1. Topic 1 – Transportation and Geography
What is Transport Geography?
Transportation and Space
The Geography of Transportation Networks

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Citation
Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Dept. of Global Studies & Geography, Hofstra University.

3. A – What is Transport Geography?
1 – The Purpose of Transportation
2 – The Importance of Transportation
3 – Transport Geography

4. The Sisyphus Analogy in Transportation
Overcoming space
Variety of human and physical constraints.
Space has a cost (distance, time, administrative divisions and topography).
Volume
Friction of distance
Costs.
Distance involved.
Nature of what is being transported.
Effort
Distance
Purpose of transportation
Transform the geographical attributes of freight, people or information.
Give an added value in the process.
Fulfillment of a demand for mobility.
Friction ∟

5. Different Representations of Distance
Euclidean Distance A B
Transport Distance A
Pickup
Delivery B
Transshipment
Mode 1
Mode 2
Logistical Distance
Order
Pickup A
Delivery B
Transshipment
Mode 1
Order Processing
Packing Scheduling
Mode 2
Inventory Management
Unpacking
Sorting Warehousing

6. Transportability of Some Key Goods
Type
Weight
Storage
Fragility
Perishable
Person
Very light NA
High
Coal
Heavy
Simple
None
Grain
Average
Low
Petroleum
Fruits
Complex
Container
Average (15-20 tons)
Variable

7. Transportation as a Derived Demand
Activity
Working
Vacationing
Manufacturing
Direct
Commuting
Taxi
Air travel
Touring bus
Trucks
Containership
Warehousing
Indirect
Energy
Derived Demand
Transportation cannot exists on its own and cannot be stored.

8. Operational Differences between Passengers and Freight Transportation
Board, get off and transfer without assistance
Must be loaded, unloaded and transferred
Process information and act on it without assistance
The information must be processed through logistics managers
Make choices between transport modes without assistance but often irrationally
Logistics managers meet choices between transport modes rationally
Require travel accommodations related to comfort and safety
Require limited travel accommodations

9. Key Dimensions of Transportation
Historical
Changes brought by transport technologies. Rise and cohesion of civilizations (e.g. Egypt, Rome and China). Development of modern nation states.
Economic
Transport and economic development (indirectly and directly).
Factor in the production and added-value of goods and services.
Facilitates economies of scale. Influences land (real estate) value. Contributes to the specialization of regions.
Social
Access to healthcare, welfare, and cultural events. Shape social interactions.
Political
Nation building and national unity. National defense (Roman empire, American road network). Rules and regulations. Mobility often subsidized (e.g. public transit or highways).
Environmental
Important environmental impacts. Pollution, exploitation of natural resources.

10. 2 – The Importance Transportation
Higher Mobility Demands
Reduction of Costs
Expansion of Infrastructure
Considerable growth of individual (passengers) and freight mobility.
Larger quantities of passengers and freight being moved.
Longer distances over which they are carried.
Multiplication of the number of journeys.
Wide variety of modes servicing transport demands.
Several transportation modes are very expensive to own and operate (ships and planes).
Costs per unit transported have significantly dropped.
Overcome larger distances and further exploit the comparative advantages of space.
Lower costs linked with longer distances.
Extended the requirements for transport infrastructures both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Roads, harbors, airports, telecommunication facilities and pipelines have expanded considerably.
Service new areas and adding capacity to existing networks.
Transportation infrastructures are a major component of the land use.

11. Vehicle Use Indicators, World, 1950-2004
Source: Worldwatch Institute and BTS.

12. Transport and Communication Costs Indexes, 1920-2000
Source: UNDP Human Development Report 1999, p. 30.

13. World Land Transportation Network Length and Density, 2002

14. 2 – The Importance Transportation
Spatial differentiation of the economy
Different locations.
Location of resources (raw materials, labor, manufacturing).
Spatial division of production and consumption.
Service embedded in the socio-economic life of individuals, institutions and corporations.
Often invisible for to consumer, but always part of all economic functions.

15. 2 – The Importance Transportation
Strategic infrastructure
Embedded in the socio-economic life of individuals, institutions and corporations.
If disrupted or cease to operate, the consequences can be dramatic.
No specific user can have a competitive advantage over others.
Often invisible to the consumer.
The perceived invisibility of transportation is derived from its efficiency.

16. 3 – Transport Geography
Geographers are interested about transportation for two main reasons:
Transport infrastructures occupy space:
Terminals, equipment and networks.
The basis of a complex spatial system.
Transport is an expression of spatial relationships:
Networks: The main support of these interactions.

17. The Transport Geography Perspective
Infrastructures
Passengers
Freight
Information
Interactions (Flows)
Locations (Nodes)

18. Two Common Fallacies in Transport Geography
Access vs. Accessibility
Distance vs. Time 55 50 30 50 25 b 55 35 30 35 30 40 40 30 65 35 40 45 65 c 60 65 60 a
Access is uniform; as long a there is a possibility to enter or to exit (e.g. public highway).
Often no specific user can have a competitive advantage over others.
Accessibility varies according to one's location within the transport system.
Distance remains constant.
Time can vary due to improvements in transport technology or because of congestion.

