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TRANSPORT GEOGRAPHY
Transport:
Wagner (1960): The routes along which men, materials
and messages, move bind a society together.
Wordweb: The commercial enterprise of moving goods
and materials.
Transport Geography:
Oxford Dictionary of Geography (1995): A branch of
human geography, concentrating on the movement of
people and goods, the patterns of such movement, the
volume of people and goods carried, the price of
transport and the role of transport in economic, political
and social development.
Ullman (1954): The study of the measurement of
relation between areas which is an essential aspect of
geography.
Importance of transport geography:
1. Land management and planning
2. Land conservation and zoning
3. Human interaction with spaces
4. Agricultural aspects of transport
5. Population movement measurement
6. Spatial demographical aspects
7. Environmental impact of transport
8. Transport hampering by hazards
9. Location analysis
10. Water resource management
11. Human resource management
12. Urban planning
13. Rural planning
14. Urban studies
15. Assessment of emission of vehicles
16. Land and water quality alteration by transportation
17. Economic and social aspects of transport geography
Elements of transport mode:
1. Road
2. Vehicles
3. Motive power
4. Terminal
Other transport elements: population, traffic controller,
transport authority, transport laws and acts etc.
Different transport modes:
1. Land way (road, railway)
2. Airway (airplane routes)
3. Waterway (inland waterways, shipping and
boating routes)
4. Other (pipeline, ropeways)
Characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of
transport modes:
Land transport:
1. Takes place on land, using trucks, buses, trains,
smaller vehicles like cars, etc. May also involves
transport of Liquids/gases through pipes.
2. Commonly preferred for smaller distances
3. Vehicles run on diesel, petrol (or gasoline), electricity
or natural gas (CNG, etc.)
4. Commonly preferred form of public transport
5. Generally cheap for smaller distances
6. Need management
7. Most Accident prone
8. Most pollution source (PbO, CO, CO2).
Water transport:
1. Takes place in water bodies: streams, lakes, rivers and
oceans. It uses boats, ships, etc.
2. Generally preferred for long distance cargo
movement and/or tourism (cruise)
3. Boats/ships run on liquid fuel (diesel)
4. Not preferred for public transport, unless it is the only
available option for mass transport, for example: for
connecting smaller islands.
5. Cheapest form of mass transport for long distance.
However, it is also the slowest.
6. Water pollution
7. Oil leakage
8. Threat to marine environment
9. Vulnerable to tropical countries due to climatic
complications.
10. More risky due to sinking probability.
Air transport:
1. Takes place in air using airplanes
2. Preferred for long distance transport, esp. for human
beings and smaller cargo
3. Airplanes run on liquid fuel, generally a special blend
known as jet fuel
4. Not used for mass public transport
5. Fastest option for travel, however it is a costly option.
6. Need expert and skilled driver and crews.
7. Massive damage of life and properties in the case of
accident. The surviving probabilities are fewest among
other modes.
Rail Transport:
According to Oxford Dictionary, Railway is a way of
roads laid with rails, on which the wheels of wagons
containing heavy goods are made to run for ease and
transport, also the way composed of rails thus laid.

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1. Public Utility Service: Railways provide an essential
service to the public. It being a public utility service,
requires protection and investments by government.
2. Monopoly: Railways have monopoly in India. The
rail transport is managed by the Railways Department of
the Central Government. No private operator is allowed
to enter this transport sector.
3. Huge Investments: The railways require huge
investments for purchase of land, laying of tracks,
constructing railway stations and sheds, buying
automobiles, etc. No single individual can afford to
make all these investments.
4. Privileges: The railways require special privileges to
provide efficient transport service. Railways’ require
special property rights for purchase of land, construction
of bridges and railway lines.
5. Special Rate Fixation: The railways fix separate rate
for passengers and goods traffic. The same rates are
applicable to all persons and all areas of the country.
Rail services are available to all members or the public
on equal terms.
6. Non-transferability: Once the railway lines are laid
down then these tracks cannot be used for any other
purpose. So railway services are non- transferable.
7. Less costly
8. Additional disadvantage: Limited seats, non-flexible
routes, traditional rail engines in Bangladesh, lack of
monitoring and management etc.
Pipeline:
1. Line of pipe with sufficient diameter for gas or
water movement from supply to consumption point.
