Course Catalogue

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This course will provide students with state-of-the-art knowledge of design principles and analytical skills to create inclusive, environmental friendly and sustainable transport networks in the urban environment. Students will learn how to plan and assess transport policies from a risk-based perspective by employing probability theory and data analytics and design transport infrastructure based on predictive traffic statistics and in alignment with the Eurocodes. Students will learn the principles of transport planning, traffic statistics, risk/probability-based decision-making, and transport infrastructure assets' design (bridge) in the urban environment. Students will also undergo a detailed design coursework of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods by analysing and predicting traffic statistics in Glasgow and deciding decongestion measures for highway traffic networks by designing a flyover bridge on the basis of sustainability (e.g. investment capital, optimising geometry of structural members, selecting eco-friendly materials, optimising carbon emissions, pollution and noise minimising due to traffic, adaptation to climate change and future demands).

This course specifically aligns to UN Sustainable Development Goals: 3 Good Health and Well-Being; 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, 13 Climate Action.

1 hour lecture per week: The lecture session will be used to set out basic information for students about the course, assessments, and to introduce the subject material with quick exercises for students to complete in class.

2 hour active workshop per week: The workshop will start with exercises which introduce the skills/procedures to the students, which will then lead on in the workshop to the students using these skills/procedure for analysis and design of transport systems

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20% Project Output: Risk/probability-based planning and assessment of Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN). ILO1-6

Students will have designed and assessed Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes, drawn their own recommendation and planned a monitoring scheme for post-assessment. During this process, they will have collected data, set up a probabilistic model and calculated expected utilities of each candidate policy. They will also have identified different user groups and assessed accessibility for each group to multiple modes of transport. They will also analyse impacts of their plans from the perspective of diversity, health, and sustainability. Formative assessment will be a workshop allowing students to provide written critiques of other groups work. Then Summative assessment is student's amended plans based on their peer-feedback.

20% Project Output and 10% Oral Presentation: Bridge design: ILO 7-12

Students will have examined and designed a bridge (group activity) that connects LTN, industrial zone and highways/motorways. The predicted traffic demands from the previous Project Output (illustrated above) will be used as a reference traffic demand scenario to achieve decongestion of a real junction. Students will have referred to the Eurocodes to decide required bridge specifications (e.g. number of lanes) that can accommodate predicted traffic loads safely. The students will have considered congestion minimisation, existing and future traffic demands, full alignment with sustainability (eco-friendly materials, optimum layout and minimum environmental invasion, noise and pollution levels, sizing, life-cycle of the asset, investment capital measures) as design objectives. Consultancy meetings will provide support to students. Students' groups will present their work.

50% Examination ILO 1-10

Exam to assess knowledge and analytical skills that students will have developed to deliver the two assignments and ILOs 5 and 6. 

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills to assess and plan transport networks in built up areas in reflection of the latest agendas. The course has a focus on ensuring those networks are designed to be inclusive, sustainable and proactive (rather than reactive) to all those needing or choosing to travel within built up areas.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ plan and assess low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) schemes;

■ perform data analytics and thereby quantify probability distributions;

■ design and assess multi-modal transport systems (walking, cycling, public transport and driving) for different user groups towards sustainable, inclusive, and healthy transport;

■ plan post-policy monitoring scheme;

■ perform probabilistic model update using data;

■ communicate probabilistic models with publics using probabilistic graphical model;

■ plan connection between industrial zones, LTN and highways/motorways with a bridge structure (flyover);

■ calculate traffic loads according to predicted traffic demands and the Eurocodes models;

■ calculate lanes and assign load models in a flyover bridge;

■ design a flyover bridge in order to minimise congestion at junctions;

■ design a bridge with respect to sustainability: selection of eco-friendly materials, select optimised layout, optimised invasion to environment, reduce noise and traffic pollution, develop solution in respect to investment capital and future life-cycle;

■ use software to simulate road traffic scenarios for existing and future demands.

Students must attend the degree examination and submit all components of the course's summative assessment.

Students must attend the timetabled presentation sessions.

Students should attend at least 75% of the timetabled lectures and workshops of the course.

Note that these are minimum requirements: many students will achieve far higher participation/submission rates. Any student who misses an assessment or a significant number of classes because of illness or other good cause should report this by completing a MyCampus absence report.