Remember when you requested for security and assistance from the authority regarding the use of public roads because you were going to hold a procession, probably because it was fiesta and you happened to be one of the organizers, and you were assigned in the traffic management? So you go out to the authority. But before they would approve you, they asked you something, something called transport management plan. And then you returned home scratching your hair bothered with the question – what is a transport management plan?
To understand what transport management plan template is, one just have to think about making an itinerary template. And what is an itinerary? An itinerary is about how one intends to travel from one place to another. It is a systematic way of reaching one’s destination. But this is not just the word we hear or mention in a group of friends. We are actually referring to itinerary as a document – a document that describes and demonstrates how one should reach his destination in an efficient, safe, most comfortable manner. That is what an itinerary is.
But transport management plan is more than that, it can also be understood as a traffic. And what is a traffic? In road system management, a traffic is the management of flows of the vehicles, including the pedestrians. Well,
So is transport management plan an itinerary or a traffic? It is neither, because it is both. Well it is close to traffic, but is not just traffic, because a traffic is sort of passive, it stays in one plays.
When Do You Need a Transport Management Plan?
All road designs actually have a transport management plan in them, supposedly. Before they can design that road, a great consideration of how traffic should flow has already been designed. But there are instances when doing a road project, that a transport management plan is just ignored. And when the road construction is done, it is only when people complain that the designers realize they forgot to consider including a transport management plan.
This means that transport management plan is a necessary thing in all road activities, in contrast to our usual understanding that a transport management plan is only for emergencies, and when there is a need for a change of route, or when there are road changes. But of course, the need for a transport management plan is very evident and strong when there are road changes or emergency.
Here’s a scenario, imagine a world without transport planning, where going from one place to another has no route whatsoever. That is unimaginable now that we already have roads. But take your imagination to another level. Imagine piloting a plane, without any route. That is what if means without having a transport management plan. Our air traffic looks empty, there seems to be no pathways, but, there are actually lines in them for the plane to travel. There are actually invisible roads up above for the pilots to travel. Imagine if they did not exist?
If air traffic is complicated, just imagine in a plain ground, where there are no pathways. There is no system, there is no left lane, or right. Anywhere you go, it is always right (- no wrong, no left). That is what is meant by no transport planning. Imagine if they were cars, and not people. Well, a good example is the one you see on the malls, were kids ride bump cars.
Our dependence on transportation is actually a dependence on the availability of roads and highways. You can not have cars without roads. Well, you can. You can drive them in the desert. But that is not normal, that is extreme sports. But you can build roads without cars. People can still used them for whatever reasons.
We can discuss on which came first, the railway or the train. But that can only lead to a deadlock. The safest answer here is, the making of the railway is at co-terminus with the making of train. And that is what we call transport planning. The systematic consideration of the road, highway, railroad in the planning of using the vehicles.
But we take them for granted. We celebrate cars, we do not celebrate roads. We celebrate trains, we do not celebrate railways. We showcase planes, but we do not showcase airspace. That is our mentality, which needs some change. We only give credits to the one we are attached to, not to the ones attached to the ones we are attached to.
This is the importance of transport management planning. Our life would have been a chaotic one without it. It is the one that gives our transportation system systematic. The parody “if there is a wheel, there is a way” does not work that way. That will only lead to more chaos. It should be the other way around. But of course, we know that it is just a parody from the saying, “if there is a will, there is always a way.”
Emergency Works
The most frequent occurrence of transport management plan is when there is an emergency. That should not be the case as mentioned earlier. But if that is happening, that tells a lot about the people in the area. In some places, road planning has been given emphasis, the same emphasis given to designing a new vehicle. Transport management should have been planned before doing something else, and not after something else has happened. It should have been a design for preventing accidents, and not a cure – a resolution, after accidents.
Security Concerns in Transport Management Plan
Public transport poses a higher risk to individuals. That is why we have traffic control systems. The use of a traffic sign not only is helpful in organizing the flow of the traffic, it also teaches us that if we have to be safe in the public highways, we need a certain system, we need some little organizing.
Imagine if there were no traffic signs. Imagine if there were no traffic enforces. Do you think drivers would have the patience to give way to other drivers. Is the zipper approach to public driving possible?
The security concerns in transport management plan should have been based from the principle that in all circumstances, the human life is above all else, the human life is above traffic, above vehicles. That in case of collision between a car and a human, the human life should be prioritized, should be protected. That should be the standpoint. So the traffic signs that we design are not actually for cars, it is for us to be protected from accidents.
Who Designs Transport Management Plan?
The only authorized persons for designing transport management plan should be engineers. But in cases, when there are already roads, and an institution might decide to use the public roads for some reason such as a procession, like a mardi gra, fiesta celebrations, et cetera, any one may just proposed his own plan.
Application and Approval Process
But it should need some approval from the authorities of the public highways. The purpose of which is, there are things to be considered when asking for re routes, or for using the roads, such things as safety concerns, security concerns, and correct placement and directions for the route.
Considerations When Making a Transport Management Plan
Other Considerations
Transport management plan is essential to our living. When we go to work, we need a transportation. When we go home, we need transportation. Without transportation, we are at a big loss. Despite having a transportation, our business industry is suffering for this lack of discipline. And as such, this has caused a lot of traffic. Traffic, as you can read in news reports, is one of the most common reasons why some business establishment is at lost.
Traffic laws vary from one place to another. A traffic law may be the same for another, but it may not be applicable to all, such as which side of lane to occupy. Nevertheless, there are still the very basic universal laws.
When planning for a transport management plan, always keep these basic traffic rules in mind. Always consider other obstacles in driving. We are not talking here of a circuit, a race track. We are talking here of a public highway, that is, a road to be used by all citizens. And by citizens, that includes, kids and the elderly alike who my have no knowledge whatsoever about traffic laws.
