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Overview

Course Prescription

Traffic engineering, transportation planning and road pavement design. Topics include the main transport planning and traffic design techniques, criteria and fundamentals used in transportation engineering practice, traffic studies, public transport and active modes and transport modelling (micro and macro simulation). Additionally, pavement design, surfacings, traffic loading, mechanistic approaches and rehabilitation of road pavements, and environmental and sustainability considerations, are included.

Course Overview

An introductory paper in traffic engineering, transportation planning and road pavement design. The paper introduces key concepts in transport planning and traffic design techniques; criteria and fundamentals used in road pavement designs. The course covers traffic studies, transport and land use relationship, transportation planning four-step model, transport modelling (micro and macro simulation), and road pavement design, surfacings, traffic loading, mechanistic approaches and rehabilitation. It covers the following topics:
1. Traffic Measurements and Studies

  • Traffic flow measurements 
  • Traffic studies 
2. Transport and land use
  • Relationship between land use and transport systems
  • Transit orientated designs
3. Transportation Planning
  • Origin-Destination surveys
  • Travel demand analysis,
  • Modelling road networks and flow
  • Gravity model and trip assignment
4. Active Modes and Equity
  • Design of pedestrian and cycle facilities
  • Introduction to transport equity
  • Hypermobility and impact on mode choice
5. Modelling and Simulation of Transport Facilities
  • Vehicle trajectories on time-space diagrams
  • Traffic flow models and their classification
  • Speed-flow-density relationships
  • Capacity of un-signalized intersections
6. Operational Analysis of Transport Facilities
  • Capacity and level of service concept for transport facilities 
  • Operational analysis for multi-lane highway
7. Introduction to pavement design 
  • Pavement material characterization and performance
  • Pavement and rehabilitation design 
  • Pavement performance, critical stress and strain criteria analyses

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 150 hours for lecture, test, assignments and final exam. 

For this course, you can expect 26 hours of lectures, 10 hours of tutorials, and 46 hours of work on the assignments and/or test preparation. Students are expected to use the remaining 68 hours for working through practice problems, reading and studying about the course content.

Course Prerequisites, Corequisites and Restrictions

Prerequisite
Restriction

Locations and Semesters Offered

LocationSemester
City

Teaching and Learning

Campus Experience

Attendance is expected at scheduled activities including lectures/labs/tutorials to complete the components of the course.
Lectures will be available as recordings. Other learning activities including computer labs will not be available as recordings.
The course may include live online events including group discussions.
Attendance on campus is required for the test.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Learning Resources

Taught courses use a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas to provide students with learning materials including reading lists and lecture recordings (where available). Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Additional Information on Learning Resources

A pdf version of lecture notes prepared for this course is available for free on Canvas. 

Copyright

The content and delivery of content in this course are protected by copyright. Material belonging to others may have been used in this course and copied by and solely for the educational purposes of the University under license.


You may copy the course content for the purposes of private study or research, but you may not upload onto any third-party site, make a further copy or sell, alter or further reproduce or distribute any part of the course content to another person.

Health and Safety

Students are expected to adhere to the guidelines outlined in the Health and Safety section of the Engineering Undergraduate Handbook. 

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

Similarly, research students must meet the University’s expectations of good research practice. This requires:

  • Honesty - in all aspects of research work
  • Accountability - in the conduct of research
  • Professional courtesy and fairness – in working with others
  • Good stewardship – on behalf of others
  • Transparency – of research process and presentation of results
  • Clarity - communication to be understandable, explainable and accessible

For more information on the University’s expectations of academic integrity, please see the Academic Conduct section of the University policy hub.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about taught courses is made available to enrolled students in Canvas.

Students may be asked to submit assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.


Assessment and Learning Outcomes

Additional Information on Assessment

A passing mark, comprising the sum of all assessment types, is 50% or higher, according to University policy. In addition, a minimum of 40% is required in the exam to pass the course.

Students must sit the exam to pass the course. Otherwise, a DNS (did not sit) result will be returned.

Any late submissions will incur a deduction of 5% from final mark, unless arranged with course coordinator prior to submission

Course Learning Outcomes

CLO #OutcomeProgramme Capability Link
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Assessments

Assessment TypeAssessment PercentageAssessment Classification

Assessment to CLO Mapping

Assessment Type12345678910

Student Feedback, Support and Charter

Student Feedback

Feedback on taught courses is gathered from students at the end of each semester through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions. Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students. In addition, class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Additional Information on Student Feedback

The student feedback in 2023 was to improve clarity of the design project and provide more cohesion between the different modules. This has been achieved, with the design project revised substantially and an overview lecture given to show how all the different modules connect. The feedback in 2024 was very positive. 

Class representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Tuākana

Tuākana is a multi-faceted programme for Māori and Pacific students providing topic specific tutorials, one-on-one sessions, test and exam preparation and more. Explore your options at Tuakana Learning Communities.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website.

Wellbeing

We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - please see the Support Services page for information on support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed work is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due. If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page. This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter.

Student Academic Complaints and Disputes

Students with concerns about teaching including how a course is delivered, the resources provided, or supervision arrangements, have the right to express their concerns and seek resolution. The university encourages informal resolution where possible, as this is quicker and less stressful. For information on the informal and formal complaints processes, please refer to the Student Academic Complaints Statute in the Student Policies and Guidelines section of the Policy Hub.