Humanities and Social Sciences Review, CD-ROM. ISSN: 2165-6258 :: 2(4):93–100 (2013) Copyright c  2013 by UniversityPublications.net ACCOMPLISHING A COMPREHENSIVE TRANSPORT PLANNING NETWORK: SURVEYING EXISTING METRO AND BRT SYSTEMS IN TEHRAN AND SHANGHAI Armin Mehdipour Bauhaus University of Weimar, Germany Hoda Rashidi Nia Anhalt University of Applied Science, Germany In recent years, increasing use of vehicles in major cities has had many effects on citizen’s quality of life. In this case, large cities in developing countries such as Tehran and Shanghai are faced with more problems than modern cities. With respect to population growth, particularly in developing countries like Iran and China, this trend has caused people to use personal vehicles more than ever so that application of personal vehicles is more than predicted traffic capacity and potential in towns. This has created several traffic and environmental problems including greenhouse gas emission which contributes to global warming as well as causing financial losses in urban communities. In recent years so many measures have been adopted to resolve these problems. For instance, the traffic specialists along with authorities have been assuming some alternative solutions and possibilities o figure out how to handle these problems. Obviously making the right decision demands integrated planning and also design approach which lead to interdependently cooperation between each section to accomplish a better outcome. Keywords: Public Transportation, Metro transit, BRT System, Tehran, Shanghai. Introduction Nowadays several and various plans have been proposed to cut down traffic congestion especially in many highly populated cities as a principle for restoring calmness and attractiveness. Tehran, the capital and largest metropolis of Iran is a very crowded and highly modern city which is home to a population of 8,429,807 people. Also considered as one of the largest cities in Western Asia and the world’s 19th, it was subject to mass migration of people from all around Iran at the beginning of the 20th century. As an ever growing modern and industrial metropolis, though conveniently practical to its residents and despite being a very happening city in terms of art and culture, Tehran also has its particular downsides. Tehran is one of the most polluted cities of the world and well known for its traffic jams which make commute across the city a challenge in the early hours of morning and evening, that being the rush hours. However, The authorities are always on look for strategies to reduce the city’s traffic by issuing timely yet strict driving and traffic rules, improvement of public means of transportation and increasing the awareness of the citizens in general about the dangers of traffic congestion, air 93