Urban Transportation Planning

General aim:
1. To understand the mobility pattern in urban areas
2. To understand the factors (causal factors) that influences the level of mobility in urban
areas.
3. To develop relationships between the level of mobility, and the causal factors
4. To use this relationship to predict the future mobility pattern in urban areas
5. The use of predicted mobility pattern to understand the future requirements of
transportation infrastructure to meet the future demand for transportation

Urban Transportation Planning is the process of:

1. Understanding the factors influencing the demand for urban travel.
2. Development of relationship between the factors and the travel demand
3. Use of the relationships to predict the future demand for travel and the resulting
transport infrastructure needs.

Common Traffic and Transportation Problems Experienced in Urban Areas

 Traffic Congestion
 Lack of Mobility and Accessibility
 Disconnected Transportation Modes Operating in Urban Areas
 Problem of Traffic Safety involving Crashers, Injuries and Fatalities

Urban transportation System Planning: Concept

Urban Transportation Planning is an activity that has been going for centuries, shaping cities
and the ways that community lives.
The Transportation System Planning to the specific problems deals with scientific principles for
the quantification and the proposed solutions by accommodating emotions, cultural aspects
and intellect of the urban dwellers in the planning process.
Hence, transportation system planning process is treated as part art and part science. Transport
planning studies have been conducted in a large number of urban areas throughout the world.
With the available information and available data, transportation planning should predict a
future urban land use (for Horizon year) and transport system condition reasonably accurately
for the probable effective solution for the planned region.
Tough a process for conducting these studies has been developed, it is still evolving which
attempts to provide a systematic method for solving urban transport problems.
The planning process that is most commonly used at present had its origins in the studies
performed in several cities in the United States during 1950’s-1960’s period, particularly in
Detroit and Chicago
The important steps of the transportation planning process are as given below:
Step 1. Forecasting target year population and economic growth for the subject metropolitan
area.
Step 2. Allocation of land use and socio-economic projections individual analysis zones
according to land availability, local zoning and related public policies.
Step 3. Specification of alternative transportation plans partly based on the result of step 1and
step 2.
Step 4. Calculation of the capital and maintenance cost of each alternative plan.
Step 5.application of calibrated demand-forecasting models to predict target year equilibrium
flows expected to use each alternative, given the land use and socio-economic projection of
step 2 and the characteristics of the transportation alternatives (step 3).
Step 6. Conversion of equilibrium flows to direct user benefits, such as saving in travel time and
travel cost attributable to the proposed plan.
Step 7. Comparative evaluation and selection of the best of the alternative analysed based on
estimated costs (step 3) and benefits (step 6).
This information is used to help decision-makers (elected officials or their representatives) in
their selection of transportation policies and programs.
Problem definitions
Problem is defined by defining the objective/goal of planning. The objective could be:
1. To develop of transport system that caters all sections of society thereby promoting
inclusive development.
2. To develop a transportation system that is primarily sustainable in nature.
3. To minimized system cost and provide self-operation.
Identification of need
1. Inventory of existing state of system and a forecast of future condition (demand).
2. Interpolation of objective.
Solution generation and analysis
Based on problem definition, transportation planners have to identify various alternatives and
make choice about:
1. Various modes like roadways, railway, water ways and air ways.
2. The technological aspect such as high speed train, raised monorails underground transit
system, driver information system.
3. Traffic engineering aspect such changing or improving flow pattern by making certain
road one way, reducing delay on arterial street by improving signalization or grade
separated intersection, disallowing certain movement at intersection.
4. Regulatory aspect such as reserving land for only high occupancy vehicles, disallowing
high polluting vehicles, imposing speed limit.

Traffic management focuses on the existing traffic conditions, and is limited on existing roads.
Traffic engineering focuses on the infrastructure and traffic flow, but usually it does not
consider the different modes of transportation; it often designs roads for cars, trains, and least
of the times, bicycles. Transportation planning focuses on holistic mobility, including land use
which is the demand side of traffic. Internationally, planning roads for cars is the least or at the
bottom of the considerations. Transportation planning places pedestrians, bicycles, water-
transport, and mass-transit as the priority for efficient mobility. For the cities such as Seoul,
Tokyo, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Zurich, designing the streets according to holistic
planning principles not only uplifts the quality and safety of commuting, but it also significantly
increases health and economic revitalization, and the quality of urban life.

