Week 2 - Fundamental Concepts of Transportation Flashcards
(37 cards)
What are the core components of transportation?
- modes
- infrastructure
- networks
- flows
Define modes
vehicles to move passengers or freight; mobile elements of transp (ex. cars)
Define infrastructure
physical support of transp modes (ex. routes, terminals, roads, bridges)
Define networks
systems of linked locations (nodes); functional and spatial organization of transp
Define flows
- movement of people, freight, and info over network
- have origins, intermediary locations, and destinations
Explain why transportation is an indispensable part of economy and society (dimensions)
One of the most important human activities.
- historical: changes brought by transport technologies, rise/cohesion of civilizations, and development of modern nations
- economic: transport and economic development and the value of goods/services; influences land value
- social: access to healthcare, welfare, and cultural events; shapes social interactions
- political: nation building/unity; national defence; rules/regulations; subsidized mobility
- environmental: pollution (GHGs/air quality), exploitation of natural resources
How is transportation a key economic sector in its own right in Canada?
- 4.2% of national GDP
- until recently, truck driving was single largest occupation for men
Why does transportation occur?
- goal is to overcome space (shaped by distance, time, admin divisions, and topography)
- about changing the geographical attributes (locations) of people and freight (goods) from origin to destination - key is value is added along the way
- a derived demand: it takes place because of some other economic activity/demand is taking place (ex. only take the bus to get to school; truck delivers concrete to construction site)
What is transportability?
The convenience at which passengers, freight, or info can be moved
- relates to cost of movement (modal difference), attributes of what is being transported (fragility, state, value), institutional factors (laws, borders, tariffs)
- similar to mobility: the relative ease of movement
What is an example of a good with high transportability?
cars, explosives b/c they have high value and are easy to transport
What is an example of a good with low transportability?
gravel, waste
What groups of people have the highest mobility?
- the wealthier you are, the more you travel (income strongly related to mobility)
- a challenge because as people become wealthier, they’ll desire more mobility, which means more GHGs
How much effort and money are we willing to put into travel?
- 10-15% of household budget
- income and travel positively correlated
- most people commute about 1-1.5 hours per day
- influences decisions on where to live, where to go, and how to get there
What are the roles transportation?
Key role in structure and organization of space and territories
- major influence on evolution of location theory (transp costs & influence on patterns of location)
- at local scale, one of major influences on urban morphology (why cities take certain form - new emphasis on TOD)
- at regional/national scale, influence/relationship with economic development (impact on economy - ex. trade influences transp b/c coastal cities )
What is Alfred Weber’s theory of industrial location?
The least-cost location largely driven by transport costs.
Ex. making beer, inputs are grain and water from 2 corners and third corner is town, where do you locate rail system?
- minimize costs to maximize profits under set of assumptions (ex. cost directly proportional to weight of goods)
What is the main ideas of transp roles?
- importance in development of space
- scale-dependent (global to local diffs in roles)
- mode and time dependent (container ships vs. truck transport)
In the evolution of transp systems, what is space/time convergence?
“shrinking” the world through speeding up modes with technology
- ex. ship to train to airplanes to jet planes to internet
What is the historical evolution of transp systems?
- related to spatial evolution of economic systems
- strong links b/w transp and development, so major stages in evolution of economic systems are specifically related to tech innovations
- must recognize that enhancements in communication tech plays critical role in this evolution (ex. rail & telegraph; highway & phone; supply chains & internet)
What are the phases of world economy development?
1500-1780: mercantilism 1780-1880: industrial capitalism 1880-1970: monopoly capitalism (fordism) 1970-2010: corporate capitalism (post-fordism) 2010-?: sustainable capitalism
Explain the pre-industrial era/mercantilism
- Growth: commodities and crafts trade
- production unit: workshop
- production system: craft cities
- limited to animal and wind power so low volumes and low speeds
- land transport was long distances for high value goods
Explain industrial capitalism/industrial revolution
- Growth: textiles, steam power, metallurgy
- production unit: factory
- production system: industrial cities/regions
- massive modifications were canal systems and railways
Explain monopoly capitalism/fordism
- Growth: electricity, petrochemicals, internal combustion engines
- production unit: multinational corporations
- production system: industrial clusters
- economies of scale through assembly lines
- first commercial air service in 1919
- shift from coal to oil
Explain corporate capitalism/post-fordism
- Growth: aviation, electronics, info, communications tech
- production unit: corporate system
- production system: global production networks
- mass development of telecommunications, globalization, and efficient distribution systems
Explain sustainable capitalism
- Growth: digital networks/devices, green energy, customized fabrications
- production unit: collaborative supply chain
- production system: hierarchical production networks
- still have dual dependency (transp heavily relies on fossils fuels and road transp)
