Analysis of Transportation Planning Education

Transportation planning is relatively new and rapidly changing and as the discipline is being continually reevaluated so has the education of transportation planners been affected. The role of education in transportation planning is to develop an awareness of the issues and the environment within which the planner operates; a grasp of the conceptual and quantitative tools that are available; and how they can be brought to bear as part of the evaluation process. Transportation planning education is changing in several ways: (1) the emphasis on a multi-mode framework for examining alternatives; (2) the analysis of transportation systems performance as an integrated process referred to as systems engineering; (3) the emphasis on mathematical modeling and computer analysis which has radically improved the planner's ability to consider a wide range of options; (4) the evaluation of transportation system alternatives and the related subject of demand estimation is viewed in broad terms; and, (5) the broadening of transportation planning education to encompass a mix of disciplines. The creation of university transportation institutes represents a response to the interdisciplinary nature of transportation problems.