Transportation CH.5

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TRANSPORT PLANNING

CHAPTER ONE .INTRODUCTION

Definitions of Transport planning.

Transportation planning is a field involved with the evaluation, assessment, design and sitting of

transportation facilities (generally streets, highways, sidewalks (footways), bike lanes and public

transport lines).

Transportation helps shape an area’s economic health and quality of life. Not only does the

transportation system provide for the mobility of people and goods, it also influences patterns of growth and economic activity by providing access to land. The performance of the system affects

public policy concerns like air quality, environmental resource consumption, social equity, land

use, urban growth, economic development, safety, and security. Transportation planning

recognizes the critical links between transportation and other societal goals. The planning process

is more than merely listing highway and transit capital projects. It requires developing strategies

for operating, managing, maintaining, and financing the area’s transportation system in such a

way as to advance the area’s long-term goals.

Transportation — the movement of people and goods from point A to point B — is the life force

of our economy. Cities could not exist if we didn't have transportation systems to move people

and goods in, out and around them. It has been a leading driver behind globalisation: shrinking

distances, seeding the emergence of entire new economies and improving the quality of life for

millions of people.

What is transport planning?

Transport planning is about preparing, assessing and implementing policies, plans and projects toimprove and manage our transport systems. There is a need for transport planning on a local,

regional, national and international level. It can involve understanding the link between transport

and the future shape of our towns and cities, the economy, the environment and climate change,

and the quality of life. It is also about changing people's attitudes towards travel to encourage use

of alternatives to the private car.



What sort of things do transport planners do?

Transport planning includes a very wide range of disciplines and covers everything necessary to

tackle the nation's transport problems and to plan and deliver our transport systems. The wide

range of work is one of the big attractions. In fact, the work of transport planners touches almostevery aspect of our day-to-day lives.

Transport planning allows for high utilization and less impact regarding new infrastructure. Using

models of transport forecasting, planners are able to predict future transport patterns. On the

operative level, logistics allows owners of cargo to plan transport as part of the supply chain.

Transport as a field is studied through transport economics, the backbone for the creation of

regulation policy by authorities. Transport engineering, a sub-discipline of civil engineering, and

must take into account trip generation, trip distribution, mode choice and route assignment, while

the operative level is handles through traffic engineering.

Because of the negative impacts made, transport often becomes the subject of controversy related

to choice of mode, as well as increased capacity. Automotive transport can be seen as a tragedy of

the commons, where the flexibility and comfort for the individual deteriorate the natural and

urban environment for all. Density of development depends on mode of transport, with public

transport allowing for better spacial utilization. Good land use keeps common activities close to

people’s homes and places higher-density development closer to transport lines and hubs;

minimize the need for transport. There are economies of agglomeration. Beyond transportation

some land uses are more efficient when clustered. Transportation facilities consume land, and in

cities, pavement (devoted to streets and parking) can easily exceed 20 percent of the total land

use. An efficient transport system can reduce land waste.

CHAPTER TWO.BACKGROUND

History of transport

The history of transport evolved with the development of human culture. Long distance walking

tracks developed as trade routes in Paleolithic times. For most of human history the only forms of

transport apart from walking were using domesticated animals or transport in small boats.



Road transport

The first earth tracks were created by humans carrying goods and often followed game trails.

Tracks would be naturally created at points of high traffic density. As animals were domesticated,

horses, oxen and donkeys became an element in track-creation. With the growth of trade, trackswere often flattened or widened to accommodate animal traffic. Later, the travois, a frame used to

drag loads, was developed. Animal-drawn wheeled vehicles probably developed in Sumer in the

Ancient Near East in the 4th or 5th millennium BC and spread to Europe and India in the 4th

millennium BC and China in about 1200 BC. The Romans had a significant need for good roads

to extend and maintain their empire and developed Roman roads.

In the medieval Islamic world, many roads were built throughout the Arab Empire. The most

sophisticated roads were those of the Baghdad, Iraq, which were paved with tar in the 8th

century. Tar was derived from petroleum, accessed from oil fields in the region, through the

chemical process of destructive distillation.

In the Industrial Revolution, John Loudon McAdam (1756–1836) designed the first modern

highways, using inexpensive paving material of soil and stone aggregate (macadam), and he

embanked roads a few feet higher than the surrounding terrain to cause water to drain away from

the surface. With the development of motor transport there was an increased need for hard-topped

roads to reduce wash ways, bogging and dust on both urban and rural roads, originally using

cobblestones and wooden paving in major western cities and in the early 20th century tar-bound

macadam (tarmac) and concrete paving were extended into the countryside.

The modern history of road transport also involves the development of new vehicles such as new

models of horse-drawn vehicles, bicycles, motor cars, motor trucks and electric vehicles.

Maritime transport

In the stone ages primitive boats developed to permit navigation of rivers and for fishing in rivers

and off the coast. It has been argued that a boat suitable for a significant sea crossing was

necessary for people to reach Australia an estimated 40,000-45,000 years ago. With the

development of civilization, bigger vessels were developed both for trade and war. In the

Mediterranean, galleys were developed about 3000 BC. Galleys were eventually rendered

obsolete by ocean-going sailing ships, such as the Arabic caravel in the 13th century, the Chinese

treasure ship in the early 15th century, and the Mediterranean man-of-war in the late 15th



century. In the industrial revolution, the first steam ships and later diesel-powered ships were

developed. Eventually submarines were developed mainly for military purposes.

Meanwhile specialised craft were developed for river and canal transport. Canals were developed

in Mesopotamia c. 4000 BC. The Indus Valley Civilization in Pakistan and North India (from c.2600 BC) had the first canal irrigation system in the world. The longest canal of ancient times

was the impressive Canal of China. It is 1794 kilometres (1115 miles) long and was built to carry

the Emperor Yang Guang between Beijing and Hangzhou. The project began in 605, although the

oldest sections of the canal may have existed since c. 486 BC. Canals were developed in the

middle Ages in Europe in Venice and the Netherlands. Pierre-Paul Racquet began to organise the

construction of the 240 km-long Canal du Midi in France in 1665 and it was opened in 1681. In

the Industrial Revolution, inland canals were built in England and later the United States before

the development of railways. Specialised craft were also developed for fishing and later whaling.