2. Needs maintenance.
3. Cheap and simple structure.
4. Carries: liquids, gases, solids, materials in capsule.
5. Maintained by WASA.
Mediterranean Canal:
The Mediterranean–Dead Sea canal (MDSC) is a
proposed project to dig a canal from the Mediterranean
Sea to the Dead Sea, taking advantage of the 400-metre
difference in water level between the seas. It is not to be
confused with the Red Sea–Dead Sea Water
Conveyance. The project could correct the drop in the
level of the Dead Sea observed in recent years. The canal
could also be used to generate hydroelectric power
because of surface difference and maybe by salinity
gradient power, and desalinate water by reverse
osmosis.
Suez Canal:
The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in
Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea
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through the Isthmus of Suez. Constructed by the Suez
Canal Company between 1859 and 1869, it was
officially opened on 17 November 1869. The canal
offers watercraft a shorter journey between the North
Atlantic and northern Indian Oceans via the
Mediterranean and Red seas by avoiding the South
Atlantic and southern Indian oceans, in turn reducing the
journey by approximately 7,000 kilometres.
Characteristics and Economy:
 Located in Egypt
 Allows water transportation directly
 Between Europe (the Mediterranean) and Asia
(the Red Sea).
 The Suez Canal is the man-made feature most
easily spotted from space.
 8,900 kilometres saved
 The length is 192 km (119 miles) of waterway
163 km (101 miles) of constructed area.
 Alternatives are-
–Navigating around Africa
–Carrying goods overland between the
Mediterranean and the Red Sea
History: Pharaoh Senusret III made this in 2000 BC. It
was used before but was not in great maintenance.
Napoleon in 1799 revived the idea. Built in 1859-1869
but blocked for 8 years during 1967-1975. One of the
most important waterways in world trade today.
Economic importance:
 106 vessels can pass through each day.
 In 2007, more than 7,700 container ships passed the
Suez Canal, carrying more than 318,000 tons of
cargo.
 That is 7.5% of the world’s total ocean trade.
 Oil cargo in the north side and manufactured good
in south side.
 Earns more than USD 5,000,000,000 (5 B) in
annual revenue.

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Patterns of Movement of Transport System:
Movement Pattern: The one way travel from one point
to another for a particular purpose (Powell and Smith,
1970). From origin to destination, it’s influenced by
spatial interactions.
There are 3 sorts of patterns-
A. General patterns of movement
B. Personal movement patterns
C. Freight Traffic movement patterns
A. General patterns of movement:
1. High density (of land uses) to high density travel
(town to cities, between cities).
2. Low density to low density (Village to village).
3. Low density to high density (suburb to city, village
to city).
4. Within high density zones (within the city area,
intercity area).
B. personal movement patterns:
1. Commuting within city core
2. Commuting from suburb to urban
3. Commuting outward from city
4. Commuting within suburbs
5. Commuting from rural to suburb
6. Commuting from suburb to rural
7. Commuting within rural areas
8. Commuting from rural to suburb to city
9. Commuting from urban to rural to suburb
10. Commuting among cities
11. Commuting among villages
C. Freight Traffic movement patterns
1. Changing relationship between factories and
adjacent market area
a. Market area expansion
b. Sales within market area
c. Product allocation at distant from market due
to demand (not direct, denser and less denser
zones are in the way of sale)
d. Concentration of sales at (c)
e. Direct route of sale (with nodal points)
f. Elimination of nodes (straight direct)
2. Channels of distribution
a. Factory-Distribution Depot-Wholesale-Shop
b. Factory-Distribution Depot-Retail-Shop
c. Factory-Distribution Depot-Shop
d. Factory-Wholesale-Shop
e. Factory-Retails- Shop
f. Factory-Shop
Physical and Economic Factor of Transport:
Physical factors:
1. Physiographic control (upland, lowland, barrier)
2. Route selection
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3. Land forms patterns
4. Geologic controls (land capacity, geologic event,
tunnel route, rock characteristics)
5. Marine routes’ properties
6. Climatic consequences (snow, rain, storm etc.)
Economic factors:
1. Transport cost (fixed, variable, marginal, average)
2. Quality of service
3. Pricing of transport
4. Charging method
Other factors:
 Historical factor (development of technology,
location, transport system and settlement)
 Technological factor
 Political and social factor (involvement of
government, politics, policies, safety, social
norms, working condition etc.)
