PTP study guide
PTP · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Professional Transportation Planner® (PTP) is a certification conferred by the Transportation Professional Certification Board, Inc. (TPCB) for practitioners whose work is transportation planning rather than traffic operations engineering. The PTP study guide has 4 sections and about 1,304 words.
01Transportation Planning Foundations and the Planning Process
Metropolitan transportation planning in the United States runs on the 3-C process - continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive - codified in 23 U.S.C. An MPO is designated for each urbanized area over 50,000 population and adopts a metropolitan transportation plan (MTP) with a horizon of at least 20 years , updated every 5 years - every 4 years in areas in nonattainment for ozone, carbon monoxide, or PM.
372 words, about 2 min02Data Collection, Forecasting, and Analysis
Credible forecasts start with defensible inputs: traffic counts expanded to AADT with seasonal, axle, and day-of-week factors; screenline and cordon counts; household travel surveys and the NHTS; transit APC ridership; Census/ACS demographics; land use, employment, and building-permit data; and increasingly probe, GPS, and mobile-device data. Sampling error, expansion factors, and nonresponse bias are fair game.
320 words, about 2 min03Plan, Program, and Policy Development
Policy development moves vision → goals → measurable objectives → performance targets → strategies → programmed projects. Strong answers show the chain intact: a goal without a measure and a funding line is rhetoric.
312 words, about 2 min04Implementation, Funding, and Evaluation
Federal surface transportation aid flows through apportioned formula programs (NHPP, STBG, HSIP, CMAQ, PROTECT, TAP) and discretionary grants (RAISE, INFRA/MEGA), while transit moves through urbanized-area formula funds (Section 5307), capital investment grants (5309), state of good repair (5337), and bus facilities (5339). State and local sources include fuel taxes, local option sales taxes, tolls, value capture and tax increment financing, TIFIA credit assistance, private activity bonds, and P3s.
300 words, about 2 min