Maritime history also deals with the development of navigation, oceanography, cartography and

hydrography.

Rail transport

The history of rail transportation dates back nearly 500 years, and includes systems with man or

horse power and rails of wood (or occasionally stone). This was usually for moving coal from the

mine down to a river, from where it could continue by boat, with a flanged wheel running on a

rail. The use of cast iron plates as rails began in the 1760s, and was followed by systems (plate

ways) where the flange was part of the rail. However, with the introduction of rolled wrought iron

rails, these became obsolete.

Modern rail transport systems first appeared in England in the 1820s. These systems, which made

use of the steam locomotive, were the first practical form of mechanized land transport, and they

remained the primary form of mechanized land transport for the next 100 years.

The history of rail transport also includes the history of rapid transit and arguably monorail

history.

Aviation



Humanity's desire to fly likely dates to the first time man observed birds, an observation

illustrated in the legendary stories of Daedalus and Icarus in Greek mythology, and the Vimanas

in Indian mythology. Much of the focus of early research was on imitating birds, but through trial

and error, balloons, airships, gliders and eventually powered aircraft and other types of flying

machines were invented.

Spaceflight

The realistic dream of spaceflight dated back to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, however Tsiolkovsky

wrote in Russian, and this was not widely influential outside Russia. Spaceflight became an

engineering possibility with the work of Robert H. Goddard's publication in 1919 of his paper 'A

Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes'; where his application of the de Laval nozzle to liquid

fuelled rockets gave sufficient power that interplanetary travel became possible. This paper was

highly influential on Hermann Oberth and Wernher Von Braun, later key players in spaceflight.

The history of transportation is largely one of technological innovation. Advances in technology

have allowed people to travel farther, explore more territory, and expand their influence over

larger and larger areas. Even in ancient times, new tools such as foot coverings, skis, and

snowshoes lengthened the distances that could be traveled. As new inventions and discoveries

were applied to transportation problems, travel time decreased while the ability to move more and

larger loads increased. Innovation continues today, and transportation researchers are working to

find new ways to reduce costs and increase transportation efficiency.

Containerization

Containerization can be defined as a system of intermodal [The term intermodal means

that the container can be loaded on different means (or modes) of transport - for example,

ships, aircraft, trains, trucks, etc. - with the minimum of effort and without have to

unpack and repack the container.] freight and cargo transport using standard ISO

containers (known as Shipping Containers or Isotainers) that can be loaded and sealed

intact onto container ships, railroad cars, planes and trucks. The idea of using standard

containers that could be easily and quickly packed and loaded onto like 'Lego blocks'

onto ships, aircraft, trucks and trains, resulted in a huge reduction in port handling costs,

contribute significantly to lower freight charges, increased cargo security and, in turn,

boosted trade flows.



The advantages of containers are:

• Increased efficiency

• Greater security

•

Economical shipping costs

Chapter three

Literature review

Elements of transport

Infrastructure

Infrastructure is the fixed installations that allow a vehicle to operate. It consists of both a way,

terminal and facilities for parking and maintenance. For rail, pipeline, road and cable transport,

the entire way the vehicle travels must be built up. Air and water craft are able to avoid this, since

the airway and seaway do not need to be built up. However, they require fixed infrastructure at

terminals.

Terminals such as airports, ports and stations, are locations where passengers and freight can be

transferred from one vehicle or mode to another. For passenger transport, terminals are

integrating different modes to allow riders to interchange to take advantage of each mode's

advantages. For instance, airport rail links connect airports to the city centres and suburbs. The

terminals for automobiles are parking lots, while buses and coaches can operates from simple

stops. For freight, terminals act as transhipment points, though some cargo is transported directly

from the point of production to the point of use.

The financing of infrastructure can either be public or private. Transport is often a natural

monopoly and a necessity for the public; roads, and in some countries railways and airports are

funded through taxation. New infrastructure projects can involve large spending, and are often

financed through debt. Many infrastructure owners therefore impose usage fees, such as landing



fees at airports, or toll plazas on roads. Independent of this, authorities may impose taxes on the

purchase or use of vehicles.

Vehicles

A vehicle is any non-living device that is used to move people and goods. Unlike the

infrastructure, the vehicle moves along with the cargo and riders. Vehicles that do not operate on

land, are usually called crafts. Unless being pulled by a cable or muscle-power, the vehicle must

provide its own propulsion; this is most commonly done through a steam engine, combustion

engine, electric motor, a jet engine or a rocket, though other means of propulsion also exist.

Vehicles also need a system of converting the energy into movement; this is most commonly

done through wheels, propellers and pressure.

Vehicles are most commonly staffed by a driver. However, some systems, such as people movers

and some rapid transits, are fully automated. For passenger transport, the vehicle must have a

compartment for the passengers. Simple vehicles, such as automobiles, bicycles or simple

aircraft, may have one of the passengers as a driver.

Operation

Private transport is only subject to the owner of the vehicle, who operates the vehicle themselves.

For public transport and freight transport, operations are done through private enterprise or by

governments. The infrastructure and vehicles may be owned and operated by the same company,

or they may be operated by different entities. Traditionally, many countries have had a national

airline and national railway. Since the 1980s, many of these have been privatized. International

shipping remains a highly competitive industry with little regulation, but ports can be public

owned.

Freight

Freight transport, or shipping, is a key in the value chain in manufacturing. With increased

specialization and globalization, production is being located further away from consumption,

rapidly increasing the demand for transport. While all modes of transport are used for cargo

transport, there is high differentiation between the nature of the cargo transport, in which mode is

chosen. Logistics refers to the entire process of transferring products from producer to consumer,

including storage, transport, transhipment, warehousing, material-handling and packaging, with



associated exchange of information. Incoterm deals with the handling of payment and

responsibility of risk during transport.

