An-Najah Staff

The paper presents the need for development of Traffic Systems Management (TSM) course in a developing country. The Palestinian Territories have witnessed significant increase in urban travel demand after the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in 1994. This increase was faced with limited development in transportation infrastructure, due to the constraints of the prolonged Israeli occupation, along with the lack of funding resources. The PNA started in 1995 a number of TSM studies aiming at enhancing the traffic conditions and facilitating the achievement of sustainable built environment. These concerns were reflected on the educational level by designing an elective course in TSM at An-Najah National University targeting undergraduate students in the field of Civil Engineering
The course was designed to meet specific learning outcomes and competencies. The contents and the teaching-learning approaches are continuously reviewed and enhanced. Students are trained to study, evaluate, propose, and test traffic congestion reduction measures to improve safety, and promote sustainable environment. Furthermore, they are trained to manage and improve the efficiency of traffic systems supply and demand at reasonable costs.
A book was developed for the course summarizing the concepts, the international experience, and the local applications. Students are encouraged to adopt graduation projects involving TSM applications. Multimedia contents were developed and used through the teaching-learning process. Feedback from students, municipalities, and local agencies was considered to improve the course contents. The paper also highlights the use of the triangulation approach for evaluation and assessment of student’s performance.