(Redirected from Transportation)
'Transport' or 'transportation' is the
movement of
people and
goods from one place to another. The term is derived from the
Latin ''trans'' ("across") and ''portare'' ("to carry"). Industries which have the business of providing equipment, actual transport, transport of people or goods and services used in transport of goods or people make up a large broad and important sector of most
national economies, and are collectively referred to as 'transport industries'.
Aspects of transport
The field of transport has several aspects: loosely they can be divided into a triad of
infrastructure,
vehicles, and
operations. Infrastructure includes the transport networks (
roads,
railways,
airways,
waterways,
canals,
pipelines, etc.) that are used, as well as the nodes or terminals (such as
airports,
railway stations,
bus stations and
seaports). The vehicles generally ride on the networks, such as
automobiles,
bicycles,
buses,
trains,
aircrafts. The operations deal with the way the vehicles are operated on the network and the procedures set for this purpose including the legal environment (Laws, Codes, Regulations, etc.) Policies, such as how to
finance the system (for example, the use of
tolls or
gasoline taxes) may be considered part of the operations.
Broadly speaking, the design of networks are the domain of
civil engineering and
urban planning, the design of vehicles of
mechanical engineering and specialized subfields such as
nautical engineering and
aerospace engineering, and the operations are usually specialized, though might appropriately belong to
operations research or
systems engineering.
Modes and categories
Main articles: Mode of transport
Modes are combinations of
networks,
vehicles, and
operations, and include
walking, the
road transport system,
rail transport,
ship transport and modern
aviation.
Categories of (non-human) animal-powered transport
Non-human animal-powered transportis a broad category of the
human use of non-human
working animals (also known as "beasts of burden") for the movement of people and goods. Humans may ride some of the larger of these animals directly, use them as pack animals for carrying goods, or harness them, singly or in
teams, to pull (or haul)
sleds or wheeled
vehicles.
★
Air transport
★
Cable transport
★
Conveyor transport
★
Human-powered transport
★
Hybrid transport
★
New Mobility Agenda
★
Rail transport
★
Road transport, including human-powered transport such as walking and cycling
★
Ship transport
★
Space transport
★
Sustainable transportation
★
Transport on other planets
★
Proposed future transport
Air transport
Main articles: Air transport
A
fixed-wing aircraft, commonly called ''airplane'' or ''aeroplane'', is a heavier-than-air craft where movement of the wings in relation to the aircraft is not used to generate lift. The term is used to distinguish from
rotary-wing aircraft, where the movement of the lift surfaces relative to the aircraft generates lift. A more rare type of aircraft that is neither ''fixed-wing'' nor ''rotary-wing'' is an
ornithopter. A
heliplane is both fixed-wing and rotary-wing.
Fixed-wing aircraft include a large range of craft from small trainers and recreational aircraft to large
airliners and military cargo aircraft. Some aircraft use fixed wings to provide lift only part of the time and may or may not be referred to as fixed-wing.
The current term also embraces
aircraft with folding the wings that are intended to fold when on the ground. This is usually to ease storage or facilitate transport on, for example, a vehicle trailer or the powered lift connecting the hangar deck of an
aircraft carrier to its flight deck. It also embraces aircraft, such as the
General Dynamics F-111,
Grumman F-14 Tomcat and the
Panavia Tornado, which can vary the
sweep angle of their wings during flight. These aircraft are termed "variable geometry" aircraft. When the wings of these aircraft are fully swept, usually for high speed cruise, the trailing edges of their wings about the leading edges of their tailplanes, giving an impression of a single
delta wing if viewed in plan. There are also rare examples of aircraft which can vary the
angle of incidence of their wings in flight, such the
F-8 Crusader, which are also considered to be "fixed-wing".
Two necessities for all fixed-wing aircraft (as well as rotary-wing aircraft) are air flow over the wings for lifting of the aircraft, and an open area for landing. The majority of aircraft, however, also need an airport with the infrastructure to receive maintenance, restocking, refueling and for the loading and unloading of crew, cargo and/or passengers. While the vast majority of aircraft land and take off on land, some are capable of take off and landing on ice, snow and calm water.
The aircraft is the second fastest method of transport, after the
rocket. Commercial jet aircraft can reach up to 875 km/h. Single-engined aircraft are capable of reaching 175 km/h or more at cruise speed. Supersonic aircraft (military, research and a few private aircraft) can reach speeds faster than sound. The record is currently held by the
SR-71 with a speed of 3,529.56 km/h (2193.17 mph, 1905.81 knots).