Containerization, with the standardization of ISO containers on all vehicles and at all ports, has

revolutionized international and domestic trade, offering huge reduction in transhipment costs.Traditionally, all cargo had to be manually loaded and unloaded into the haul of any ship or car;

containerization allows for automated handling and transfer between modes, and the standardized

sizes allow for gains in economy of scale in vehicle operation. This has been one of the key

driving factors in international trade and globalization since the 1950s.

Bulk transport is common with cargo that can be handled roughly without deterioration; typical

examples are ore, coal, cereals and petroleum. Because of the uniformity of the product,

mechanical handling can allow enormous quantities to be handled quickly and efficiently. The

low value of the cargo combined with high volume also means that economies of scale become

essential in transport, and gigantic ships and whole trains are commonly used to transport bulk.

Liquid products with sufficient volume may also be transported by pipeline.

Air freight has become more common for products of high value; while less than one percent of

world transport by volume is by airline, it amounts to forty percent of the value. Time has become

especially important in regards to principles such as postponement and just-in-time within the

value chain, resulting in a high willingness to pay for quick delivery of key components or items

of high value-to-weight ratio. In addition to mail, common items send by air include electronics

and fashion clothing.

1. The Traditional Transport Planning Process

"Long-range plans engender the dangerous belief that the future is under control." Max Gunther.

Transport planning is usually focused on specific problems or on broad transport concerns at a

local level. It has been traditionally a preoccupation of lower tier governments, such as the state

or municipality. Because of this fact, transport planning is most developed in the urban

sphere, and it is there where most experience has been gathered. The planning process, however,

has a number of similarities with the policy process. Identifying a problem, seeking options and

implementing the chosen strategy are essential steps in planning too. Because it tends to deal with

localized problems, the solutions adopted in transport planning tend to be much more exact and

specific than policy directives.



Many aspects and issues involved in urban transport planning have already been covered in

Chapter Six. For a long time been it was a field dominated by traffic engineers who gave it a

distinctly mechanistic character, in which the planning process was seen as a series of rigorous

steps undertaken to measure likely impacts and to propose engineering solutions. There were four

major steps: Trip generation, trip distribution, modal split, and route selection. They involved the

use of mathematical models, including regression analysis, entropy-maximizing models, and

critical path analysis.

There are many reasons why the results of these models should be treated with caution:

• They are only as good as the data they manipulate and many times the data is inaccurate

or incomplete;

• They are based on assumptions that the mathematical relationships between variables

remain constant;

• They can be manipulated to produce the outcome that the analyst knows the client

prefers;

• Because the predictions were rarely subjected to subsequent evaluation, their validity

is largely questioned, and the modeller is happy to predict the future since projections

rarely question the validity of the methodology.

The predictions of future traffic flows produced by the four stage sequence are then used to

identify planning options. Since the most common prediction of the modelling is that present

capacities will be unable to cope with traffic growth, the tendency has been to produce planning

solutions that call for an expansion of capacity. This has been referred to as predict and

accommodate. It is the solution that has typified so much urban transport planning from the 1940s

to the 1980s. It has given rise to the enormous expansion of highway construction that reinforces

the dominance of the automobile. Rarely are there post mortems of the prediction models, and as

has been learned by empirical observation, the issue of induced demand has distorted the actual

traffic.

2. Contemporary Transport Planning

In cities traffic problems have increased significantly over the last 50 years, despite a great deal

of urban transport planning. There is a growing realization that perhaps planning has failed and

that the wrong questions have been asked. Rather than estimate traffic increases and then provide



capacity to meet the expected growth, it is now accepted that what is required is better

management of the transport system through new approaches to planning. Just as urban planning

requires the inputs of many specialists, so transport planning is beginning to utilize multi-

disciplinary teams in order to broaden the scope of the planning process. Planning is still a multi-

step process, but it has changed considerably over the last twenty years.

• Goals and objectives. While the goal of traditional transport policy, improving

accessibility, is still useful, it has to be considered in the context of other desirable goals.

For instance improving safety and health, reducing emissions from vehicles, improving

equity, enhancing economic opportunities, improving community livability, promoting

mobility are all valid. But which goal(s) are pursued results in a very different planning

process. Defining goals becomes a much more complicated stage in contemporary

planning. Increasingly goals have turned to consider managing demand, rather than tryingto build capacity.

• Options. Given the possible range of goals that transport planners have to consider, it

becomes necessary to provide a set of possible options. Several objectives may be

desirable, and thus it is important to consider what they imply. Several scenarios may

have to be considered, and they must become important components of the planning

process.

• Identification of actors, institutions, stakeholders. Given that transport planning has

the potential to influence so many elements of society –economic wellbeing,environmental conditions, social integration – it is important that those affected by the

transport problem and its potential resolution should be identified so that they can be

engaged. This would be a much wider list of affected parties than simply those involved

in transportation activity itself, and requires recognizing a role for citizen participation.

• Predicting outcomes, identifying benefits, and assessing costs. The stage of predicting

the outcomes for each of the options is a critical step in the process. Models continue to

play an important role, but whereas the traditional models were based on the number of

trips, increasingly modelling is becoming more activity based. Transport is seen in the

context of scheduling household decisions in time and space. Demographic and social

data are used extensively, and the mathematical models have become more sophisticated.

Nevertheless there are roles for other types of analyses, including non-objective forecasts.

The predicted outcomes must then be assessed as to their benefits and costs. These may

be expressed in monetary terms, but many transport planning situations call for





• Traffic calming. Measures that seek to reduce the speed of vehicles in urban areas, such

as speed bumps and street narrowing. For residential streets the goal is to make their use

by car drivers unattractive because of the obstacles, for thoroughfares the objective is to

reduce the average speeds. The measures indicate the need for much greater attention to

street design and layout (Ewing 1999).