Transport Development Model:
Gould’s Spatial Exploration Model (1966): The
behavioural model was proposed in 1966 as an
alternative to the Taaffe, Morrill and Gould concepts of
transport devel-opment. It incorporates a random
approach and is based upon a simulation of search
theory, with the development of a transport network
within an area, which contains resources and hazards, or
constraints, indicated by isorithms of environ-mental
quality.
The developer aims to tap the resources of a previously
unexploited area, depicted as a square, by building roads
from a port on the coast, which forms one side of this
square. As road building proceeds so the developer will
encounter the resources and the constraints, such as
mountains or rivers, within the environment.
In stage one capital is invested in roads, which diverge
from the port in straight lines.
In stage two, information on the nature of the resources
or of the hazards encountered by the advancing roads is
fed back to the development who may react in one of

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two ways. The resource already tapped may be exploited
by investing in all-weather roads, or the search may be
continued for other resources by extending the road
network.
Stage three comprises the construction of further links
following the principles outlined in the first two stages.
Taaffe, Morrill and Gould (TMG) Model (1963):
Taaffe, Morrill and Gould, in 1963, undertook a
comparative analysis of the development of transport in
developing countries and they were able to show that
certain broad regular­ities permitted “a descriptive
generalisation of an ideal typical sequence of
transportation development”. Their spatial model of
transport network development in developing countries
has proved to be a valuable help in the understanding of
transport development and has been widely applied.
The first stage consists of scattered settlements and
small ports along a coast, which arose from colonial
occupation. Such coastal settlements developed trading
functions, though in the beginning these were of a very
limited nature and, in consequence, their hinter-lands
were very restricted.
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This second stage is, hand in hand with the growth of an
efficient administrative system and, more particularly,
with the expansion of production for export.
The third stage is marked by the development of
‘feeder’ routes which focus more particularly upon the
main ports and the more important centres in the interior.
At the same time, as the growth in the export trade
stimulates economic expansion generally in the
hinterland, a number of intermediate centres begin to
develop along the major access routes.
In the fourth stage, these intermediate centres begin to
develop into nodes which become focal points for feeder
networks of their own.
Stage five sees the emergence of complete
inter-connections as the various feeder networks grow
around the ports, major inland centres and main-line
nodes and begin to link up.
Finally, in stage six, as the economy becomes more
developed and integrated, all the principal centres and
many of the minor centres are linked together in the
transport system, while a number of high priority trunk
routes develop which link the largest or most important
centres.
Transport Location; Factors and Importance:
Factors:
 Connectivity. The city is located at load break
point where cargoes are moved from one mode to
the other, connecting two or more systems of
circulation. This is particularly the case for port
cities, which explains for a large part the coastal
location of the majority of the world’s largest cities.
 Proximity. The city is located in proximity to a
major (or several) resource and serves as a
convenient point of collection, distribution and
transformation. The resource can at a specific
location (e.g. a mine) or encompassing an area (e.g.
agriculture).
 Accessibility. The city serves a hinterland in the
provision of goods and services with its size a
function of the density.
Importance:
Ports and airports. Main port and airports facilities,
particularly the networks they support, have been
important factors in the reduction of transportation
costs, particularly over long distances. The location and
the level of activity of ports and airports are reflective of
global trade patterns. These facilities are also important
drivers of co-location of related activities, particularly
for ports since inland distribution costs tend to be higher
for bulk.

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Roads and railroads. Road and rail infrastructures
provide a structuring and convergence effect that varies
according to the level of accessibility and density. In
addition to reduce transport costs, efficient roads and
railways support higher density levels of economic
activities. For rail transport, terminals also have an
important co-location effect with the setting of inland
ports.
Telecommunications. They provide no specific local
influence, but the quality of regional and national
telecommunication systems tends to ease transactions.
Telecommunication systems benefits from higher
densities since it becomes more effective to service a
customer base.
Globalization has been associated with significant
changes in business operations and markets. The whole
scale of locational considerations has been expanded.
Managing operations in such an environment has
become increasingly complex, especially with the
globalization of production and consumption.