[1]
Rail
Main articles: Rail transport
Rail transport is the transport of passengers and goods along ''railways'' or ''railroads''. A typical railway (or railroad) track consists of two parallel
steel (or in older networks,
iron)
rails, generally anchored
perpendicular to
beams (termed
sleepers or ties) of
timber,
concrete, or
steel to maintain a consistent distance apart, or
gauge. The rails and perpendicular beams are usually then placed on a foundation made of concrete or compressed
earth and
gravel in a bed of ballast to prevent the track from
buckling (bending out of its original configuration) as the ground settles over time beneath and under the weight of the vehicles passing above. The vehicles traveling on the rails are arranged in a
train; a series of individual powered or unpowered vehicles linked together, displaying markers. These vehicles (referred to, in general, as cars, carriages or wagons) move with much less friction than on rubber tires on a paved road, and the
locomotive that pulls the train tends to use energy far more efficiently as a result.
In rail transport, a
train consists of rail vehicles that move along guides to transport freight or passengers from one place to another. The guideway (
permanent way) usually consists of conventional
rail tracks, but might also be
monorail or
maglev. Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate
locomotive, or from individual motors in self-propelled
multiple units. Most trains are powered by
diesel engines or by
electricity supplied by
trackside systems. Historically the
steam engine was the dominant form of locomotive power through the mid-
20th century, but other sources of power (such as
horses,
rope (or
wire),
gravity,
pneumatics, or
gas turbines) are possible.
Road transport
Main articles: Road transport
Automobile
An
automobile is a
wheeled
passenger vehicle that carries its own
motor. Different types of automobiles include cars,
buses,
trucks, and
vans. Some include
motorcycles in the category, but cars are the most typical automobiles. As of 2002 there were 590 million passenger cars worldwide (roughly one car for every ten people), of which 170 million in the
U.S. (roughly one car for every two people)
[1].
The automobile was thought of as an environmental improvement over horses when it was first introduced in the 1890s. Before its introduction, in
New York City alone, more than 1,800 tons of
manure had to be removed from the streets daily, although the manure was used as natural
fertilizer for
crops and to build top soil. In 2006, the automobile is recognized as one of the primary sources of world-wide
air pollution and a cause of substantial
noise pollution and adverse
health effects.
See also
★
Bus
★
Road train
★
Semi-trailer truck
★
Truck
★
Limousine
★
Taxicab
★
Share taxi
★
Carpooling
Water transport
Main articles: Water transport
Watercraft
A '
watercraft' is a
vehicle designed to float on and move across (or under)
water for pleasure, physical exercise (in the case of many small boats), transporting people and/or goods, or military missions.
The common need for buoyancy unites all watercraft, and makes each one's
hull a dominant aspect of its construction, maintenance, and appearance.
Most
watercraft would be described as either
ships or
boats; although nearly all ships are larger than nearly all boats, the distinction between those two categories is not one of size per se.
★ A
rule of thumb says "a boat can fit on a ship, but a ship can't fit on a boat", and a ship ''usually'' has sufficient size to carry its own boats, such as
lifeboats,
dinghies, or
runabouts.
★ Often local
law and regulation will define the exact size (or the number of
masts) that distinguishes a ship from boats.
★ Traditionally
submarines were called "boats", perhaps reflecting their cramped conditions: small size reduces the need for power, and thus the need to surface or snorkel for a supply of the air that running diesel engines requires; in contrast, nuclear-powered submarines'
reactors supply abundant power without consuming air, and such craft are large, much roomier, and classed as ships.
Another definition says a ship is any floating craft that transports cargo for the purpose of earning revenue; in that context, passenger ships transport "supercargo", another name for passengers or persons not working on board. However, neither fishing boats nor
ferries are considered ships, though both carry cargo (their catch of the day or passengers) (and for that matter lifeboats).
English seldom uses the term ''watercraft'' to describe any specific individual object (and probably then only as an affectation): rather the term serves to unify the category that ranges from small
boats to the largest
ships, and also includes the diverse watercraft for which some term even more specific than ''ship'' or ''boat'' (e.g.,
canoe,
kayak,
raft,
barge,
jet ski) comes to mind first. (Some of these would even be considered at best questionable as examples of boats.)
Ship transport
Main articles: Ship transport
Ship transport is the process of moving people, goods, etc. by
barge,
boat,
ship or
sailboat over a
sea,
ocean,
lake,
canal or
river. This is frequently undertaken for purposes of
commerce,
recreation or
military objectives.
A hybrid of ship transport and
road transport is the historic
horse-drawn boat. Hybrids of ship transport and
air transport are
kite surfing and
parasailing.
The first craft were probably types of
canoes cut out from
tree trunks. The colonization of
Australia by
Indigenous Australians provides indirect but conclusive evidence for the latest date for the invention of ocean-going craft; land bridges linked southeast Asia through most of the
Malay Archipelago but a
strait had to be crossed to arrive at
New Guinea, which was then linked to Australia. Ocean-going craft were required for the
colonization to happen.
Early sea transport was accomplished with ships that were either rowed or used the
wind for propulsion, and often, in earlier times with smaller vessels, a combination of the two.
