CEE 3604: Introduction to Transportation Engineering Fall 2011

Assignment 2: Transportation Systems

Solution Instructor: Trani

Problem 1
Browse various tables and sections of the Pocket Guide to Transportation 2011 and read the the class materials for week 2 to
answer the following questions. The Pocket Guide to Transportation is available at http://www.bts.gov/publications/
pocket_guide_to_transportation/2011/.

a) How many states have banned texting and the use of handheld devices while driving? Name the states.
31 states have bans on text. 9 on the use of cell phones. 9 banned text and cell phone use.
b) How does the State of Virginia compare to others? Explain.
So so. Banned texting. Not cell phone use.
c) The National Integrated Plan of airport Systems (NPIAS) includes public airports that are important to the development
of our aviation system. How many airports are included in this plan?
More than 3,200 airports
d) According to the Federal Highway Administration, the average serious injury of highway accidents costs $298,629 in
the year 2009. This includes medical, emergency service, rehabilitation, market production, household production,
insurance administration, workplace, legal/court, travel delay and property damage costs. Estimate the cost of all
serious injuries per year in the year 2009 due to highway accidents.
Cost = (2,217,000 injuries) ($298,629 per injury) = $6.62e11 (very high social cost)
e) According to the Federal Highway Administration, the cost of every fatality in the highway system costs $5,996,456 in
the year 2009. Estimate the cost of all highway fatalities in the year 2009. Compare this cost with that estimated in
Part (d).
f) Name the mode of transportation whose fatality rate has increased since the year 1998.
Motorcycle
g) Roanoke Regional airport is considered a non-hub area airport. Find the proportion of the total passenger traffic carried
by airports like Roanoke in the year 2009. Contrast this number to the passenger traffic carried by all hub airports.
h) Estimate the growth of other 2-axle, 4 tire vehicles in the last 2 decades. How does this trend affect fuel consumption
averages in the country? Explain.
i) Use the passenger travel statistics in section 3-3 of the Pocket Guide to estimate the total number of miles traveled in
the country in 2009. How does your travel habits compare to the numbers cited?
j) Name the metropolitan area in the country with the worst on-time arrival performance record of its airports for years
2008 and 2009. Why do you this happens.

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Problem 2
Plan a hypothetical intercity trip from Blacksburg to Atlantic City, New Jersey. Consider three modes of transportation in your
travel plan:
1. auto (you drive all the way there)
2. commercial air (consider flights from Roanoke, Charlotte and Greensboro)

CEE 3604 A2 Trani Page 1 of 2

 3. train (drive to Lynchburg)
a) Generate a table with travel costs for each mode of transportation. Use Expedia and Amtrak web sites to estimate typical
costs of travel by air and rail (i.e., fares to travel 8-10 days ahead of the travel date). Use the AAA Exchange web site to
estimate auto cost per mile (http://www.aaaexchange.com/main/Default.asp?
CategoryID=16&SubCategoryID=76&ContentID=353). Include in the table door-to-door travel times for each mode
considered. Include costs incurred in egress and access when using train and commercial aviation since taxis or car
rentals are typical ways to get from a station or an airport to the final destination.
b) Based on the values presented in the table what mode of transportation would you take? Assume you are doing business
in Atlantic City for one full day.
c) Would the answer be different if the trip was for leisure? Explain.
d) For business travelers, do you think there is value in possible productivity gains working inside a train of aircraft?
Comment.

Problem 3
Examine Table 4-9: Motor Vehicle Fuel Consumption and Travel in the Appendix D of the National Transportation Statistics
(http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/#appendix_d) and answer the following questions:
a) Has there been a significant gain in auto fuel economy since the year 1990? Explain possible causes for the observed
trend.
Not much. Average fuel mileage has increased to 22 MPG from 20.3 MPH in 1990. Not a very significant gain. Our culture
promotes use of large cars. Number of VMTs has increased. Until recently, laws were not designed to promote fuel
efficiency.
b) If the United States produces 9.056 million barrels of oil per day, how much of the domestic oil production is needed to
fuel the auto travel needs in the country using the statistics cited in Table 4-9? Check out the historical data on monthly
oil production in the U.S. at: http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MCRFPUS1&f=M to provide
some historical perspective about the oil production in the country.
398 millions of gallons of production per day (44 gallons to a barrel). 75,355e6 gallons per year used by cars (Table 4.9)
or 2.04e8 gallons used per day. 51% of the U.S. oil production consumed by cars. A staggering number.
c) Use EPA emissions data in http://www.epa.gov/oms/climate/420f05001.htm to estimate the number of pounds of CO2
emissions produced by automobiles in the United States in the most recent year. Assume all autos use regular gasoline.
1.44e12 pounds of CO2 (19.4 lbs/gallon of fuel used).
d) Use the new fuel efficiency targets set by the current Obama Administration (read on at http://www.guardian.co.uk/
environment/2011/jul/29/barack-obama-fuel-economy-standards) and explain, using the data in Table 4-9 if such targets
will help ease our dependance on foreign oil. Do calculations to support your point.

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