Transport Flashcards
Define “mobility”
Mobility refers to the movement of people and goods from place to place, in a reasonable amount of time and an acceptable cost.
Define “modes of transport”
Modes of transportation refer to the type of transport used to facilitate the movement of people or goods from one place to another.
Define “private transport” and “punblic transport”
Private transport refers to the transport owned by individuals, such as motorcycles and cars. Public transport refers to transport provided by the government or private companies, such as buses, trains and taxis.
Define “transport network”
A transport network refers to a system of transport routes connecting a set of nodes.
Define “nodes” and “route”.
A node refers to a place where lines in a network cross or join. A route refers to the connection between two nodes.
Define “transport infrastructure”.
Transport infrastructure refers to facilities such as roads, railway tracks and bus terminals.
State the 5 characterstics of high quality transport infrastructure.
Comfortable: Clean travelling environment allows for a comfortable commute.
Large capacity: Able to move large numbers of people at any one time
Efficient: Frequent services to move people quickly
Dependable and reliable: Transport systems can be depended upon to move people constantly, on time and with few interruptions
Safe: -Little dangers of car accidents, bus collisions or even train derailing
-Presence of safety features such as track barriers and emergency buttons on trains
Define “traffic congestion”
Traffic congestion is a situation where there are more vehicles than the road can handle.
State the characteristics of traffic congestion.
Some characteristics include slow travelling speed which may be as slow as 10 km/h compared to the usual speed of 80km/h and long vehicle queues that last more than 15 minutes. These queues may sometimes stretch anywhere from a few hundred metres to several kilometres. In some instances, traffic may be so congested that vehicles do not move at all.
LDQ: Central Business District causes traffic congestion.
CBD is the commercial centre where businesses are concentrated in the city. There is usually a high flow of traffic on the roads within the CBD because many people commute to and from the CBD. As a result, a large number of buses, taxis and private cars enter and leave the CBD daily.
For example, in Manhattan, CBD of New York City, United States of America, during weekday work hours, its population nearly doubled from 1.6 million to 3.1 million based on a research in 2013.
Define “peak hours”
LDQ: Peak hours traffic flow causes traffic congestion.
Peak hours refers to a part of the day during which traffic volume is the highest.
Traffic congestion tends to occur during peak hours when many people are on their way to work in the mornings or on their way home from work in the evenings.
For example, based on INRIX Traffic Scorecard 2013, in the London Commuter Zone, 79 hours are wasted in traffic per month on average.
LDQ: Separation of work and residential areas causes traffic congestion
People often work and live in different parts of the city. Places of work are often located away from housing areas. The separation of work and residential areas results in the need for people to commute to work.
According to a 2011 report published by the United States Census Bureau, a total of 132.3 million people in the country commute between work and residentials areas daily.
In 2013, the average daily traffic volume entering the CBD in Singapore was 289,000 vehicles.
LDQ: Inadequate transport infrastructure and poor provision of transport services can cause traffic congestion.
Inadequate transport infrastructure means that a city’s transportation facilities are not able to handle the amount of traffic they receive, which includes roads that may not have enough lanes or the network is not well-connected. For example, some roads may be congested due to a lack of alternative routes, especially when there has been an accident or during peak hours.
Poor provision of transport services means that a city only has a small fleet of public buses and trains and does not have enough of them to carry commuters which will lead to overcrowding. For a more pleasant experience, people will buy their own cars and drive to work, leading to more vehicles on the roads, causing congestion. For example, in Mumbai, India, trains and buses are often filled with passengers. Many people turn to buying their own cars. In Mumbai, 460,000 cars were registered with regional transportation offices until 2006-2007. This grew to 700,000 cars by 2012-2013.
LDQ: Reduced productivity is an impact of traffic congestion.
Productivity refers to the rate at which goods and services are produced. Traffic congestion reduces productivity because people have to spend more time commuting and this wasted time could be spent on productive work. For example, in Singapore, the economic loss from inefficient transport amounts to 9% of the country’s annual income per person.
Stress on physical and mental health is an impact of traffic congestion.
Physical health refers to the general condition of a person’s body. Long travelling time can lead to fatigue and drivers are more prone to losing their concentration or falling asleep, causing accidents or even deaths. Mental health refers to a person’s psychological state as indicated by his or her emotion and behaviour. Due to spending more time on the road, drivers may become prone to stress and frustration while stuck in traffic. This increases their chances of being involved in accidents or fights with other drivers.