Also there have been horse-powered boats, with horses on the deck providing power
[2].
Ship transport was frequently used as a mechanism for conducting
warfare. Military use of the seas and waterways is covered in greater detail under
navy.
In the
1800s the first
steam ships were developed, using a
steam engine to drive a
paddle wheel or
propeller to move the ship. The
steam was produced using wood or
coal. Now most ships have an
engine using a slightly refined type of
petroleum called
bunker fuel. Some specialized ships, such as
submarines, use
nuclear power to produce the steam.
Recreational or
educational craft still use wind power, while some smaller craft use
internal combustion engines to drive one or more
propellers, or in the case of jet boats, an inboard water jet. In shallow draft areas, such as the
Everglades, some craft, such as the
hovercraft, are propelled by large pusher-prop fans.
Although relatively slow, modern sea transport is a highly effective method of transporting large quantities of non-perishable goods. Transport by water is significantly less costly than
transport by air for trans-continental
shipping.
In the context of sea transport, a ''road'' is an
anchorage.
See also
★
Water taxi'''
★
Short sea shipping'''
Transport and communications
Transport and
communication are both substitutes and complements. Though it might be possible that sufficiently advanced communication could substitute for transport, one could telegraph, telephone, fax, or email a customer rather than visiting them in person, it has been found that those modes of communication in fact generate more total interactions, including interpersonal interactions. The growth in transport would be impossible without
communication, which is vital for advanced transportation systems, from railroads which want to run trains in two directions on a single track, to air traffic control which requires knowing the location of aircraft in the sky. Thus, it has been found that the increase of one generally leads to more of the other.
Transport and land use
The first
Europeans who came to the
New World brought with them a culture of transportation centred on the
wheel. North America's
Aboriginal peoples had developed differently, and moved through their country by means of
canoes,
kayaks,
umiaks,
coracles, and other water-borne vehicles, constructed from various types of
bark,
hide,
bone,
wood, and other materials; as well, the
snowshoe,
toboggan and
sled were essential during the winter conditions that prevailed throughout the northern half of the continent for much of the year. Europeans quickly adopted all of these technologies themselves, and therefore were able to travel to the northern interior of
Canada via the many waterways that branched out from the
St. Lawrence River and from
Hudson Bay.
[2]
There is a well-known relationship between the
density of development, and types of transportation. Intensity of development is often measured by area of
floor area ratio (FAR), the ratio of usable floorspace to area of land. As a rule of thumb, FARs of 1.5 or less are well suited to automobiles, those of six and above are well suited to trains. The range of densities from about two up to about four is not well served by conventional
public or
private transport. Many cities have grown into these densities, and are suffering traffic problems.
Land uses support activities. Those activities are spatially separated. People need transport to go from one to the other (from home to work to shop back to home for instance). Transport is a "derived demand," in that transport is unnecessary but for the activities pursued at the ends of trips.
Good land use keeps common activities close (e.g. housing and food shopping), and places higher-density development closer to transportation lines and hubs. Poor land use concentrates activities (such as jobs) far from other destinations (such as housing and shopping).
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.
Transport in cities
Because of the much higher densities of people and activities,
environmental,
economic,
public health,
social and
quality of life considerations and constraints are important in cities.
Urban transport has been led by professional transport planners and traffic experts, who have made use of the same forecasting and response tools that they have used to good effect in other transport sectors. This has led in most cities to a substantial overbuilding of the road and supporting infrastructure, which has maximized throughput in terms of the numbers of vehicles and the speeds with which they pass through and move around in the built-up areas.
Too much infrastructure and too much smoothing for maximum vehicle throughput means that in many cities there is too much traffic and many - if not all - of the negative impacts that come with it. It is only in recent years that traditional practices have started to be questioned in many places, and as a result of new types of analysis which bring in a much broader range of skills than those traditionally relied on – spanning such areas as environmental impact analysis, public health, sociologists as well as economists who increasingly are questioning the viability of the old mobility solutions. European cities are leading this transition.
See also
★
Transport engineering
★
Sustainable Transportation
★
New Mobility Agenda
★
Promenadology
Transport, energy, and the environment
Transport is a major use of
energy, and transport burns most of the world's
petroleum.
Transportation accounts for 2/3 of all U.S. petroleum consumption.
[3]
The transportation sector generates 82 percent of carbon monoxide and 56 percent of NOx emissions and over one-quarter of total US
greenhouse gas emissions.
[3] Hydrocarbon fuels also produce
carbon dioxide, a
greenhouse gas widely thought to be the chief cause of
global climate change, and petroleum-powered engines, especially inefficient ones, create air pollution, including
nitrous oxides and
particulates (soot). Although vehicles in
developed countries have been getting cleaner because of
environmental regulations, this has been offset by an increase in the number of vehicles and more use of each vehicle.