• Priority lanes for busses, and high occupancy vehicles. Lanes on major thoroughfares

and expressways that are reserved for busses, taxis and passenger vehicles with several

occupants. This has become an important feature of transport planning in North America,

where major highway expansion projects offer priority lanes. The goal is to encourage

use of busses and high occupancy vehicles that can be seen to travel at higher speeds

along the reserved lanes by other drivers who may be stuck in traffic jams.

• Alternate work schedules. Encouraging work hours other than the dominant 9 to 5

schedule. One of the great problems in transport planning is that demand is concentrated

in two main peak periods. In the past, efforts were made to meet this demand by

increasing road capacity, which was never sufficient, and resulted in an under use of the

capacity the other 20 hours each day. Promoting flexible schedules and encouraging

telecommuting are policies that are seeking to spread out the demand for transport over

more hours and even reducing the demand altogether (Janelle and Gillespie 2004).

• Promoting bicycle use. In some countries, particularly the Netherlands, the bicycle is an

important mode of travel. It is a green and healthy mode, but in automobile dependent

cities, the bicycle does not share the roads easily with trucks and cars. Encouraging

greater use of the bicycle requires significant planning adjustments, such as the provision

of bicycle lanes and bike stands.

• Car sharing. Encouraging drivers to share car use with neighbors or co-workers.

• Enhancing pedestrian areas. In most cities vehicles dominate the streets. In many areas

of high population density, the quality of life (enhanced safety, less pollution etc.) and the

visual attractiveness of streetscapes can be enhanced by excluding vehicles from streets

altogether, or limiting access to public transport vehicles. In Europe this has become a

distinctive feature of the historic cores of many cities.

• Improving public transit. For fifty years or more public transit use as declined in most

cities. Yet it is the only major alternative to the car in these cities, and thus enhancing the

use of transit has become a major planning objective. Improvements include making

transit more attractive, by improving bus schedules and improving the appearance and

comfort of transit vehicles and stations. At the same time efforts are underway to widen



the range of transit alternatives. These include extending commuter rail services, and

constructing new systems such as light and heavy rail modes (Litman 2005).

• Parking management. Restricting on-street parking and charging higher rates for

parking.

4. Pricing

While planning interventions may have a positive cumulative effect in shaping transport demand,

some economists suggest that a more direct approach involving imposing more stringent cost

measures on car users is necessary. It is widely accepted that car users pay only a small

proportion of the actual costs of their vehicle use. Economists argue that the external costs

should be borne by the users. As intuitively rational as this argument may be, there are several

problems with its application.

• First, there are difficulties in measuring externalities, with considerable variations in

estimates between different studies. Different types of use, speeds, engines, vehicle

weight, driving conditions etc. make it difficult to produce broadly accepted values.

Decision makers have difficulty in agreeing to impose charges when there is a diversity

of evidence about external costs.

• Second, there are practical difficulties in collecting these costs. One of the easiest (and

most widely used) methods is a gasoline tax. It is a crude approach, however, because it

imperfectly distinguishes between driving conditions and engine type – a fuel efficient

vehicle may have just as high consumption in heavy urban traffic as a gas-guzzler in a

rural setting.

• Third, is the political difficulty of imposing such additional costs on the public. In

North America in particular, access to ‘free’ roads is regarded as a birthright, and it is

intensely unpopular to propose any new forms of revenue generation that hints at

additional taxation.

The effectiveness of economic controls is evident by the experience of Hong Kong, where,despite high incomes, car ownership and use remains at a very low level. This is due in the main

to the high cost of parking. An even more drastic example is Singapore, where extreme measures

limiting car purchases, high vehicle licenses, electronic tolls on highways, and cordon pricing in

the downtown area have restrained car use.



The use of pricing mechanisms may be less in other countries, but the trend towards greater

application of some forms of tolling is accelerating. Cordon pricing has been applied in a

number of jurisdictions, especially in Norway in Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim. Under cordon

pricing, access to certain areas, usually the CBD is tolled. The most famous application was the

decision to charge private vehicles for entry into Central London in early 2003, a program that

has proved to be successful, despite a great deal of opposition.

Another form of charging is the imposition of tolls on new highways and bridges . In North

America, the public had become used to the notion that highways are ‘free’, a legacy of the

Interstate Highways Act, funded largely by Congress. In both Canada and the US legislation now

permits private companies to build and operate private roads and bridges, and to collect tolls to

cover costs. In Canada, Highway 407 outside Toronto and the Confederation Bridge linking

Prince Edward Island to the mainland are examples of tolled facilities developed and operated by private corporations. The same trend applies to developing countries such as China where many

new roads and bridges are toll based.

Another form of pricing is congestion or "fair" pricing. Here certain lanes of a highway are

tolled, but at variable rates. When traffic is moving freely, the charges for the tolled lanes are nil.

But as traffic builds up and speeds are reduced, the costs of using the reserved lanes increase.

Collection of the tolls is electronic, and drivers are informed of the current charges by large signs.

Drivers are given a choice therefore, to stay in the slower lanes for free, or move to the tolled

lanes at a cost that is proportionate to the speed on the congested lanes. This system is now in

place in several US States, after successful tests in California and Texas.

5. Intelligent Vehicles and Intelligent Highways

Technology is seen by many transport planners as a solution to a wide range of transport

problems. This is an approach that has achieved wide acceptance in the US, where there has

always been a strong emphasis on seeking engineering solutions to urban transport problems. It

involves using information technologies (ITS) to provide better information and control over traffic flow and individual vehicle use. Many of the solutions involve the application of remote

sensing techniques along with ITS.

One of the most promising approaches involves Interactive Highways. They are a means of

communication between the road and driver that warn of approaching road conditions. Warnings



include electronic message boards that suggest alternate routes to approaching motorists,

designated radio frequencies that give updated traffic reports. It is based on a closed-circuit TV

system (CCTV) that records lane-by-lane occupancy, volume and speed. At the same time ramp

meters record in real time the amount of traffic entering the highway. This information is

analyzed and processed at a control centre that can dispatch emergency equipment to accidents as

they happen, and can inform other drivers of road conditions, accidents, construction and delays.