In Seoul, which closely resembles Metro Manila, the government removed the elevated
highway that covered Cheonggyecheon stream and converted it into a linear park. The effects
were celebrated worldwide. Not only did it revitalize the old districts of Seoul in terms of
economy and foot traffic, but it also became a symbol for national progress and ecological
sustainability.

THE NECESSITY OF URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING

In layman’s term it is the art and science of designing human settlements, harmonizing the
balance between the natural environment and built infrastructure that is meant for human
development. At Palafox & Associates, we say that it is a balance among social equity/people,
environment/planet earth, profit/economy, history, culture, and spirituality.

Urban and regional planning also means identifying the strength of the city and the surrounding
regions. Which businesses and industries should the government encourage the city to have?
Not all cities should become mega scale central business districts. Certain cities should focus on
agropolitan development, like certain cities in Japan. They focus on the food security of the
country, and become hubs for medical research and material research.

How can the cities integrate and harmonize? While certain cities focus on agropolitan
development, another city can focus on a university town, and another in the BPO industry and
agro-tourism industry. But it does not mean one-sided development; it should be holistic. It just
identifies certain strength for comparative advantage.

In our analysis, traffic congestion is caused by three main issues: Housing, car-oriented
transport, and the need for urban growth centers in other areas (education, health, and job
opportunities). Primate cities like Metro Manila are a result of imbalanced development.
On alleviating traffic congestion
Traffic congestion is also a result of transportation that is not inclusive, the lack of choices for
quality education, housing, and health care. People seek places where they are able to address
their needs, like adequate and affordable education, housing, and health. If government
institutions do not uplift the quality of housing, education, and health, the tendency for families
who can afford is to migrate to other cities. On the other hand, businesses set up offices in
places where there are more educated employees and workers. In return, citizens in that area
earn more and attract other forms of businesses. In the case of Metro Manila, citizens cannot
afford to live near the place they work because of imbalanced development and exclusive
urban growth.

Government should prioritize in uplifting quality of urban health, housing, and education,
especially in other cities and provinces. Adequate tax incentives should also be given, and help
develop infrastructure to attract businesses outside of Metro Manila. These will lead the
development of new urban growth centers and development corridors as counter magnets to
the central cities of Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao.

The bias toward automobiles is undemocratic and exclusionary. There are 20 kinds of urban
transportation. In more progressive cities, walking, biking, and taking public transport are the
priorities. In the Philippines, only around 2 percent of our population are car-owners. What
about the rest of the Filipinos? All of us are pedestrians the moment we step out of our
vehicles.

“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will not themselves
be realized,” celebrated American architect and urban planner Daniel Burnham once said.

These words capture the very essence of Burnham’s spirit—one that represents his vision on how
highly livable cities should be designed. Burnham incidentally was also the man behind Manila’s
original masterplan commissioned by the Commonwealth government in 1906, whose objective
was to transform the city from an old colonial outpost to a modern urban area adapted to
changed times and modern needs.

In his masterplan, Burnham envisioned Manila as a city of efficient road systems, of quaint
waterways used for transportation, and of waterfronts, promenades, parkways, and neoclassical
buildings. Manila, in Burnham’s mind, was to become like many of the world’s well-planned cities
where every resident is a short walking distance from a park, places of work, and leisure and
recreational centers.
“This is just the sort of urban planning model that the Philippines should have used, but didn’t,”
said noted Filipino architect and urban planner Felino “Jun” Palafox Jr.

If Metro Manila’s urban planning were the computer game SimCity, the player—which will be
our political leaders, no less—has done (and is doing) an abysmal job. Mass transit stations were
built close to exclusive gated communities and huge military camps, the residents of which don’t
even take public transport. Roads and parking spaces unable to keep up with the ever-increasing
number of vehicles. Infrastructure incapable of handling—let alone mitigating the effects—
natural calamities. And an army of low-income residents pushed into the corners of the
metropolis, toiling and forever priced out of the housing market.

This roughly describes the type of job our political leaders have accomplished in terms of urban
planning, which hasn’t actually progressed since the Spanish times, Palafox said.

