineering
Fridays, 2:00 to 5:00 pm, MIT Building 1, Room 242
Instructors:
Fred Salvucci, Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Associate, Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT Room 1-230; salvucci@mit.edu, or 617 253-5378.
Michael J. Shiffer, Principal Research Scientist & Lecturer, Urban Studies and Planning. MIT Room 9-534 office hours by appointment. mshiffer@mit.edu, or 617 253-0782.
Course Overview
This class is an introduction to planning transportation in metropolitan areas, considering history, technologies, politics, and policy analysis. This course will introduce students to urban transportation modes and associated technologies, the institutional arena in which transportation decisions are made, the conflicts over transportation investments, and some quantitative techniques used in the planning process. Students either with a primary or a peripheral interest in transportation are equally welcome. The course topics include the history of urban transportation, highway finance, environmental and planning regulations, air quality, vehicular technologies, land use and transportation interaction and emerging information technologies for transportation planning.
The course uses examples from the Boston metropolitan area extensively, both because of its proximity and the strong influence Boston has had on U.S. transport policy. There will be a walking and public transit tour of transportation sites in Boston. We will also experience the transit systems of other parts of the world using recently developed multimedia technologies. To broaden student exposure to these topics, there will be occasional guest speakers.
Prerequisites: No prior experience in transportation issues is required. At least one class in introductory economics is preferred, such as the required classes for the MCP and MST programs (contact the instructors if you have questions).
Assignments: There will be six or seven problem sets involving real-world case studies and a final project. Grading will be as follows: 60% problem sets (12% each), 30% final project, and 10% class participation.
Readings: The course reader will be available at the MIT Copy Technology Center, room 11-004. Additional materials will be distributed in class and through the WWW.
Urban Transportation Planning
MIT Course 1.252j/11.380j
Fall, 2000
Departments of Urban Studies and Planning and Civil and Environmental Engineering
Fridays, 2:00 to 5:00 pm, MIT Building 1, Room 242
Tentative Course Schedule
9/8 Course Introduction / Transport Issues / Transit History
9/15 Transit History cont’d. / Post WWII Highway Building Due: One page on "who you are" and what your transport interest is.
9/22 Highway Revolts & Aftermath / Modal Characteristics Due: Assignment #1- Mode Capacity Field Exercise
9/29 Cost Effectiveness Analysis / Four Step Planning Process & Planning Methods / Congestion Pricing
9/30 Saturday walking tour of Boston transportation points of interest.
10/6 New Transit Technologies & Issues / Transport-Land Use Interaction Due: Assignment #2- "Zipper Lane" analysis
10/13 Intermodalism / ISTEA, T21 & MPOs / Emerging Technologies & Techniques
10/20 TransCAD (Guest: Mr. Tom Grayson, MIT) Due: Assignment #3- South Boston Transitway Analysis. In Class: Hand’s on Lab Exercise due at end of class.
10/27 The Professional Perspective /Rebuilding Infrastructure
11/3 Urban Transport in the Developing World (Guest: Prof. Ralph Gakenheimer, MIT) Due: Assignment #4 – Think Piece on Air Quality and Transportation in the Developing World
11/10 Holiday
11/17 Air Quality / Energy / Urban Respiration Due: Assignment #5 – Group project progress report
11/24 Holiday
12/1 Intelligent Transportation Systems / Privatization / DBOM Due: Assignment #6 – Mass. Ave. Urban Design Exercise
12/8 Final Project Presentations & Discussion