A further technology is Emergency Signal Priority. This is a means of providing emergency

vehicles and public transport busses priority at traffic lights in congested areas. The system

allows a vehicle equipped with a system emitter to send a coded infrared message to the system

detector, installed at the traffic intersection. When activated, the detector receives the coded

message and then either holds the existing green light until the vehicle passes through or changes

the existing red light to a green light.

ITS is being applied in many further innovative ways to improve the efficiency of emergency

vehicles. For example, in Montreal mathematical models are being used to predict where road

accidents are likely to occur given the time of day, traffic volumes and weather conditions.

Ambulances can be assigned to these zones. Once deployed and assigned to a specific event,

optimal routing is determined and relayed to drivers. When the first responders have identified

the extent and type of injuries, the information is relayed to a control center which determines

availability of doctors and nurses at which hospital emergency room, and suggests a routing for

the ambulance using least-time model estimation.

ITS is providing many solutions to the problems of road pricing. Toll collection is increasingly

using electronic means to collect tolls without requiring vehicles to stop at toll booths. In its

simplest form, vehicles equipped with a transponder that emits details of the vehicle are allowed

to pass through toll lanes without stopping to pay. Receptors at the booth record the passage and

debit the account. This is at the heart of the cordon pricing and of most new toll systems in place.

This technology, however, is being wedded to global positioning systems (GPS), which is likelyto produce radical changes in the way vehicular traffic is priced. As reviewed by Sorenson and

Taylor (2005), this combination of technologies will permit a more effective means of applying

road pricing than the road tax. Vehicles will be required to have an on-board unit that includes a

GPS receiver, a set of digital maps showing jurisdictional boundaries, an odometer feed, a set of

distance rate charges, and a wireless communication system to report billing data. During each



trip the GPS determines the jurisdictional zones, the odometer calculates the distance travelled in

each zone, and the computer tabulates the running total of fees, and periodically signals the data

to the billing agency. These systems are presently being evaluated in several states in the US. A

comparable system is already in place in Germany, where since late 2004 all truck movements are

charged an environmental tax based on distance travelled and vehicle characteristics.

6. Freight Planning

The vast preponderance of transport planning, certainly at the urban level, has been devoted to

passengers. The automobile and public transit issues have pre-occupied planners since individual

mobility can be a highly political issue (drivers are also voters). Yet freight traffic represents a

significant part of many problems that planning seeks to address. The models and data inputs

used in transportation planning are of little relevance when applied to freight movements. For

example, demographic data, such as household size, the backbone of passenger analysis, are

irrelevant for freight. The bi-polar daily peak of traffic movements applies only to passengers,

freight movements being distributed in a different profile over a 24 hour period.

While trucks account for approximately 10% of vehicles on the road, their size, low

manoeuvrability, noisiness, and high pollution output make their presence particularly

objectionable. Truck pick-up and delivery in city centres is particularly problematic because of

limited parking. At the same time trucks are vital to the economy and well-being of society.

Commerce is dominated by trucking, and the logistics industry in particular is dependent on road

transport for pickup and delivery. Garbage pickup, snow removal, fire protection is among many

essential services that are truck oriented.

Planning for freight movements is still in its infancy. As a largely private sector activity it is

difficult to control, and many of the decisions that affect trucking are made by the industry itself.

The emergence of large logistics/distribution centres on the outer fringes of metropolitan areas is

taking place without public control or oversight. In Europe, some attempt to manage such

development by establishing publicly-promoted freight villages has only limited success.

Several cities are seeking to limit trucking as pressures keep mounting up. In many jurisdictions

limits on heavy trucks in urban areas are in place, and there are restrictions on the times of

delivery and pick up, which in some European cities extend to the exclusion of all trucks in the



urban core during daytime hours. The question remains about is constraining urban freight

circulation does not impair the economy.

All these steps are tackling the problem at the edges. In many cities there are no census data on

freight traffic, so that planning in the few cases where it takes place is inevitably hit and miss.There needs to be a much greater focus on freight planning overall, since it is almost universally

recognized that freight transport is important

Chapter four.

Transport being one of the most expensive items involved in the logistics should be really looked

into otherwise this will amount to very high costs of goods which will lead to a drop in the sales

this will result to low organizations profit due to low stock turnover. An organization should

always consider its transport system in order to cut down on costs.

A good transport system should be that one that cuts down the costs of the organization other than

that one that increases the costs which are eventually transferred to the buyer.

Nakummat is a chain of supermarkets its Head office is situated at industrial area this is where all

the purchases for the chain supermarkets are done for economies of scale. Purchases are done on

large scale from manufacturers in order to enjoy trade discount. Nakummat having a chain of

supermarkets were forced to think of how they would transport its large quantities of goods

conveniently and economically. Nakummat uses trucks to ferry goods to the various destined

shops of the chain.

Nakummat has planned its transport this way so that they want to cut down on transport costs

because if every shop goes to source for their products transportation costs would be very high

which would ultimately be transferred to the customer and in the long run will lower the

organizations profit. .

The management sat and thought of the most convenient way of transporting the goods to the

various shops and also considered the costs involved.



Winter (1997) talked of transportation in the transportation journal where he mentioned that the

most important aspect is to consider the cost involved in transportation when designing

transportation.

A company dealing with sale of cars will be based at the port where they are able to transact there business easily and wait for several orders so that they will transport all vehicles needed e.g. to

Nairobi using one track instead of bringing one each and every time.

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Transportation

Transportation is an important link of the logistics system. Transport is a branch of material

production, transporting people and goods.

Vehicles must have a number of necessary properties and satisfy certain requirements in order to

create innovative systems for the collection and distribution of goods. First of all, transport

should be flexible enough to provide the transportation process that is subject to weekly or even

daily adjustments, to ensure frequent and clock delivery of goods in scattered and remote

locations, reliably serve clients in order to avoid interruption of business or deficit at the client.