Urban planning wise, our obsolete practices have not progressed from the 16th-century
practice of intramuros and extramuros. You live inside the walls [intramuros] if you’re rich and
powerful, and outside the walls [extramuros] if you’re peasant, Indio, or Sangley, which today
are equivalent to Metro Manila’s modern-day city employees.

Urban planning in Singapore aims to optimise the use of the country’s scarce land
resources for the diverse needs of both current and future generations of residents. It involves
allocating land for competing uses such as housing, commerce, industry, parks, transport,
recreation and defence, as well as determining the development density for various locations.
The way Singapore looks today is, to a large extent, a result of the government’s effective
implementation of its urban development plans, the most important of which are the Concept
Plan and the Master Plan.

Today, urban planning is a highly centralised government function, with the URA being the
designated national land use planning authority of Singapore. The URA is the primary agency
responsible for administering the Planning Act which, together with its subsidiary legislation,
lays down the general rules governing the urban planning process and the development control
system.
The URA works together with other relevant government agencies to prepare the Concept Plan
and the Master Plan that guide the physical development of Singapore. Within the
comprehensive framework provided by the two plans, the URA ensures that public and private
developments are carried out in accordance with prescribed guidelines.
Concept Plan
The Concept Plan is a strategic land use and transportation plan that provides the broad
directions to guide Singapore’s physical development over the next 40–50 years. It ensures that
there is sufficient land to support long-term population and economic growth while maintaining
a good living environment. The Concept Plan is reviewed every 10 years.
During the reviewing of the Concept Plan, the URA takes into account all major land needs in
collaboration with relevant government agencies. Public consultation is also conducted for
stakeholders and the public at large to address their concerns and plans for the future through
various channels such as exhibitions, focus group discussions, and public forums.
The first Concept Plan was formulated in 1971, which laid the foundation for Singapore’s
growth for a better quality of life with new towns, transport infrastructure and access to
recreation.

Master Plan
The Master Plan is a statutory land-use plan that guides the physical development of Singapore
over the next 10–15 years. The broad long-term strategies of the Concept Plan are translated
into the Master Plan, which shows the permissible land use and density for developments in
Singapore. Both the Master Plan and Concept Plan play an important role in helping to balance
the many land use needs, such as housing, industry, commerce, parks and recreation, transport,
defence and community facilities.

Similar to the Concept Plan review, public consultation is conducted during the Master Plan
review process to obtain feedback and address concerns from stakeholders and the public at
large. Introduced in 1958, the Master Plan has evolved from being a plan that reflected
preceding land use amendments to one that focuses on planning ahead for future
developments.

The Current Plans

Concept Plan 2011
The Concept Plan 2011 review started in July 2009.11 It took into account the public feedback
gathered by the National Population & Talent Division (NPTD) on building a sustainable
population for Singapore. This discussion produced the Population White Paper in January
2013. The Ministry of National Development (MND) released the Land Use Plan in the same
month to complement the Population White Paper.

The Land Use Plan is a conceptual plan that outlines the strategies to provide the physical
capacity to sustain a high quality living environment for a possible population range of 6.5 to
6.9 million by 2030. It also sets aside land to provide options beyond 2030, so that future
generations will have room for growth and opportunities.

The broad strategies and proposals set out in the Land Use Plan were translated into the
Master Plan 2014.

Zürich is Switzerland’s largest city. A lively and dynamic small metropolis with almost 400 000
inhabitants, the amount of traffic is large with forecasts indicating further growth. To ensure
that future traffic is handled efficiently and does not harm the city or the environment, public
transport and pedestrian and bicycle traffic must take on an increasingly larger role.

With 44 per cent, pedestrians claim an already impressive part of the modal split in Zürich. But
the city, in its 2012 mobility policy, outlines plans to increase public transport, bicycle and
pedestrian traffic by another 10 percentage points over 10 years. Zürich already has a high
standard of pedestrian infrastructure. City walkers can generally find safe, attractively designed
paths which can for the most part also be used with walking aids and baby strollers. With Züri
z’Fuess, Zürich hopes the public will be encouraged to make use of these paths.

