ENTR401-19A (C) Any Time Start 2019

Fundamentals of Transport Engineering

15 points

Details:
Start/End Date: The start and end dates are specific to each student. For further information please contact one of the following (as appropriate):
  • For Masters theses please contact the relevant Faculty Office.
  • For Doctoral degrees (PhD) please contact the Graduate School.
  • For other types of anytime start courses (i.e. generally courses worth 60 points or less) please contact the Course Coordinator.
Withdrawal Dates
The withdrawal dates for this course (both with and without fee refund) will be confirmed once a) the course start date and b) course length is confirmed. Students are advised to consult the department for further information.

Description

A self-study course covering: Transportation planning; Road link theory and design; Intersection analysis and design; Traffic studies; Accident reduction; Sustainable transport planning and design; Pavement design; Road asset management. Please refer to the Director of Transportation Engineering regarding availability.

This course introduces the basic concepts and principles of traffic engineering and (to a lesser extent) transport planning and road management/design for those who not have been taught this material at an engineering undergraduate level (e.g. ENCN412) or in previous other qualifications.

It is an ideal pre-requisite for further study in Canterbury’s postgraduate transportation programme.

Unlike most of our transport papers, this is a self-guided study course, requiring the student to do the bulk of the study and assignment work on their own at their home location, using the physical/online resources provided and with the remote guidance of the course lecturers.

Learning Outcomes

The objectives of the course are to:

- Provide participants with a solid grounding in the fundamentals of traffic engineering, transport planning and contextual issues;

- Develop participants’ practical skills in traffic/transportation and knowledge of how and when they should be applied;

- Cover the theory of good traffic engineering practice (including statistical techniques);

- Enable participants to recognise and deal effectively with traffic/transport situations where standard methods are unlikely to work well.

Prerequisites

Subject to approval of the Programme Director

Restrictions

Timetable Note

Self-Study course with tutorials on 27 Feb (Sem 1) and 24 July (Sem 2)

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Kun Xie

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Street network review assignment 25%
final exam 50%
Theoretical calculation exercises 25%


At the start of the course, students will be provided with a series of theoretical calculation exercises
to complete (based on notes largely from the first part of the course). Tutorial sessions may be
provided to go over sample exercises and to assist students with their assignment work.

Students will then undertake a review of a neighbourhood near their home and assess the transport
issues affecting this study area (e.g. road hierarchy; intersection controls; road capacity; road safety issues; provision for walking/cycling/PT). The assignment will require students to apply all of their course material to a practical real-world situation and identify any aspects requiring attention.

The final exam will be a 3-hour closed-book exam designed to test students’ understanding and
application of the material presented during the course and covered in the lecture notes and
textbook. Students from outside of Christchurch will be able to arrange to sit this exam in their
home town with a suitable local supervisor.

While a minimum 50% overall grade for the year is the usual benchmark for passing, to guarantee a pass in the course you must also achieve at least 40% in both coursework and examination total marks.

Additional Course Outline Information

Notes

Target Audience:

This course is available to students enrolled in Canterbury’s postgraduate transport programme (i.e. MET, MEngSt, or  PGCertEng; see www.met.canterbury.ac.nz for more information). It is designed particularly for students wishing to enter the programme but lacking the normal subject pre-requisites. Generally, programme staff will indicate to students if they are expected to take this course as part of their qualification.

Other undergraduate or postgraduate students at Canterbury (e.g. in engineering, maths, economics, geography, etc) may also apply to enrol and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The course will benefit practising engineers, technicians, planners and other transport practitioners with little or no formal training in traffic engineering and transport planning. No prerequisite knowledge in the course topics is necessary, although some previous maths/science or traffic/transport background is useful. Some previous experience with statistics is also helpful.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,080.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

Minimum enrolments

This course will not be offered if fewer than 4 people apply to enrol.

For further information see Civil and Natural Resources Engineering .

All ENTR401 Occurrences

  • ENTR401-19A (C) Any Time Start 2019