Simultaneously, transport must be able to carry small loads over short intervals, in accordance

with changing user demands and conditions of small-scale production.

Transportation is represented as a system consisting of two subsystems: public transport and

transport non-generic use.

Public transport is a sector of the economy that meets needs of all sectors of the economy and the

population in the transportation of cargo and passengers. Public transport serves the scope of

treatment and population. It is often called the backbone (backbone is a main line in any system,

in this case – the system of means of communication).

Transport non-generic use – in-plant operations, as well as vehicles of all kinds, belonging to the

non-transport enterprises, is typically an integral part of any production systems.



Means of transport

The main means of transport include:

Rail

Marine

Inland

waterways (river)

automobile

air

pipeline among others

Each of the modes of transport has specific characteristics in terms of logistics management,

strengths and weaknesses, determine the possibilities of its use in the logistics system.

Advantages of modes of transportation

Rail

• high throughput, and the freight, regardless of climatic conditions, time of year and day

• high frequency of traffic,

• the ability to effectively organize the implementation of loading and unloading

operations;

• relatively low rates and significant discounts for transit shipments,

• high speed delivery of goods over long distances.

Naval

• possibility of intercontinental transport,

• low cost of transport over long distances,

• the freight and high throughput,

• low capital intensity of transport.

Inland waterways (river).



• high carrying capacity in the deep rivers and reservoirs,

• low transportation costs,

• low capital intensity.

Road transport.

• high availability,

• possibility of delivery of cargo from door to door;

• high agility,

• flexibility,

• agility,

• ability to use different routes and delivery schemes,

• high safety of the cargo,

• the possibility of sending the goods in small batches;

• great opportunity to select the most suitable carrier.

Air transport.

• the highest speed of delivery,

• high reliability,

• the highest integrity;

• the possibility of reaching remote areas.

Pipeline.

• low cost,

• high capacity,

• high safety of the cargo,

• low capital intensity.

Disadvantages

Rail



• limited number of carriers,

• large capital investments in industrial and technology base,

• high material and energy intensity of transport,

• low accessibility to the final point of sales (consumption),

• high enough of the cargo.

Naval

• limited traffic,

• low speed of delivery (large transit time),

• depending on geographical,

• navigational and weather conditions,

• the need for complex email infrastructure,

• stringent requirements for packaging and stowage of cargo,

• The low frequency of shipments.

Inland waterways (river)

• limited traffic,

• low speed of delivery of goods;

• dependence on the uneven depth of rivers and reservoirs,

• navigation conditions,

• seasonality,

• low reliability of transport and cargo safety.

Road transport

• low productivity,

• dependence on weather and road conditions,

• the relatively high cost of transport over long distances,

• lack of environmental cleanliness,

• punctuality of discharge,

• a relatively small payload.



Air transport

• high cost of transportation,

• the highest rates among the other modes of transport,

• high capital intensity,

• material and energy transport,

• the dependence on weather conditions.

Pipeline transport

• limited types of cargo (gas, oil, emulsions and raw materials),

• low availability of small volumes of transported cargo.

ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN TRANSPORT GEOGRAPHY

1. Congestion

The causes of congestion are well understood, even if the solutions are not. Congestion arises

from two causes. Most important is when demand for mobility exceeds the capacity so support

it. It can also occur when random events bring about a temporary disruption to service, such as

an accident or a natural hazard such as flooding. In the case of the second set of causes, it is

possible to mitigate their effects if the occurrence is frequent, such as accidents, or if the risks are

great, as for example of flooding in a flood plain. In the first case a solution is to increase

capacity. However, as has been shown, increasing capacity engenders a hidden demand, so that

adding lanes to an expressway tend to attract even more cars. Furthermore, demand is increasing

ceaselessly, so that the practicality of this solution may be questioned.

The issue of congestion is likely to remain as one of great ongoing issues in transport geography

because there are unprecedented demands for transportation being generated by a global

economy that is ever more dependent upon the transport industry. The growth of demand is likely

to have major impacts on the nature and form of the future transport industry.

In the short term at least, road transport is likely to continue its domination of the transport

industry. There are two basic reasons for this assertion. In the developed world automobiles and

trucks already dominate the market, and the spatial patterns of people, industries and services



have adjusted themselves somewhat to the demands of these modes. Such low density, space

extensive patterns are pushing the traffic congestion ever further out, and make it very difficult

for other higher capacity modes to compete. At the same time the demand for mobility is growing

as a result of the rapid industrialization of countries such as China and India. There too a modal

shift is occurring in favor of road transport. Increasing prosperity in these countries represents a

great potential for growth in road transport.

Congestion is not limited to internal urban-generated traffic. International trade is likely to

continue to be dominated by maritime transport (in terms of weight) and air transport (in terms of

value). This has already led to a concentration of traffic a relatively small number of hubs,

which are capable of extracting scale economies. For example, the 20 largest container ports

handled more than 52% of global traffic in 2005. The traffic concentration however is already

producing capacity problems in many of these hubs. International trade has grown at a rate faster than the global economy in recent decades and there are expectations that hub congestion will

remain an issue in the future.

For geographers there are a whole range of issues arising out of the growth of demand and the

paralysis of congestion. Here, they are grouped into two categories. First, are a series of questions

surrounding how to provide solutions; second are the effects on future spatial patterns.

In the past the solution to congestion was to provide more capacity by building more

infrastructures. Such a response depended heavily on engineering solutions. As has been learned

over the last few decades, the model of “predict and accommodate” has not worked well. It is

now recognized that a multi-disciplinary approach is required. It is recognized that there will still

be a heavy reliance on engineering skills to design and construct infrastructure and systems, and

to develop further technological innovations required for the “intelligent highway”. However,

transport policy and planning requires a broader perspective, one that considers different

goals and alternatives, responds to different needs for mobility, and one that seeks ways to

manage demand. Under what conditions and in what types of locations can travel demand be

modified? Does the current emphasis on proposing densification as a solution to reducing car

dependence work? How might freight transport be better integrated in the urban environment?