Tokyo is one of the busiest urban cities in the world, which prides itself in having one of the
best transport systems in the world. Although getting around this fast-paced mega city is not, as
they say, “a-walk-in-the-park.” Foreigners and locals alike, can easily get lost in the heavily-
congested streets and public transport stations in the city. Around 40 million people flock the
city daily, causing major traffic jams on the roads and on the sidewalks, not to mention most
streets have no names making the city even more difficult to navigate.

The Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo is the world's single busiest pedestrian crossing. Approximately
2,500 pedestrians cross it at once at any given time.

There are several reasons that make Shibuya Crossing the busiest pedestrian crossing in the
world. Workplace and shopping contribute to a large number of people using the crossing.
However, the main reason is that of its close proximity to the Shibuya Station, the third busiest
transportation hub in Tokyo. The station is the beginning and end of two subways. Bullet trains
can also access the station, making it a major hub. The station handles approximately 2 million
people daily.
Hongkong-The terminal railway station is located in Jordan, West Kowloon, north of the
proposed West Kowloon Cultural District between the Airport Express and Tung Chung
Line's Kowloon Station and the West Rail Line's Austin Station. The footprint of the new station
extends into the basement of the West Kowloon Cultural District.

Transportation in the Philippines is relatively underdeveloped, partly due to the country's

mountainous areas and scattered islands, and partly as a result of the government's persistent
underinvestment in the nation's infrastructure. In recent years, however, the Philippine
government has been pushing to improve the transportation system in the country through
various infrastructure projects.

Jeepneys are the most popular mode of public transportation in the Philippines, they have also
become a ubiquitous symbol of the Philippine culture. Another popular mode of public
transportation in the country is the motorized tricycle; they are especially common in rural
areas. Trains are also becoming a popular mode of public transportation in the country
especially in the bustling metropolis of Manila. The Philippines has three main railway
networks: the Manila Light Rail Transit System composed of Line 1 and Line 2, Manila Metro
Rail Transit System composed of Line 3 which only serves Metro Manila and the PNR Metro
Commuter Line operated by the Philippine National Railways which also serves the metropolis
and some parts of Luzon. There are also steam engines found in Visayas which operate sugar
mills such as Central Azucarera. Taxis and buses are also important modes of public transport in
urban areas.

The Philippines has 12 international airports, and has more than 20 major and minor domestic
airports serving the country. The Ninoy Aquino International Airport is the main international
gateway to the Philippines.

Under the Senate Bill No. 11, the Transportation Crisis Act of 2016 grants President Duterte the
right to use his “emergency powers” to fix the country’s “horrendous traffic situation within
and outside Metro Manila” and other major urban areas, such as Metro Cebu and Cagayan de
Oro.

This bill allows the President to do “source bidding, direct contracting, repeat order, shopping,
and negotiated procurement” to cut out the red tape that comes with bidding on construction
projects.

It will also allow the President to restructure the DOT together with its other agencies like the
LTO, LTFRB, and the MMDA. This might mean streamlining the overlapping functions of these
government institutions, and allowing the MMDA and the DOT to be the only urban traffic
management enforcers in Metro Manila and other urban areas. It may also mean creating
stricter traffic rule enforcement.

Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade laid out plans of his own as well. Among them include: using
alternative places for people to buy their train tickets, better waiting for commuters, and of
course, the icing on the cake: cable cars.

According to Tugade, he wants to pattern the cable car system that’s being used in Bolivia. He
estimates that it will take only one year and six months to make it operational—and that short
timeline is what the country badly needs right now. He has already discussed this with the cable
car manufacturer who built the same cable cars in Bolivia, and they’re currently discussing the
specific locations to place these vehicles.

The Cebu Bus Rapid Transit System is a planned mass transit system for Cebu City located
within the greater Cebu Metropolitan Area. It is expected to become the first operational bus
rapid transit project in the Philippines. Only one line has been planned in detail so far, but
scheme developers note the potential to develop a larger network comprising the adjacent
cities Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue and Talisay.[2] Leadership in both Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue have
shown interest in the network. This will be constructed at the end of last quarter of 2017 and the

first route could be operational by the end of 2019.

The city government is set to implement by the middle of 2019 the High Priority Bus Service
(HPBS), a multi-million and modernized public transportation system that will help ease the
traffic woes now being experienced by commuters in Davao City.