Transport and Planning (MSc)

How will I be taught?

The MSc Transport and Planning programme offers you a dynamic, future‑focused learning experience shaped by cutting‑edge research and delivered by internationally recognised specialists. Students learn from academic staff who are actively advancing knowledge in transport analysis, economics, policy, and modelling, ensuring that teaching reflects the latest developments in the field.

The programme blends academic depth with practical application, equipping students to engage confidently with real transport challenges. UK field study visits provide direct exposure to contemporary practice, while modules require learners to work with live data, examine operational systems and investigate real policy problems.

Learning takes place through a mix of lectures, seminars, workshops, computer labs, and project‑based tasks. A practical transport project and an applied dissertation enable students to understand professional contexts, developing the analytical, technical and evaluative skills needed to shape sustainable and effective transport systems.

By connecting rigorous academic inquiry with real‑world relevance, the MSc Transport and Planning prepares you to play a meaningful role in transforming transport planning and improving the economic, social, environmental and health outcomes of the places they serve.

How will I be assessed?

The programme follows a deliberate assessment strategy that aligns every task with the skills and learning outcomes students are expected to master. Assessments are selected and sequenced to reflect the real analytical, technical and professional demands in transport planning practice, ensuring students demonstrate knowledge and capability in ways that mirror industry.

Students engage with a diverse mix of summative assessments, such as applied analytical work, policy evaluation tasks, project‑based assignments and a focused dissertation, which form the basis of the final degree classification while enabling students to evidence their competence across written, oral, technical, and practical dimensions. The dissertation provides an opportunity to apply appropriate methods and tools to a substantial transport planning challenge.

Alongside these major assessments, formative activities play a crucial developmental role. They do not count towards the degree classification, but they help students practice the skills required for summative tasks, receive early feedback and monitor their progress. These vary by module but may include written coursework, workshop discussions, computer lab drop-in sessions, or individual presentations, offering timely opportunities for tutors and students to assess development within each module.

This structured assessment approach allows for steady skill development while ensuring graduates produce work that confidently meets the expectations of both academia and the transport planning profession.

How will I be supported?

As a student on the MSc Transport and Planning, you’ll have access to a range of practical facilities to support your studies. These include a dedicated computer laboratory equipped with an industry-relevant transport modelling package. The planning library collection holds a wide range of books, journals and digital resources, alongside the University’s online databases and campus‑wide library network.

You’ll receive written feedback on formal assessments, and formative feedback is provided through tutorials, discussion sessions and problem‑based classes. Course materials are available through Learning Central, making it easy to stay organised and access resources.

If English is not your first language, then our Academic English Skills for International Students team offer classes and one-to-one tutorials to support your studies including reading, writing and presentation skills. If you need additional help, there are services for dyslexia support and the option to submit work or be assessed through the medium of Welsh. A wide range of professional skills workshops are offered across the university and include sessions on using University systems, presenting confidently, and approaching coursework.

You’ll benefit from having a dedicated Career Adviser in the School, and access to the wider Student Futures service based in the Centre for Student Life. Focused on your employability, you can benefit from expert advice on career planning, job searching and applying for jobs. Our team will provide opportunities for you to network with and learn from employers via careers fairs and skills workshops and support you to gain experience via placements, internships and international study and work opportunities. You can explore entrepreneurial ambitions with our Enterprise Team, stand out from the crowd by completing our prestigious Cardiff Award and there is also tailored support for international and underrepresented students. 

Your wellbeing is supported too. You’ll be assigned a Personal Tutor, who can support you with academic and pastoral matters in a confidential and informal manner. Additional support is available through our Student Life teams, based in the Centre for Student Life. These teams include Advice and Money, Counselling services, Health and Wellbeing, the Student Disability Service including dyslexia support, and Student Visa Support.
Together, these facilities and services provide steady, practical support throughout your studies, helping you build confidence and keep on track academically.

What skills will I practise and develop?

The Learning Outcomes for this Programme describe what you will achieve by the end of your programme at Cardiff University and identify the knowledge and skills that you will develop. They will also help you to understand what is expected of you. 
On successful completion of your Programme you will be able to:
 

Knowledge & Understanding:

• Demonstrate advanced understanding of appraisal and evaluation methods, including Cost-Benefit Analysis and Multicriteria Analysis, along with their limitations.
• Evaluate the social, economic, environmental and political contexts in transport planning.
• Demonstrate understanding of laws, regulations and guidance shaping transport practice.
• Debate in the profession and the wider public about the key strengths and weaknesses of current policies and how they might be improved.
• Describe and critique the principles, assumptions and appropriate use of transport models and forecasting approaches.
• Demonstrate understanding of the principles of transport systems design.

 

Intellectual Skills:

• Critically evaluate evidence from academic research, policy documents and practice guidance, including assessment of quality, relevance, uncertainty and bias.
• Select and justify appropriate analytical and modelling approaches for given planning tasks, articulating assumptions, limitations, and implications for decisions.
• Engage in theoretical, practical and ethical debates at the forefront of the area of transport planning in the context of spatial planning.
• Design and compare scenarios and interventions (pricing, level-of-service, policies and physical infrastructure change), and interpret their impacts.
• Apply reflective judgement to improve knowledge and understanding.

 

Professional Practical Skills:

• Design and implement transport data collection including understanding he principal sources of transport statistics and data, and their key characteristics including any limitations.
• Analyse transport data using appropriate quantitative methods and interpret results for planning and policy purposes.
• Develop and test strategic model scenarios using industry-relevant tools and workflows (e.g., GIS and strategic modelling platforms), and interpret model outcomes and their relevance for transport policy transparent modelling narratives.
• Produce professional appraisal outputs consistent with recognised practice guidance.
• Debate in the profession and the wider public about the key strengths and weaknesses of current policies and how they might be improved.
• Gain knowledge requirements for achieving Transport Planning Professional accreditation awarded by the Transport Planning Society.
• Be aware of emerging sources of data and their potential uses, particularly as a result of new technologies.
• Conduct an independent research project (MSc dissertation).

 

Transferable/Key Skills:

• Understand and use computer-based statistical and transport modelling methods for analysing travel behaviour and a range of transport policy scenarios.
• Communicate complex technical content (data, modelling and appraisal results) clearly and professionally in written, visual and oral formats for specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• Using digital tools for analysis, visualisation, strategic planning (Transport Modelling and Geographic Information Systems) and collaboration.
• Work effectively in and manage teams to deadlines.
• Apply ethical, social and environmental knowledge and awareness to professional judgement (e.g., equity, inclusion, accessibility, climate/emission and health impacts).

"I'm so happy that I got the opportunity to study at Cardiff University. Lecturers and fellow students of the MSc Transport and Planning were so nice to get along with. The experience made my future career much clearer, which was far beyond my expectations."