Congestion is a phenomenon that is spatially bound. It takes place in specific locations with

impacts at a multitude of scales, from a particular highway intersection that may delay traffic

over a few hundred meters, to blockage in a port that may disrupt the flow of goods over half a



continent. Each event produces a spatial response, from the car driver who searches out an

alternative route in future to the shipper who selects a different mode or point of entry for

succeeding shipments.

Increased demand and the rising likelihoods of congestion will intensify new spatial responsesand thus it appears very likely that new spatial flows and structures will come into being. What

will be the effects? What kinds of impact will be evident at the local, regional or global scales?

Will congestion be sufficient to counteract the strong forces favoring concentration? Already

there is evidence in air transport for growth in passengers and freight in some smaller airports.

Will congestion in the newly industrializing countries act as a break on development?

2. Infrastructure

Regardless of the specific solutions to congestion that are considered, increasing demand is

placing unprecedented requests for investments on transport infrastructures. A major question

confronting all countries of the world is how to finance the construction and maintenance of

transport infrastructures. Governments have traditionally been the primary source of funding in

the transport sector, but the costs of keeping pace with the growth in demand are making it

difficult for even the richest countries to countenance public funding on the scale required.

Capital requirements are particularly prevalent on both sides of the infrastructure life cycle

spectrum. Over this matter the highways in China and North America represent two salient cases.

For China, the last decade has seen an impressive level of highway construction with the setting

of a national highway network which totaled more than 53,000 km in 2007, the second longest in

the world. Comparatively, the American Interstate highway system of about 75,000 km is nearing

a phase of its life cycle where a substantial amount of capital investment will be required to

upgrade the system and maintain its operability, including thousands of aging highway bridges.

While most of Interstate is publicly funded, almost all Chinese highways were funded by private

interests that are using tolls to recover their investments.

Public-private partnerships and completely private solutions are one set of solutions. For many

developing countries this is the only solution, since public finances are inadequate to the task.

Thus, in the future, a greater private involvement in the provision of transport infrastructure is to

be expected. Several models are already well tested: BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer), where the

private sector builds and operates a facility or system for a period of time, but then transfers it



back to the government after an agreed period; BLT (Build-Lease-Transfer) where after building

the facilities, it is leased for a fixed period for operation, and finally transferred back; ROT

(Rehabilitate-Operate-Transfer) where the private party refurbishes an existing facility to be

operated for a term prior to be turned back to the state.

Another approach that is gaining momentum is charging for use of transport infrastructure.

Pricing is becoming an important feature of transport planning in urban areas. Whether it is

cordon pricing, congestion pricing, or tolling, drivers are being forced to pay for their use of

roads and limited price elasticity has been observed so far. With the growing concerns over the

environment, charging for the externalities of transport modes is becoming a reality in many

jurisdictions. How effective are these alternatives? What effects do they have over travel

behavior?

The difficulties are not to be underestimated, however. Most transport infrastructure projects are

long term, but are typified by the heaviest capital investment requirements being incurred over a

short initial phase. Most private enterprises cannot take a long term perspective, because they

need to cover their expenses over short period of time. With the growing unwillingness or

inability of the public sector to fund and provide transport infrastructure, what form and structure

in infrastructure provision, maintenance and operation will be achieved?

3. Environmental Challenges

The issue of sustainability has become an increasing important consideration for the transport

industry. It is now broadly recognized that there needs to be a balance between economic

efficiency, social factors and the environment. Of these three, the issue of economic efficiency

has always been to the forefront, and governments have been important in regulating social

conditions (safety, security, and working conditions). Despite the strong historic relationships

between transport and the environment, the latter has tended to be overlooked by the industry.

This is changing, and environmental issues are likely to play an ever more important role in the

transport industry, particularly over three core dimensions:

• Transport and atmospheric pollution. Air quality standards are being implemented

with increasing rigor in more and more countries around the world. There are still

striking differences between regions and between the modes. For example, most of the

countries of the developing world still have to go a long way to fixing and enforcing



standards. In North America, passenger vehicles are more rigorously controlled than

trucks, and ships are much less controlled than other modes. However, the trend is

towards greater control over emissions. What will be the modal effects and the impacts

on modal competition? Which regions and what transport systems are most likely to be

impacted?

• Transport and water quality. The contribution of transport to the pollution of rivers and

oceans is considerable, and is only recently being addressed by international legislation.

Considerable progress has been made in a number of areas such as ballast water, waste

and oil spills. As the legislation increases in its comprehensiveness, the more the

transport industry is impacted. This is particularly evident in matters relating to dredging,

where environmental constraints are placing a growing financial burden on ports that are

seeking to deepen channels in order to keep pace with the growth of vessels size. Will

these constraints serve to reduce the competitiveness of some ports? Will increased

dredging costs bring about a break in the growth of vessel size? Similar questions arise

out of coastal zone legislation, especially the provisions for protecting wetlands.

• Transport and land take. Increased demand for transport is already placing enormous

pressures for new infrastructures. Many of these transport facilities such as airports and

ports require very large amounts of land for their own internal operations and for the

external transport links that have to be provided. A fundamental question is can the

environment and society afford to provide sites of the scale required by the transport

industry? Will the transport industry have to move away from its preferred model of

massive hubs and load centers?

4. Energy, Safety and Security

The macroeconomic and policy environment in which the transport sector evolves has

substantially changed in recent years, bringing concerns which before were rather secondary.

With the expected increases in energy costs, significant adjustments in transport modes may be

expected in the future. While technologies may make alternative fuel vehicles a commercial

option to the internal combustion engine, the main question is the effect of higher prices on

automobiles and trucks. As the costs are passed on to users, how global production systems that

depend upon cheap transport be impacted? How will the logistics industry that exploits the most

energy inefficient modes be affected? Will a modal shift to more energy efficient modes, such as

rail or shipping, take place? What forms of transport and mobility will take shape as the energy

transition away from fossil fuels takes place?