Manufacturing strategies tend to use different locations
for each component of a product in order to optimize
respective comparative advantages and reduce input
costs.
Characteristics of Bangladesh Transport System:
The transport system of Bangladesh consists of roads,
railways, inland waterways, two seaports, maritime
shipping and civil aviation catering for both domestic
and international traffic.
Road Transport: The total paved road length under
Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has expanded
from a mere 600 km in 1947 to around 4,265 km in 1973
and to around 21,000 km in 2001. At present it is nearly
22,000 km.
Another 1,83,354 km of road existed under LGED, as of
December 1998, which link rural growth centres with
the arterial routes. Most of the heavy vehicles in
Bangladesh are of 2-axle configuration, with two
wheeled front axle and 4-wheeled rear axle. The axle
load limit is 18,000 lbs or 8.2 tonnes, compared to 10.2
tonnes in India.
Bangladesh Railway (BR): Bangladesh Railway (BR)
has a total route kilometer of 2734, of which 901 km is
Broad Gauge (BG) and 1833 km is Meter Gauge (MG)
. The BR is at present catering to passenger and freight
services at 489 stations spread over the entire country.
Bangladesh Railway has also introduced computerized
wagon control system (RAILWICS) in 1999-2000.
UNESCAP assisted programme, can now be used for
tracking and monitoring movement and status of all
rolling stock, containers and cargo. System can be
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integrated for international tracking. The system is now
fully operated by BR.
Inland Water Transport: Bangladesh is a Maritime
country with vast network of inland waterways. Out of
nearly 24,000 km of rivers, streams and canals in
Bangladesh, only about 5,970 km is navigable by
mechanized vessels during monsoon period, which
shrinks to about 3,970 km during dry period.
Approximately, 90% of IWT services are provided by
private sector. The IWT sector carries over 50% of all
arterial freight traffic and one quarter of all passenger
traffic.
Urban Transport System: The urban transport issues
of mobility, congestion, safety and environmental
aspects are becoming increasing important and critical
in Bangladesh. The rapid urbanization process, high
vehicular population growth and that of the mobility,
inadequate transport facilities and policies, varied traffic
mix with over concentration of non-motorized vehicles,
absence of dependable public transport system and
inadequate traffic management practices and parking
facilities have created a significant worsening of traffic
and environmental problems in the major urban centres,
Dhaka in particular.
Problems in Transport System:
1. Non-integrated transport system : road, water
and water are act separately and on is developing
but other deteriorating
2. Only road sectoral basis: road transport is
comparative advantage than other competing
modes. Investment, resource allocation,
maintenance and management is very much
questionable
3. Unsustainable development: it requires more
sensitive to environment and social constraints
including indirect and long-term impacts with less
energy consumption and reduction of external
costs. In this case, rail and water is more efficient
than road
4. Private Sector’s road undefined: Absence of
regulatory institutions, an appropriate legal
framework and inadequacy of capable and educated
transport providers, bureaucratic procedures and
practices etc are some of the factors which are
working as the obstacle to private sector
involvement.
5. Lack of Outward Looking Approach: transport
sector consider basically national context not cross
border issues. It may become extremely costly for
Bangladesh to provide inter-country transport
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services when situation demand unless Traffic problem and solution in Chittagong:
compatibility with neighboring transport systems. Traffic Congestion in Chittagong City: Chittagong city
6. Serious Institutional Weakness: weak and mainly depends on heterogeneous (rick wash, bus, truck,
outdated structure. Lack of resources, capacity to lorry, tempo and different types of human haler)
good governance, sound policy making and public transportation network system. Road unfairness has
management. Lack of coordination in different been evolved due to topography of the city. There are
institution. total areas 157 square km (61 square miles) that zigzag
7. Lack of Vision: Long term vision is vital for and narrow by road network, but this network are not
transport development. But, for the lack of vision sufficient of city dwellers. The spatial distribution and
development efforts become ad-hoc and remain intensity of traffic congestion in varies from spot to spot.
unguided. According to field survey respondent have mentioned
that Bahaddarhat Moor, Chawkbazer Moor, Dewanhat
Moor, New Market Moor, Muradpur Moor, GEC Moor,
2 No gate Moor, Tigerpass Moor and Agrabad Moor
areas the most traffic congested points in the Chittagong
City.
