Civil and Environmental Engineering - Transportation Engineering

Master of Science in Civil Engineering

- Transportation Engineering

The transportation system is a fundamental part of any region's physical, economic, and social structure.
The United States' 41,000 mile Interstate highway system costs approximately 100 billion dollars. Approximately ten percent of the U.S. Gross National Product is spent on transportation.
The number of miles traveled in the Los Angeles region in a single day exceeds 201 million, which is equivalent to 2.2 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun.
The field of Transportation Engineering focuses on the planning, design, construction, management, and performance of transportation systems. These systems consist of facilities, vehicles, control mechanisms, new technologies, and policies that combine to permit the efficient transit of both people and freight.
The Civil and Environmental Engineering Department offers
- the Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering with a specialization in Transportation Systems
- the Certificate Program in Transportation Systems.
The graduate certificate program provides students from any program with an opportunity to earn a specialized credential in transportation, and provides professionals with the means to broaden and update their education with respect to this rapidly changing field.
The Master of Science program offers students an opportunity to acquire special academic depth in several aspects of Transportation Engineering.

Master of Science Program

Conform to the general degree requirements of the School of Engineering and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Transportation Engineering is an interdisciplinary field, and the MSCE degree program offers students a variety of choices.
Each student must take a core set of courses on fundamental transportation systems technology.
In addition, each student must take other courses associated with various tracks.
The tracks include
- transportation planning
- advanced transportation systems
- construction engineering and management
- structural engineering
- geotechnical engineering
Students may make course selections that are restricted to one track, or subject to advisor approval, students may select courses distributed over two or more different tracks.
The program consists of at least 27 units of course work.
- 18 units must be at the 500-level or higher.
- At least 16 units must consist of courses offered by the School of Engineering.
- The student must also complete at least 4 units of Directed Research or Thesis units.
Program without Thesis:
- No more than 8 units of directed research (590) may be included in the program.
Program with Thesis:
- Students may elect to complete a thesis as part of their program, subject to advisor approval.
- The thesis presents the results of an investigation of an approved subject in Transportation Engineering. It is supervised by a thesis committee appointed by the Chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.
- The committee is usually composed of two members of the Civil Engineering Department and one other member of the University faculty.
- Four of the 27 units of course work may consist of thesis units (594a,b).
- In addition to the four thesis units, up to four units of directed research may be included in the program.
- At least 16 units, not including thesis units but including other directed research units, must be at the 500-level or higher.

Engineering Background

Students with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Aerospace Engineering may be admitted without restriction to the MSCE (Transportation Engineering) program.
Students with a Bachelor of Science in Transportation Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering and associated fields may be admitted, but with the restriction that they either follow the transportation planning or advanced transportation system tracks; or they complete prerequisite undergraduate courses identified by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Such prerequisite courses are associated with the construction engineering, structural engineering, and geotechnical engineering tracks.

Engineering Prerequisites (approximately 10 units):

The following prerequisites are associated with the various transportation tracks:
- One calculus-based course in probability and/or statistics equivalent to ISE 225 or CE 408.
- PLUS 480 - Introduction to Urban Transportation Planning (4) (transportation planning track), or
- CE 358 - Theory of Structures I or equivalent (structural engineering track), or
- CE 462 - Construction Methods and Equipment (3) or equivalent (construction engineering track ), or
- CE 464 - Geotechnical Engineering or equivalent (geotechnical engineering track).
An additional course in intermediate micro-economic theory is suggested, but not required.

