Implementation of Surveying Techniques in the Route Selection for Baghdad Metro Tube

Transportation systems play a central role in a sustainable society by providing mobility for people, goods, and services. Significant sustainability benefits are being derived through the improvements in transportation network efficiency, use of alternative modes and multimodality, integration of sustainable design, better integration of land use and transportation systems. Sustainable transportation system usually refers to any means of transportation which has low impact on the environment, affordable to users and can balance the current and future needs. This work covers the implementation of surveying techniques in the route selection for Baghdad Metro Tube. The travel demand has been assessed through an extensive travel potential survey. The public bus terminals were considered as a major source of data. The number of passengers using the present public transportation system from each bus terminal and for each route to various destinations has been recorded. The passenger supply points have been indicated by latitude and longitude that define the bus stop and the proposed metro route using global positioning system GPS. A passenger counting data was collected concerning the present use of public transport. A line indicates travel from one area to another and a grid was constructed. The present bus routes were identified, and the 28 major and minor public transportation terminals, which represent the passenger trip origin and destination nodes, were detected using GPS. The bus terminals were also positioned by the GPS and affixed. The recent land use of Baghdad urban area and the existing transportation network as obtained from Google earth were utilized in the geographic information system GIS environment. Travel corridors are identified and analyzed according to their existing right-of-way conditions, transit services, land use, and demographics.The positive and negative attributes of each corridor with regards to their potential for supporting transitoriented development TOD and higher capacity transit services have been determined through optimization process in the GIS. Finally, five corridors of the highest trip potential have been selected and proposed.