Area Percentage Rank(R)3
(%)
Bahaddarhat Moor 21.42 1
Chawkbazar Moor 14.28 2
8. Inappropriate Modal mix: Due to its comparative
Muradpur Moor 14.28 2
advantages in terms of speed, flexibility, and
accessibility, road transport has emerged as the GEC Moor 10.71 3
most popular mode of transportation in Bangladesh. New Market Moor 10 4
9. Neglect of Intentional Surface Transport Andarkilla Moor 7.14 5
2 NO Gate Moor 7.14 5
Growing issues in urban transportation:
 Traffic Congestion: traffic congestion means delay Oxygen Moor 5 6
caused by one vehicle to others. It results when the Dewanhat Moor 5 6
number of vehicles is high to the capacity of the Tiger pass Moor 5 6
road network.
Points of traffic: At intersection, Near intersection, Bus
 Accidents: on the roads accidents constitute one of
terminal, Front of shopping center, Railway level
the major social problems. The highest incidence of
crossing, Front of educational institution, Middle of the
road accidents occurs, not surprisingly, in those
link, flyovers etc.
cities with highest rate of car ownership.
Solutions:
 Public Transport, the problem of peak period: In
 To create rural employment opportunities it reduces
practically every city the use of public transport is
the rural urban migration because over urbanization
concentrated in the morning and evening and rush
is the main problem of traffic congestion.
hours. Whatever the volume of demand, there is
 Modernization of urban transport and educated
invariably too little capacity to permit comfortable
driver and helper because educated traffic personnel
traveling condition at these conditions.
and modern vehicle reduce traffic congestion.
 Pedestrian: there is lack of accessibility and
 To respect traffic law because it helps to the control
facilities for the pedestrians
of over speed, over take, overweight, over
 Environment: air pollution, noise pollution are
passenger and signal system.
associated with increased road traffic.
 To take initiatives of traffic road management
 Parking: in many cities parking difficulties are
authority, buildup over bridge and control trucks
deliberately crated by removal of parking space and
and rickshaws.
refusal to allow the provision of new car parks
 Different types of automobiles (i.e. truck, lorry and
.nevertheless from the consumer’s point of view,
covered van) should move after 8pm to 6 am.
the shortage of parking space, the regulations and
charges applying to it, are another source of
dissatisfaction and complaint.

Folder: Bappy’s 4th year note: 407
 To reduce personal automobiles usage of public
transport, double dicker and more capacity
passenger automobiles.
 Pedestrian should use footpath, zebra crossing, used
over bridge, respect to traffic signal and traffic law.
 To take combined initiatives of various traffic
related authorities (i.e. CCC, CMP, CDA, BRTA &
BRTC) it helps to reduce traffic congestion.
 To develop hawker market, because it reduces the
hawker and other merchandiser are holding on the
road.
 To create urban employments sectors for rootless
people because rootless people are surviving the
rickshaw puller, it’s the major causes of traffic
congestion.
 Unnecessary islands are removed on the road.
 Plan wise setup school, college, market and
shopping mall and build bypass road near the
institution.
Transport Cost: The study of economic aspects of
transports from geographic point of view is transport
economics in geography (Saxena). Transport cost is
the cost involving relaying goods to and form a plant,
including payments to transport forms for their services
and any cost incurred by a plant in using and maintaining
is own fleet of vehicles (Oxford dictionary of
geography).
Factors:
1. Geography. Its impacts mainly involve distance
and accessibility.
2. Type of product. Many products require
packaging, special handling, are bulky or
perishable.
3. Economies of scale. Another condition affecting
transport costs is related to economies of scale or
the possibilities to apply them as the larger the
quantities transported, the lower the unit cost.
4. Energy. Transport activities are large consumers of
energy, especially oil.
5. Empty backhauls. Many transport interactions
involve empty backhauls since it is uncommon to
have a perfect match between an inbound and a
return trip.
6. Infrastructures. The efficiency and capacity of
transport modes and terminals has a direct impact
on transport costs.
7. Mode. Different modes are characterized by
different transport costs, since each has its own
capacity limitations and operational conditions.
7
8. Competition and regulation. Concerns the
complex competitive and regulatory environment in
which transportation takes place.