Other
environmental impacts of transport systems include
traffic congestion and automobile-oriented urban sprawl, which can consume natural habitat and agricultural lands.
Toxic runoff from roads and parking lots that can also pollute water supplies and aquatic ecosystems.
Low pollution fuels
vehicles can reduce pollution. Low pollution fuels may have a reduced
carbon content, and thereby contribute less in the way of carbon dioxide emissions, and generally have reduced
sulfur, since sulfur exhaust is a cause of
acid rain. The most popular low-pollution fuels at this time are biofuels:
gasoline-ethanol blends and
biodiesel.
Hydrogen is an even lower-pollution fuel that produces no carbon dioxide, but producing and storing it economically is currently not feasible.
Efficiency
Another strategy is to make vehicles more efficient, which reduces pollution and waste by reducing the energy use.
Electric vehicles use efficient electric motors, but their range is limited by either the extent of the electric transmission system or by the storage capacity of
batteries. Electrified public transport generally uses overhead wires or third rails to transmit electricity to vehicles, and is used for both rail and bus transport.
Battery electric vehicles store their electric fuel onboard in a
battery pack. Another method is to generate energy using
fuel cells, which may eventually be two to five times as efficient as the
internal combustion engines currently used in most vehicles. Another effective method is to streamline ground vehicles, which spend up to 75% of their energy on air-resistance, and to reduce their weight.
Regenerative braking is possible in all electric vehicles and recaptures the energy normally lost to braking, and is becoming
common in rail vehicles. In internal combustion automobiles and buses, regenerative braking is not possible, unless electric vehicle components are also a part of the powertrain, these are called
hybrid electric vehicles.
Shifting travel from automobiles to well-utilized public transport can reduce energy consumption and traffic congestion.
Walking and
bicycling instead of traveling by motorized means also reduces the consumption of fossil fuels. While the use of these two modes generally declines as a given area becomes wealthier, there are some countries (including
Denmark,
Netherlands,
Japan and parts of
Germany,
Finland and
Belgium) where bicycling comprises a significant share of trips. Some cities with particularly high modal shares of cycling are
Oulu (25%),
Copenhagen (33%) and
Groningen (50%). A number of other cities, including
London,
Paris,
New York,
Sydney,
Bogotá,
Chicago and
San Francisco are creating networks of
bicycle lanes and
bicycle paths, but the value of such devices for is highly controversial.
There is also a growing movement of drivers who practice ways to increase their MPG and save fuel through driving techniques. They are often referred to as
hypermilers. Hypermilers have broken records of fuel efficiency, averaging 109 miles per gallon driving a
Prius. In non-hybrid vehicles these techniques are also beneficial. Hypermiler Wanye Gerdes can get 59 MPG in a
Honda Accord and 30 MPG in an
Acura MDX.
[5]
Research
Transport research facilities are mainly attached to universities or are steered by the state. In most countries (not in France and Spain) one can see now how laboratories are brought into PPP-operation, where industry takes over part of the share.
Some major research centres in Europe:
★
CEDEX ES
★
CERTU FR
★
CRF IT
★
Centre for Transport Studies Imperial College UK
★
Delft University of Technology NL
★
DLR DE
★
Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule CH
★
LCPC FR
★
INRETS FR
★
TNO NL
★
Transport & Mobility Leuven BE
★
Transport Research Laboratory TRL UK
★
VTT FI
★
Joint OECD-ECMT Transport Research Centre
★
European Conference of Ministers of Transport
The European Commission supports the co-operation and collaboration amongst the transport laboratories by funding projects like EXTR@Web and
Intransnet. Especially the transition from planned economy to achieving a stable position on the market will be a challenge for laboratories in the new member states. Another EU-project
etra.ccis coping with those problems.
USA:
★
Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Berkeley
★
National Transportation Research Center
★
Transportation Research Board
See also
: ''Main lists:
List of basic transport topics and
List of transport topics''
★
Cargo
★
Transportation reference tables
★
Transport forecasting
★
Historic transport
★
Megaprojects
★
Cost overrun
★
Logistics
★
Logistician
★
Packaging and labelling
★
Shipping
★
Short sea shipping
★
Transshipment
★
Taxicab
★
Share taxi
★
Transport engineering
★
Public transport
Footnotes
1. FAI.org
2. Virtual Vault, an online exhibition of Canadian historical art at Library and Archives Canada
3. http://www.eesi.org/programs/cleanBus/PHEVS/plugin2.about.htm
4. http://www.eesi.org/programs/cleanBus/PHEVS/plugin2.about.htm
5. This Guy Can Get 59 MPG in a Plain Old Accord. Beat That, Punk. Dennis Gaffney
References
★
EU Transport in figures, Eurostat
★ "Transportation and Maps" in
Virtual Vault, an online exhibition of Canadian historical art at Library and Archives Canada
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