THINK!!

1.  You are a transportation consultant who has been hired by the manager of a fairly new office
     building who has a transportation problem.  People who work in the building are complaining
     to the manager that trips in the elevator take too long—it’s not the actual wait for the elevator
     that seems to be the problem but the time it takes to get to the destination floor once in the
     elevator.

     a) What data should you collect?
     b) What is (are) the problem(s) that need to be investigated?
     c) What are the potential solutions?
 
2.  Demand for some commodity is generally described as being a “schedule” of how much of the
     commodity will be consumed at various prices that might be charged for that commodity.
     Graphically describe the demand for some commodity (you can pick it—I often use beer as an
     example) in terms of a simple relationship between Q, the amount purchased, and P, the price
     charged.

3.  Now, describe the demand for transportation in the same was as you did for the commodity
     chosen in question 2.  In this case, what is P?  what is Q?

4.  Since you have signed up for a course in transportation planning, tell me what it is.
 
5.  Is transportation planning a design activity?  (What is design?)
 
6.  How do you suppose the increasing percentage of working females affects the need for
     transportation systems?  The number of trips that are being made?  Do you envision your
     household structure when you are 25-30 years old to be different than your parents' at that
     age?

7.  Should we be "planning" for an increase in travel by older persons?  Why would we
     expect travel by older persons to be increasing (or is it)?  Why would an increase or
     decrease in travel by this age group be important?

8.  What technological changes do you foresee in transportation over the next 25 years?

9.  What is the appropriate role of transportation in focusing the development of residential,
     industrial, and commercial land uses?

10. What should be the engineer's role in transportation planning—are they decision-makers or
     "merely" technicians?

11. Is transportation a "right" (e.g., the way public education is)?  What are the social impacts of
     the transportation system?