9. Surcharges. Refer to an array of fees, often set in
an arbitrary fashion, to reflect temporary conditions
that may impact on costs assumed by the transporter
10. Taxes and tolls. Transport activities are often
taxed, such as vehicle sales taxes and registration
fees.
11. Cross-subsidies. If an infrastructure is particularly
expensive to develop and maintain, this costs
should be reflected in fares to cover the
amortization of the asset.
Elements of transport cost:
(i) Track costs – of providing and maintaining a surface
over which transports services can operate.
(ii) Running costs – the cost of purchasing, maintaining
and operating a vehicle to run on the track surface.
(iii) Interchange costs – the cost of providing facilities
at the beginning and completion of a journey.
Classification of transport cost:
The two broad category of transport costs are fixed costs
(usually called by economists as inescapable costs) and
of variable costs (escapable costs).
Fixed Costs:
These are costs, which are incurred before any traffic at
all passes. They include the costs: (i) Of providing the
infra-structure (i.e., the roads, the port or the railway
line); (ii) Of providing, equipping and staffing the
terminal facilities (i.e., bus depots, railway stations or
airports); (iii) Of providing managerial, administrative
and maintenance staff and their offices and workshops.
These costs are inescapable because they cannot be
avoided except by abandoning the whole operation.
They also do not vary with the level of traffic, but remain
independent of it. A railway signal-box of the old
fashioned kind, controlling a short stretch of line, must
be manned (and thus incurs wage costs) whether there is
one train or six trains per hour over the line.
Variable Costs:
These are costs incurred by the actual movement of
traffic and therefore vary with the level of the traffic
passing. They include the cost of fuel, crew wages and
the maintenance of vehicles due to the operation of those
vehicles in traffic service, for example the replacement
of worn bus tires or routine inspection of an aircraft after
so many hours airborne. They are called escapable
because they can be avoided or escaped by not running
a particular train, suspending a particular flight or a
private motorist leaving his or her car in the garage and

Folder: Bappy’s 4th year note: 407
walking to the shops. But there is one very important
consideration, which complicates an otherwise simple
concept. In the very short run, to suspend the last bus on
Saturday night will probably see only the fuel and tyre
wear, for even the driver will have to be paid the
guaranteed minimum weekly wages. Over a slightly
longer period, all the drivers’ duties could be rearranged
and perhaps one of them gives notice.
Marginal and Average Costs:
Marginal cost is the additional cost incurred in order to
produce one more unit of output. Marginal cost may be
incurred by carrying an extra passenger on a bus with
seats to spare or another tonne of goods on a half-empty
lorry or of a wagon on a freight train. It may even mean
to allow 25 trains in a day instead of 20. Marginal costs
are therefore time linked and it may be of short-run or
long-run nature. Marginal costs do not represent
constant additional to costs. Up to the capacity of the
transport unit (bus, aircraft, train, ship), any further
increase in traffic incurs negligible marginal costs.
Then, there is a sharp increase at the point, where a
second unit becomes necessary. Marginal costs also
vary between modes of transport. Average costs are
abstained by dividing the total costs of the operation by
the work done, expressed in terms of passenger-km,
tonne-km or transport-unit-km.
8
Average costs will of course vary with output, for
greater the product the more the fixed costs can be
spread.
Cost performance relationship:
Cost-Quality: Quality of service is of equal importance
to cost of service, and in many cases users are prepared
to pay for quality. As Table 6.2 shows, the attributes of
quality vary as between passengers and freight.
Passenger looks for reliability above all, the likelihood
that the service will fulfil the promise of the time table.
For urban bus passengers the most frustrating
experience is to wait 15 minutes for the next bus on a 5-
minute service at the end of which time three buses come
along together. For short journeys frequency is
important, as this reduces waiting time. Speed is
important for the businessman and he is prepared to pay
higher fares for a faster service.
Pricing: The price of transport to the user is the other
side of the coin from the cost to the producer of
providing the service. In the long run, of course, price
must be related to cost so that revenue can be related to
expenditure, even if the revenue is made up by open or
concealed subsidy. But in the short run of the day or the
week or in one direction of a two-way service, or on
some branches of a system this is by no means
necessary. In fact, sometimes price is fixed irrespective
of cost.
