Urban Transportation Systems Planning Course | NPTEL IIT Kharagpur | Prof. Bhargab Maitra
Course Details
| Exam Registration | 294 |
|---|---|
| Course Status | Ongoing |
| Course Type | Core |
| Language | English |
| Duration | 12 weeks |
| Categories | Civil Engineering, Urban Planning Building Services |
| Credit Points | 3 |
| Level | Postgraduate |
| Start Date | 19 Jan 2026 |
| End Date | 10 Apr 2026 |
| Enrollment Ends | 02 Feb 2026 |
| Exam Registration Ends | 20 Feb 2026 |
| Exam Date | 25 Apr 2026 IST |
| NCrF Level | 4.5 — 8.0 |
Mastering Urban Mobility: A Deep Dive into the NPTEL Course on Urban Transportation Systems Planning
In the rapidly urbanizing landscapes of developing nations like India, the challenge of moving people and goods efficiently, safely, and sustainably is more critical than ever. Effective urban transportation systems planning is the cornerstone of building livable, economically vibrant, and environmentally responsible cities. For postgraduate students, policymakers, and practitioners aiming to tackle these complex challenges, the NPTEL course Urban Transportation Systems Planning, offered by Prof. Bhargab Maitra of IIT Kharagpur, provides an unparalleled academic foundation.
About the Course and the Esteemed Instructor
This comprehensive 12-week postgraduate course is designed to build capacity in urban transport planning and decision-making. It addresses the pressing need to manage growing travel demand in a way that is both sustainable and affordable. The curriculum is meticulously structured to help participants understand urban transport in all its dimensions and develop actionable plans, programs, and projects.
The course is led by Prof. Bhargab Maitra, a distinguished authority in the field. A professor in the Civil Engineering Department at IIT Kharagpur, Prof. Maitra brings immense expertise with an M.Tech from IIT Kanpur and a Ph.D. from IIT Bombay, specializing in Transportation Engineering. His accolades include being an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, a DAAD Fellow, and a recipient of the Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award. With nearly 150 publications and extensive research in traffic congestion, public transit, travel behavior, and traffic safety, his guidance ensures the course content is both cutting-edge and deeply practical.
Who Should Enroll?
This course is ideally suited for:
- M.E./M.Tech students specializing in Transportation Engineering or related fields.
- Urban planners, civil engineers, and policymakers involved in city development.
- Practitioners in consultancy firms and government agencies working on transport projects.
The course is recognized as a core curriculum in IITs, NITs, and universities nationwide, and is highly valued by industries in the infrastructure and urban development sectors.
Detailed 12-Week Course Layout
The course is divided into nine detailed modules, delivered over 12 weeks, providing a thorough grounding in both classical and modern planning techniques.
Weeks 1-2: Foundations & The 4-Stage Process
The journey begins with an Introduction to Urban Transportation Planning, exploring urbanization impacts, problems like congestion and safety, and the morphology of the planning process. Week 2 delivers an Overview of the Traditional Four-Step Travel Demand Forecasting Process (Trip Generation, Distribution, Mode Choice, and Traffic Assignment), along with crucial data collection techniques such as home-interview surveys and cordon-line surveys.
Weeks 3-6: Modeling Travel Demand
This core section delves into the quantitative heart of transport planning.
- Weeks 3-4: Trip Generation: Learn to predict the number of trips originating from or destined for a zone using methods like regression analysis, trip rate analysis, and category analysis.
- Weeks 5-6: Trip Distribution: Understand how to link these trip origins to destinations. The curriculum covers growth factor methods (Fratar, Furness) and synthetic methods, with a deep focus on calibrating the Gravity Model and exploring alternatives like the Intervening Opportunities model.
Weeks 7-10: Mode Choice and Network Analysis
Weeks 7-8: Modal Split examines the factors influencing a traveler's choice between car, bus, metro, etc. It progresses from aggregate models to advanced disaggregate choice models, including Binary Logit, Multinomial Logit, and Nested Logit models, grounded in utility theory.
Weeks 9-10: Traffic Assignment teaches how to load predicted trips onto a transport network. Topics include network properties, shortest-path algorithms (Dijkstra), and assignment techniques from simple All-or-Nothing to User Equilibrium, Stochastic, and Dynamic Traffic Assignment.
Weeks 11-12: Integrated Planning and The Future
The final weeks provide a broader perspective. Week 11 covers the critical interaction between Land Use and Transportation and introduces Urban Goods Movement modeling. Week 12 concludes by exploring Emerging Trends such as Activity-Based Modelling, Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), and the application of Big Data analytics in transportation planning—skills essential for the modern planner.
Recommended Textbooks
The course references seminal texts to deepen understanding:
| Book Title | Author(s) | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Principles of Urban Transport Systems Planning | Hutchinson, B.G. | McGraw Hill |
| Transportation Engineering and Planning (3rd Ed.) | Khisty, C. Jotin and Lall, B. Kent. | Pearson India |
| Transportation Engineering and Planning (3rd Ed.) | Papacostas, C. S., and Prevedouros, P. D. | Prentice-Hall of India |
| Traffic and Highway Engineering (4th Ed.) | Garber N.J., and Hoel L.A. | Cengage Learning |
| Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning | Kadiyali, L.R. | Khanna Publishers |
Conclusion: Building the Cities of Tomorrow
The NPTEL course on Urban Transportation Systems Planning is more than an academic program; it's a vital toolkit for shaping the future of urban mobility. Under the expert guidance of Prof. Bhargab Maitra, participants gain a rigorous, end-to-end understanding of how to analyze, model, and plan for the complex transportation needs of modern cities. For anyone committed to creating efficient, equitable, and sustainable urban transport systems, this course is an indispensable investment in knowledge and expertise.
Enroll Now →