LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the course is to provide the student with the modeling and methodological basis for analyzing, planning and optimizing transport systems, with reference to the transport of both people and goods. In particular, the goal is to make the student able to realize models of transport demand and supply, as well as of their interaction, in order to evaluate and optimize their performances. Finally, the course aims to provide students with the theoretical and practical knowledge of the main software tools for simulation and planning of transport systems and for the solution of simple decision-making problems.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course “Planning and management of transportation systems” provides basic skills on transportation systems by considering the set of components that characterize these systems (demand, supply, interaction between demand and supply) and the decision-making aspects that are taken into consideration in the planning of transport systems.

At the end of the course the student will have acquired the fundamental notions of planning and management of transport systems and will be able to solve simple problems to analyze and define interventions on a transport system (in particular with reference to road infrastructures).

The course also provides skills in the use of specific software to model and analyze transport systems.

TEACHING METHODS

The course takes place in a classroom. During the lessons, the professor shows slides (which are made available to the students through Aulaweb, before the lesson) on the various topics of the course and, in some cases, he uses the blackboard to explain in detail some specific contents.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

• Introduction to transportation systems engineering
• Classification of transportation systems (with some statistics on the use of different modes of transport)
• Fundamentals of traffic flow theory
• Network models and application of transportation supply models
• Definition and quantification of costs in transportation systems
• Introduction to random utility models for the simulation of choice behaviors
• Basics of travel-demand models
• The assignment to transportation networks in uncongested networks
• Use of Extendsim / VISSIM / VISUM softwares

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The main bibliographic reference is the book of Prof. Ennio Cascetta “Modelli per i sistemi di trasporto. Teoria e applicazioni". The reference of the English version (which is the most recent version) is:

• Ennio Cascetta, “TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS ANALYSIS - Models and Applications (Second Edition)”, Springer Optimization and Its Applications series, vol. 29, Springer, 2009.