Macatangay, Jasper P.

CE 401 – Civil Engineering Orientation

Greater Productivity: Transportation Made Easier through Transportation Engineering.

A recent study published by a well-known research company suggests that Manila is ranked
second among the most traffic cities all over the world having a congestion level of 71%. Being
the center of exchange and trade for the country, the streets within the city had consumed a lot of
time for commuters travelling from and towards the city. Transportation had been a vital aspect to
ease out the daily functions an individual do, whether transporting raw materials locally or
internationally which involves planes and ships, transportation had been key ever since the dawn
of time. And over the course of time the pasts administration had done certain projects in order to
ease out the problems regarding traffic, congestion and transportation in general. Some of the
notable projects done within the years are the improvement of air and sea ports, additional express
ways, and enhancement of the current train system of the country to name a few. Nevertheless,
despite the concrete projects done, the problem with regards to transportation still seems to be
unsolved.

Engineers being noted as society’s problem solver had continuously analyzed and designed
systems in order to ease out the problem towards transportation, Transportation Engineers in
particular. Transportation Engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering which deals with the
application of technology and scientific principles to the planning, functional design, operation
and management of facilities for any mode of transportation in order to provide the safe, rapid,
comfortable, convenient, economical, and environmentally compatible movement of people and
goods. Traffic had been one of the most visible problem in any areas within the country, through
such problems different sectors are affected such as the exchange of goods and raw materials
needed for production and vital for different industries. Furthermore, the field of transportation
engineering utilizes the latest developments in transportation and uses them to create the most efficient
and effective systems possible for various locales. Through the development of technology and promising
innovations, different programs and devices are invented and utilized to arrive at the most efficient
transportation system that shall ease out the current problems. Transportation engineering applies to major
terminals as well as the networks that connect them. Any product or system that moves people and goods
from one place to another falls under the scope of transportation engineering.

As per American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), there are six divisions related to
transportation engineering i.e. Highway, Air Transportation, Pipeline, Waterway, Port, Aerospace,
Coastal & Ocean and Urban Transportation. Transportation Engineering does not solely focus on the
problems concerning congestions and highway systems on land but also on developing different aspects
such as sea and air ports. Within the span of 3 years, Batangas City had seen the development of
transportation within the area. Batangas Port was continuously improved and enhanced for it served as not
only as a local port but also an international port for ships carrying raw materials needed by different
industries. Transportation engineering addresses the common issues that face transportation systems and
seeks ways to resolve these for safer, faster and more efficient transportation options. Aside from traffic
congestion, transportation engineers also address issues concerning management of proper maintenance
to roadways, facilitation of efficient trade routes, and selection of appropriate pavement of materials for
roads and highways. In order to find solutions for the mentioned issues, Transportation Engineers carefully
analyze, design and build, highways, roads, traffic control systems, railroads, seaports and airports to name
a few. Through such infrastructure, the mode of transportation and exchange from one point to another is
improved in a big way. The planning aspects of transport engineering relate to urban planning, and involve
technical forecasting decisions and political factors. Technical forecasting of passenger travel usually
involves an urban transportation planning model, requiring the estimation of trip, trip distribution mode

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choice, and route assignment. For years, passenger trips are the focus of transport engineering because
they often represent the peak of demand on any transportation system.

The common objectives of Transportation Engineering are to provide high efficient traffic flow
through ample research and innovative design efforts. Some of the noticeable actions they’ve done in
order to ensure high efficient traffic flow is the utilization of runabouts, effective U turn slots and
construction of flyovers to name a few. Transportation Engineers are also tasked to conduct research and
design roadways and highways that increase traffic safety through strategic implementation of stop signs,
traffic signs and road signals. Safety had been one of the primary concern of Civil Engineers, and over the
years’ road accidents have involved improper implementation and following of the road signals. In line
with the sudden rise of road accidents, Transportation Engineers conduct accident, traffic capacity, traffic
volume, origin and destination studies to ease problems regarding road accidents. In addition to the
enhancement of traffic flow, construction of roadways, and installation of road signs and lights, traffic
engineers also work hard to improve traffic calming in residential areas. This includes neighborhood traffic
control, traffic mitigation, neighborhood traffic safety plans, traffic abatement, roadway pavement
marking, and signing plans.

In order to ease out the mode of transportation within the country, number of expressways
were accomplished which reduced the travel time from provinces to Manila. Some of the
noticeable accomplishments are the SCTEX and TPLEX which reduced the travel time from
Baguio to Manila roughly around 2 hours. With such projects, industrialization and improvement
of different sector without bypassing the natural environment would be a lot easier. Furthermore,
Transportation Engineers were also involved in the projects done by Philippine National Railway
System which generated an easier mode of transportation through trains from the Bicol region to
Manila and vice versa. Nevertheless, traffic congestions within Metro Manila and nearby
provinces are continuously analyzed by Transportation Engineers, some of the noticeable projects
done are the accomplishments of Skyways within Metro Manila. In conclusion, Transportation
engineering is a broad field that can apply to work with roadways, waterways, railways and more. These
engineers develop faster, safer and more efficient means of transportation.

References:

Franklin. (2018). The Importance of Traffic Engineering Available at:

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