Another prevalent matter concerns security practices that are now part of the business

environment in which passenger and freight transport systems are evolving. Most of these

measures are imposed by regulatory agencies with consequences often difficult to assess, but

always involving additional costs and delays for transport operators. A balance between security

measures and the efficient flow of passengers and freight will need to be achieved through a

variety of regulatory, operational and technological innovations.

5. The Role of Geographers

Geographers have played a relatively small role in the field of transport studies, a field that has

been dominated by engineers and economists. This was due in part to the needs of the industry

being focused on providing infrastructures and technologies, at what cost and benefits and at what

level of pricing. The contemporary industry is much more complex, with issues as varied as

safety, aesthetics, working conditions, equity, deprivation, the environment, and governance

being necessary considerations. A much broader set of skills are required therefore, and

transport studies are essentially multi-disciplinary today. Geographers thus have important

opportunities to contribute to transport studies, transport planning and transport operations, in

part because of the breadth of the approach and training. Still, transport geography, like the field

of transportation in general, does not receive a level of attention in academia proportional to its

economic and social importance.

It is also a fundamental fact that transport is a spatial activity. It has always been a space

adjusting service, but over the last few decades it has become increasingly global in scope.

Contemporary transport operates at a wider range of scales than ever before. There are complex

interactions between the local and the global. For example, the issues surrounding the expansion

of an airport are usually decided at the local level, and the impacts are likely to be felt locally,

namely its externalities such as noise and congestion. However, the effects on passenger and

freight flows may have a global impact. The spatiality of transport and the many scale levels at

which it operates are elements that are the particular concerns of Geographers. No other

discipline has as its core interest the role of space in shaping human activities.

One reason for the success of engineers and economists in transport studies and applications is

that their training has been rigorous in the application of mathematics and multivariate statistics.

They have demonstrated the ability to provide precise answers to the questions that decision

makers have required – what to build, at what cost, with what cost effects. There has evolved a



culture in the transport industry that unless it can be quantified it is of little value. Many transport

geographers have the quantitative skills that have made their work accepted by the broader

scientific community. There is little doubt that training in modeling, graph theory, and

multivariate statistics is required. However, there are newer techniques that provide geographers

with opportunities to contribute to transport studies. GIS-T, in particular should be an essential

element in the training of a transport geographer. The multi-scalar, multivariate nature of the

transport industry makes GIS-T an invaluable tool, and one that will raise the profile of

geographers in the transportation industry.

One of the great challenges in transport studies is data availability. Many times official census

and survey data are inadequate or unavailable in the form required. Knowledge of survey

techniques and their limitations are an important part of the transport geographer’s toolkit. Many

of the traditional tools and approaches of geographers are still relevant. They allow us to address problems that are frequently overlooked by other disciplines because of the lack of data.

Questionnaires and interviews represent a vital source of information in many situations. Content

analysis is extremely useful in providing quantified data from non-quantified sources. At the

same time, field work provides the opportunity to obtain detailed understanding of the

particularities of the local conditions that cannot be obtained from reading texts and official

documents.

The prospects for transport geography and transport geographers appear to be excellent. A look

back at the subject matter and topics covered in this book indicates an industry that is growing in

significance and changing. The kinds of issues that are achieving greater importance –

sustainability, congestion, governance and management – are ones to which geographers have the

opportunity to contribute. As the transport industry becomes more complex, old approaches,

focusing on a narrow range of factors, have to be replaced by more nuanced analysis and

solutions. In the transport industry itself, in public planning, and in research institutions, the

scope for geographers appears bright.



RECOMMENDATION

Management of Transport Systems

The transportation industry is changing so significantly in form and function that it easy to

overlook the very important changes in the way it is organized and managed. Yet it is through

different management practices that the spatial manifestations of the industry are expressed. It is

perhaps easiest to see the changes in management through the lens of governance, where an

industry that used to be largely managed and controlled by the state, has become increasingly

controlled by the private sector. The privatization of transport companies and infrastructures has

been an important feature of the last decade, and is likely to continue further into the present

century. However, there are still many questions about the role of the state in transportation.

Under what conditions and in what circumstances should continued state control be maintained

and even strengthened? What are the best models of public-private partnerships in the transport

industry?

The growing role of the private sector over an industry that is becoming global and multi-

functional has necessitated a shift in management and ownership relationships that are still

evolving. They include:

• The emergence of horizontally linked global corporations that through a series of

acquisitions and mergers have bought up similar operating companies in different

markets. A good example is the port terminal operators, such as Hutchison Port

Corporation, a Hong Kong based firm with major investments in Europe, China and the

Americas.

• The development of vertically integrated corporations that have grown by merger and

acquisition to control several segments of the transport chain. Examples include A. P.

Moller, a company that controls the world’s largest container fleet, an airline, terminal

operating activities, trucking, barge, railroad services and logistics services in many parts

of the world.• Intermediaries that provide transport services on a global scale, without direct

ownership of infrastructure. 3PL companies such as Kuhne and Nagel, Schenker and

Panalpina operate in many markets and are major actors in the transport chain.



• Alliances, informal groupings of transport providers that pool resources and offer joint

services between major global markets. Examples include the One World and Star airline

alliances.

Transport is being increasingly integrated in global production systems. It is becoming anintegral part of production and distribution chains.

Sustainable transport systems make a positive contribution to the environmental, social and

economic sustainability of the communities they serve. Transport systems exist to provide social

and economic connections, and people quickly take up the opportunities offered by increased

mobility. The advantages of increased mobility need to be weighed against the environmental,

social and economic costs that transport systems pose.

REFERENCE

1. Transport planning 2nd Ed by David Banister

2. Transport; development & sustainability, 2002 Madison New York.

Documents

Transportation CH.5