Department of Geography, University of Tennessee - Knoxville, Spring 2004

Geography 549

Topics in Geography of Transportation

Class: Wednesday, 1:25 - 4:25 pm, Burchfiel Geography Building (BGB), Room 406

TransCAD® Version 4.5 is the first and only GIS designed specifically for use by transportation professionals to store, display, manage, and analyze transportation data. TransCAD combines GIS and transportation modeling capabilities in a single integrated platform, providing capabilities that are unmatched by any other package. Standard TransCAD Gravity Model software version 4.5 was used in the trip distribution modeling process. The gamma function was adopted for developing the friction factors for Al-Diwaniyah.

GIS Lab: BGB Room 404.

Instructor: Dr. Shih-Lung Shaw, Burchfiel Geography Building, Room 315
Phone: 974-6036, E-mail: sshaw@utk.edu

Office Hours: Thursday, 1:30 - 3:30 pm, or by appointment

Textbooks:

Miller, H. and Shaw, S.L. 2001. Geographic Information Systems for Transportation: Principles and Applications. New York: Oxford University Press.
TransCAD User Guide by Caliper Corporation (Copies will be made available to the class.)
TransCAD Travel Demand Modeling User Guide by Caliper Corporation (Copies will be made available to the class.)
TransCAD Vehicle Routing and Logistics User Guide by Caliper Corporation (Copies will be made available to the class.)

Course Description:

This course covers selected transportation topics, including shortest paths and routing, network flows, facility location, transportation planning, intelligent transportation systems, and logistics. In addition, this course is designed as a geographic information systems for transportation (GIS-T) class, which has a focus on how geographic information systems (GIS) can be used in various transportation applications. Students will use TransCAD 4.5 in this class to gain hands-on experience with GIS-T software. ArcGIS 8.3 and ArcView 3.2 also will be demonstrated in class with respect to their transportation-related functions. The main course objective is to prepare students with a better understanding of selected transportation topics and GIS-T concepts and functions.

Transcad 4.5 Software Torrent

Grading:

Grading will be based on the weights allocated to the components listed below.

1. Class participation/discussion: 25%
   (This class will have an emphasis on class discussions. Students will take turns to lead class discussions. Each student will be given a one-week advanced notice regarding his/her turn of leading a particular class discussion. The lead students must prepare a 15-20 minutes presentation that summarizes the key concepts. In addition, the lead students will prepare a list of discussion questions. All students are expected to participate in discussions following the presentation.)
2. Literature search/review project (including a written paper): 25%
   (Each student will choose his/her topic relevant to this class. Literature search/review of the selected topic must cover a minimum of 10 journal articles/conference papers/books. At least 5 of the reviewed articles/papers/books must be published after 1999. The written paper (approx. 15 pages, double-spaced) must be based on the literature search/review and follow the publication format used in Professional Geographer.)
3. Lab assignments (Each assignment must be turned in on a CD/RW): 20%
   (Dynamic segmentation lab assignment and Travel demand analysis lab assignment)
4. GIS-T project (including presentation and all project files on a CD-RW): 30%
   (Each student will choose her/his own GIS-T application and implement it with TransCAD 4.5. School bus routing, locating new fire stations, travel demand analysis, transit information system for Knox County are some examples of possible GIS-T application topics. Students will be responsible for data collection, GIS database creation, GIS application development, and a 20-minute Powerpoint presentation/live demonstration. All project data and files must be submitted on a CD-RW.)

Notes:

1. The instructor will follow the course outline below as closely as possible. However, the actual pace and contents may vary from the course outline as needed.
2. Students are expected to put in the time necessary to master the topics and complete the assignments and projects of this class.
3. All assignments/papers/presentations must be completed on time except for legitimate excuses with appropriate documents (e.g., a doctor's statement) submitted to the instructor. A penalty of 5 points per work day will be assessed on assignment/report/presentation that is completed after the due date. With the exception of death in the family or serious illness of the student, there will be no incomplete.
4. The Department of Geography does not allow individual students to perform extra credit work in order to increase their grade. Any extra credit options must be made available to the entire class.
5. Students requiring course adaptations or accommodations because of a documented disability or if you have emergency information to share, please contact the Office of Disability Services at 191 Hoskins Library at 974-6087. This will ensure that you are properly registered for services. It is the student's responsibility to alert the instructor and teaching assistants of documented special needs.

Course Outline:

Transcad 4.5 Software Free

Transcad Training

GIS-T : GIS for Transportation: Principles and Applications - Miller and Shaw, 2001
LR-ArcGIS: Linear Referencing in ArcGIS - ESRI, 2002.
TC UG : TransCAD User's Guide
TC TDM : TransCAD Travel Demand Modeling Manual.
TC R&L : TransCAD Routing and Logistics