Transportation Engineering

Transportation Engineering drives the economy through provision of safe, economic, efficient and environmentally sustainable ways to get around. Be it bus, bike, foot, car, train, or airplane, you literally can't leave home without it. Transportation Engineering is concerned with the planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the infrastructure associated with vehicles, driver/passengers and rights of way.

Transportation Engineering involves:

• Planning and Designing of Highways and Roads
• Mountain Highway Engineering
• Road Surfacing
• Road Safety
• Railway Planning
• Airport Terminal Planning & Air Transport Systems
• Bicycle & Pedestrian Facilities Planning
• Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS)
• Microscopic Traffic Simulations
• Highway Geometric Design Research
• Transportation Engineering Research

 

Why study transportation?

It employs a major proportion of the Canadian work force
Canadian families spend over $6000 each year on transport
It has and continues to be a vital part of the Canadian economy and way of life
It poses some of the biggest environmental and social challenges of the 21st Century

 

What is a transportation engineer?

The Civil Engineer specializing in transportation engineering can be responsible for the planning, design, construction and maintenance of transportation systems. Solving the world's transportation problems requires an understanding of the various factors which impinge on the problem, such as economic viability, environmental protection, safety, social needs of the community, political pressures and engineering constraints.

Upon graduation students possess a degree which is accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board and can become Professional Engineers in Alberta after four years of practical engineering experience. Graduates are employed in a number of areas including; the City of Calgary's Transportation Department, transportation consultants and highway contractors or can go onto graduate studies at university.

Why study at the University of Calgary?

• Transportation Theme School at the U of C
• Centre for Transportation Engineering and Planning affiliated with the U of C
• A cross-disciplinary approach to the study of transportation
• Faculty have extensive local, national and international experience in transportation
• Largest transportation engineering group in Canada

 

Why Calgary?

• It has become a key city for national transportation decision-making and management
• It is the leading distribution centre in inland western Canada
• It is home to major transportation companies including, Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian Airlines International and Greyhound Canada
• The city's population is growing by more 20,000 people each year
• A 1998 survey found that transportation was the No. 1 issue facing the city

Undergraduate Study

• Minor in transportation

 

Graduate Studies

• Graduate degree programs

 

Other Links

• Canadian Society of Civil Engineers (CSCE)
• Canadian Transportation Research Forum (CTRF)
• Centre for Transportation Engineering and Planning (C-TEP)
• City of Calgary Transportation
• Planning of Airports for New Large Aircraft (NLA)
• Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)
• Transportation Association of Canada (TAC)
• Van Horne Institute

 

 

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