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Concept
Traffic engineering (transportation)
Summary
Traffic engineering is a branch of civil engineering that uses engineering techniques to achieve the safe and efficient movement of people and goods on roadways. It focuses mainly on research for safe and efficient traffic flow, such as road geometry, sidewalks and crosswalks, cycling infrastructure, traffic signs, road surface markings and traffic lights. Traffic engineering deals with the functional part of transportation system, except the infrastructures provided.
Traffic engineering is closely associated with other disciplines:
Transport engineering
Pavement engineering
Bicycle transportation engineering
Highway engineering
Transportation planning
Urban planning
Human factors engineering
Typical traffic engineering projects involve designing traffic control device installations and modifications, including traffic signals, signs, and pavement markings. Examples of Engineering Plans include pole engineering analysis and Storm Water Prevention Programs (SWPP). However, traffic engineers also consider traffic safety by investigating locations with high crash rates and developing countermeasures to reduce crashes. Traffic flow management can be short-term (preparing construction traffic control plans, including detour plans for pedestrian and vehicular traffic) or long-term (estimating the impacts of proposed commercial/residential developments on traffic patterns). Increasingly, traffic problems are being addressed by developing systems for intelligent transportation systems, often in conjunction with other engineering disciplines, such as computer engineering and electrical engineering.
Traditionally, road improvements have consisted mainly of building additional infrastructure. However, dynamic elements are now being introduced into road traffic management. Dynamic elements have long been used in rail transport. These include sensors to measure traffic flows and automatic, interconnected, guidance systems to manage traffic (for example, traffic signs which open a lane in different directions depending on the time of day).
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