Transportation Network Analysis

By Prof. Hemant Gehlot | IIT Kanpur

Learners enrolled: 187 | Exam registration: 2

ABOUT THE COURSE:

This course will cover the foundations for analyzing large-scale transportation networks. First, fundamentals related to optimization and analysis of algorithms will be covered. Then, important combinatorial optimization problems such as traveling salesman problem, vehicle routing problem, etc., along with corresponding solution approaches will be discussed. Finally, traffic assignment problems such as user equilibrium and system optimum will be covered.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Students, faculty members and practitioners interested in learning optimization to solve various engineering problems with special emphasis to transportation network problems, resource allocation problems, etc.

PREREQUISITES: There is no prerequisite course. Participants should have basic knowledge of calculus, probability, statistics and linear algebra.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, Zomato, ORMAE, MOJRO, Optimise Everything, etc., may be interested in this course.

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	8 weeks
Category :	Civil Engineering
Credit Points :	2
Level :	Undergraduate
Start Date :	18 Aug 2025
End Date :	10 Oct 2025
Enrollment Ends :	18 Aug 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	29 Aug 2025
Exam Date :	01 Nov 2025 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Course overview; Introduction to optimization; Linear programming; Optimization formulations of important problems.

Week 2: More examples of optimization formulations; Branch and bound method for solving integer programs; Analysis of algorithms; Order of growth; Polynomial-time algorithms; Algorithms for solving shortest path and minimum spanning tree problems.

Week 3: Algorithms for solving traveling salesman and vehicle routing problems; Genetic algorithms.

Week 4: Introduction to traffic assignment (specifically, user equilibrium); Graphical method for solving user equilibrium; Introduction to continuous optimization; Convex functions; KKT conditions.

Week 5: Convex sets; Beckmann’s transformation (user equilibrium formulation); Equivalency and uniqueness conditions; System optimization formulation; Braess’s paradox; Price of Anarchy; Algorithms for solving continuous unconstrained optimization problems (golden section).

Week 6: Bisection method; Algorithms for solving continuous optimization problems (constrained optimization) such as convex combinations; Application of convex combinations algorithm to traffic assignment problems; Discrete choice modeling; Multinomial Logit and Probit models

Week 7: Satisfaction function; Route choice; Logit-based and Probit-based loading; Stochastic User Equilibrium

Week 8: Method of successive averages; UE extension for two-link interactions; Generalization to multi-link interactions

Books and references

1. Sheffi, Y., 1985. Urban transportation networks (Vol. 6). Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

2. Winston, W.L., 2004. Operations research: applications and algorithm. Thomson Learning, Inc.

3. Simchi-Levi, D., Chen, X. and Bramel, J., 2005. The logic of logistics. Theory, algorithms, and applications for logistics and supply chain management.

4. Papadimitriou, C.H. and Steiglitz, K., 1998. Combinatorial optimization: algorithms and complexity. Courier Corporation.

5. Cormen, T.H., Leiserson, C.E., Rivest, R.L. and Stein, C., 2022. Introduction to algorithms. MIT press.

Instructor bio

Prof. Hemant Gehlot

IIT Kanpur

Hemant Gehlot is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT Kanpur. He received his BTech-MTech (dual degree) from IIT Kanpur and PhD from Purdue University, USA. His research interests include transportation network modeling, optimal control and combinatorial optimization.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: November 01, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 6 assignments out of the total 8 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Kanpur .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team

SWAYAM Helpline / Support