19. Common Problems for Transport Systems
Capacity
Transfer
Hub / Gateway
Terminal
Route
Bottleneck
Reliability
Integration

20. B – Transportation and Space
1 – Physical Constraints
2 – Overcoming the Physical Environment
3 – Transportation and the Spatial Structure
4 – Space / Time Relationships

21. 1 – Physical Constraints
Topography
Hydrography
Climate
Strongly influence the structure of networks, the cost and feasibility of transportation projects.
Transport infrastructures are built usually where there are the least physical impediments.
Physical constraints act as absolute and relative barriers to movements.
Determines the extent of navigation.
Constraints on land transportation (Bridges, tunnels and detours).
Can be a transport infrastructure on its own.
Several rivers are important navigable routeways and been the focus of human activities.
Ports (Strongly conditioned by the hydrography).
General weather pattern affecting a region (Temperature, wind and precipitation).
Varied impacts on transportation (Jet streams).

22. Absolute and Relative Barriers
Absolute Barrier
Modal Change A B
Detour
Relative Barrier A B
Low
High
Friction

23. Great Circle Distance between New York, Moscow and Tokyo

24. Great Circle Distance between New York, Moscow and Tokyo

25. Major Oceanic Gyres

26. 2 – Overcoming the Physical Environment
The physical challenge
Rapid scientific and technological developments:
Enable transportation to overcome the physical environment.
From adapting to the environment to adapting the environment.:
Creation of new spaces (land reclamation).
Road and rail:
Advance in engineering (bridges and tunnels).
Maritime:
Large port terminals.
Dredging and canals.
Air transport:
Large airport terminals.

27. Pont du Gard, France

28. The Geographical Space of Maritime Transportation
Northwest
Gibraltar M
Suez
Malacca P A I P
Panama
Sunda
Magellan
Good Hope

29. Polar Shipping Routes
Source: adapted from New York Times, October

30. Yangshang Port, China

31. Chek Lap Kok Airport, Hong Kong

32. 3 – Transportation and the Spatial Structure
Inertia of transport infrastructures
Physical attributes:
Natural conditions can be modified and adapted to suit human uses.
Most networks follow the easiest (least cost) and most direct path, which generally follows valleys and plains.
Historical considerations:
New infrastructures generally reinforce historical patterns of exchange.
Highway network of France.
Urban streets pattern.

33. Transportation Networks and Geographical Specialization

34. Transportation Networks and Geographical Segregation

35. 4 – Space / Time Relationships
Space / Time Convergence
Amount of space that can be “purchased” with a specific amount of time.
Related to the efficiency of the transport system.
Significant convergence in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Space / time convergence has reached the global level.

36. Days Required to Circumnavigate the Globe

37. Regional Space / Time Convergence (in minutes)
Source: adapted from Janelle, D.G "Central Place Development in a Time-space Framework“, The Professional Geographer Vol. 20: pp

38. Mail Delivery Times between New York and San Francisco, 1840-2000
Ocean route NYC to Panama, Overland
Transcontinental stagecoach
Completion of Panama railroad
Rail to St. Joseph (MO) and Pony Express
Source: SRI International (2002)
Transcontinental rail service
Air mail service
FedEx Overnight

39. Space / Time Convergence of the Global Transport System
( ) Average speed of wagon and sail
ships: 16 km/hr
Industrial Revolution
Average speed of trains: 100 km/hr.
Average speed of steamships: 25 km/hr
Space / Time
Convergence
1950 Average speed of airplanes: km/hr
Modern Era
1970 Average speed of jet planes: km/hr
1990 Numeric transmission: instantaneous

40. Estimated Travel Time to the Nearest City of 50,000 or more People, 2000
Source: Nelson, A. (2008) Estimated travel time to the nearest city of 50,000 or more people in year Global Environment Monitoring Unit - Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, Ispra Italy. Available at

41. 4 – Space / Time Relationships
Convergence Factor
Speed
Increase in velocity (less common).
Economies of scale
Transport larger amounts of freight and passengers at lower costs.
Expansion of transport infrastructure
Service areas that were not or insufficiently serviced.
Expanded the average length of traffic.
Transport terminal efficiency
Capacity to handle large quantities of traffic over a short time period.
Telecommunications
Substitution effect.
Improvements in management (just-in-time).

42. 4 – Space / Time Relationships
Space / Time Divergence
Inversion of the process.
More time spend to travel the same amount of space.
Congestion is the dominant factor:
Commuting (congestion and suburbanization).
Air travel (congestion and security).
The “last mile” problem.
On the long run, can impose locational adjustments.

43. Home-to-Work Commute Profile, United States, 1983-2003
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, BTS.