Program

Transportation and Engineering Science (9 or 10 units):
- Required Courses:
  - CE 471 Principles of Transportation Engineering (3) .
  - If the equivalent of CE 471 has already been completed, students may substitute an engineering prerequisite for CE 471.
  - If the equivalent of CE 471 and all engineering prerequisites have already been completed, the student may substitute an additional technical elective in a thesis program, or an additional 4 units of directed research in a non-thesis program up to a total of 8 units of directed research. CE 519 Transportation Engineering (3)
- Additional Courses (take only one):
  - CE 506 - Heavy Construction Estimating (3) (construction engineering and management track)
  - CE 529a - Finite Element Analysis (3) (structural engineering track)
  - CE 531 - Soil Mechanics (3) (geotechnical engineering track)
  - PLUS 581 - Institutional and Policy Issues in Transportation (4) (transportation planning track)
  - CE 585 - Traffic Engineering and Control (3) (advanced transportation systems track)
Quantitative Methods (6 or 7 units):
- Required Courses:
  - CE 525b - Engineering Analysis (3)
- Additional Courses (take only one):
  - CE 554 - Risk & Reliability Analysis for Civil Infrastructure Systems (3)
  - ISE 530 - Introduction to Operations Research (3)
  - ISE 536 - Linear Programming and Extensions (3)
  - ISE 538 - Elements of Stochastic Processes (3)
  - MATH 501 - Numerical Analysis and Computation (3)
  - PLUS 606 - Advanced Research Methods in Planning: Multivariate Statistical Methods (4)
  - PLUS 607 - Advanced Research Methods in Planning: Matrix Methods (4)
  - MATH 544L - Multivariate Analysis (3)
Computer Methods (3 or 4 units):
- CSCI 455x - Introduction to Programming Systems Design (4) (advanced transportation systems track)
- CE 550 - Computer-Aided Engineering (3)
- ISE 435 - Discrete Systems Simulation (3)
- GEOG 581 - Concepts of Spatial Thinking (4) (transportation planning track)
Research Electives (4 to 8 units):
- CE 590 - Directed Research in Transportation Engineering (4)
- CE 594a - Master's Thesis (2)
- CE 594b - Master's Thesis (2)
Technical Electives (3 to 8 units):
- Transportation Planning Track:
  - CE 552 - Managing and Financing Public Engineering Works (3)
  - CE 583 - Design of Transportation Facilities (3)
  - CE 585 - Traffic Engineering and Control (3)
  - CE 587 - Transportation Energy Analysis (3)
  - ECON 607 - Topics in Dynamic Optimization (4)
  - ECON 644 - Economic Development Programming and Policy Planning (4)
  - GEOG 581 - Concepts of Spatial Thinking (4)
  - GEOG 583 - Spatial Analysis and Modeling (4)
  - ISE 515 - Engineering Project Management (3)
  - PLUS 526 - Urban Information Systems (4)
  - PLUS 561 - Environmental Impacts (4)
  - PLUS 562 - Land Use Policy : Analysis, Design, Planning and Evaluation (4)
  - PLUS 580 - Urban Transportation Planning and Management (4)
  - PLUS 680 - Advanced Urban and Regional Transportation Planning (4)
  - MATH 543L - Nonparametric Statistics (3)
  - MATH 545L - Introduction to Time Series (3)
  - MKT 540 - Marketing Methods (4)
- Advanced Transportation Systems Track:
  - CSCI 455x - Introduction to Programming Systems Design (4)
  - CE 583 - Design of Transportation Facilities (3)
  - CE 585 - Traffic Engineering and Control (3)
  - ISE 435 - Discrete Systems Simula tion (3)
  - ISE 516 - Facilities Location and Layout (3)
  - ISE 520 - Optimization: Theory and Algorithms (3)
  - ISE 532 - Network Flows (3)
  - ISE 538 - Elements of Stochastic Processes (3)
  - ISE 561 - Advanced Engineering Economy (3)
  - ISE 562 - Value and Decision Theory (3)
  - ISE 570 - Human Factors in Engineering (3)
  - ISE 580 - Advanced Concepts in Computer Simulation (3)
- Construction Engineering Track:
  - CE 501 - Functions of the Constructor (3)
  - CE 502 - Construction Accounting and Finance (3)
  - CE 505 - Heavy Construction Operations and Methods (3)
  - CE 556ab - Project Cost Estimating and Control (3-3)
  - ENE 505 - Energy and Environment (3)
  - ENE 516 - Hazardous Waste Management (3)
- Structural Engineering Track:
  - CE 528 - Seismic Analysis and Design of Reinforced Concrete Bridges (3)
  - CE 535ab - Earthquake Engineering (3-3)
  - CE 536 - Structural Design for Dynamic Loads (3)
  - CE 537 - Advanced Reinforced Concrete (3)
  - CE 538 - Prestressed Concrete (3)
  - CE 539 - Advanced Steel Structures (3)
  - CE 541ab - Dynamics of Structures (3-3)
  - CE 542 - Theory of Plates (3)
  - CE 583 - Design of Transportation Facilities (3)
- Geotechnical Engineering Track:
  - CE 531 - Soil Mechanics (3)
  - CE 532 - Principles of Foundation Engineering (3)
  - CE 547 - Engineering Rock Mechanics (3)
  - CE 548 - Foundation Design (3)