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Cost-benefit analysis is
therefore concerned with the enumeration and
evaluation of all the relevant costs and benefits. On this
basis, those projects, which give the greatest ‘rate of
return’, are those, which are given the go-ahead.
Conversely, projects, which give lower rates of return on
capital employed, may not get the go-ahead due to
limitations on capital available.
Padma Bridge:
The Padma Bridge is a multipurpose road-rail bridge
across the Padma River under construction in
Bangladesh. It will connect Louhajong, Munshiganj to
Shariatpur and Madaripur, linking the south-west of the
country, to northern and eastern regions. Padma Bridge
is the most challenging construction project in the
history of Bangladesh. The two-level steel truss bridge

Folder: Bappy’s 4th year note: 407
will carry a four-lane highway on the upper level and a
single track railway on a lower level. With 150 m span,
6150 m total length and 18.10 m width it is going to be
the largest bridge in the Pawdda-Brahmaputra-Meghna
river basins of country in terms of both span and the total
length.
The project covers three districts —Munshiganj (Mawa
Point/North bank), Shariatpur and Madaripur
(Janjira/South bank). The total area of land to be
acquired and required for its components is 918
hectares. The requisition of land for the construction
yard will be for six years on a rental basis. As per the
new design, an additional 144.04 ha has been identified
for acquisition, bringing the total to 1062.14 hectares.
This additional land is required because project site lost
significant land due to erosion, for transition structures
and due to a change in railway alignment.
Role in Regional Development:
 Connection between the south- western region to
the rest of the country
 Encourages economic growth and opportunity by
 cross-river transport of passengers and merchandise
 transmission of natural gas
 Telecommunication and electricity in a cost
effective manner.
 Beginning with controversy and conspiracy.
 Commissioned, then will boost the GDP by as much
as 1.2 percent
 Create employment opportunities for 50 million
people.
Transport Terminal:
Terminal: Any location where freight and passengers
either originates, terminates, or is handled in the
transportation process. Terminals are central and
intermediate locations in the movements of passengers
and freight. They often require specific facilities and
equipment to accommodate the traffic they handle
(Rodrigue, 2006).
It can be passenger or freight terminal.
 Passenger Terminals: With one exception,
passenger terminals require relatively little specific
equipment. This is because individual mobility is
the means by which passengers access busses,
ferries or trains. Certainly, services such as
information, shelter, food and security are required,
but the layouts and activities taking place in
passenger terminals tend to be simple.
 Freight terminals: Freight handling requires
specific loading and unloading equipment. In
addition to the facilities required to accommodate
ships, trucks and trains (berths, loading bays and
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freight yards respectively) a very wide range of
handling gear and storage are required, which is
determined by the types of cargoes handled.
Importance of waterway terminals for passengers
and goods:
1. Less Maintenance Cost: Maintenance cost in rail and
road transport is quite high but maintenance cost of
water transport is quite less.
2. Cheap: The transport channel is quite cheap as
compared rail and road Transport.
3. Useful for Bulky Goods: Heavy and bulky goods can
be transported easily at little cost through water
transport.
4. Useful during Natural Calamities: During natural
calamities like flood and rains, when rail and road
transport is disrupted, relief operations can be operated
through water transport.
5. Helpful in Defense: Development of shipping is
essential for the defense of the country also. It is also
called second line of defense.
6. Important for Foreign Trade: Water transport plays
important role in foreign trade. India’s foreign trade is
mainly dependent on water transport.
7. For storing and maintain goods temporarily.
8. Benefits of ports and communication.
Asian Highway:
The Asian Highway Network (AH), also known as the
Great Asian Highway, is a cooperative project among
countries in Asia and Europe and the United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (ESCAP), to improve the highway systems in
Asia. It is one of the three pillars of the Asian Land
Transport Infrastructure Development (ALTID) project,
endorsed by the ESCAP commission at its 48th session
in 1992, comprising Asian Highway, Trans-Asian
Railway (TAR) and facilitation of land transport
projects.
Agreements have been signed by 32 countries to allow
the highway to cross the continent and also reach to
Europe. Some of the countries taking part in the
highway project are India (Look-East connectivity
projects), Sri Lanka, Pakistan, China, Iran, Japan, South
Korea and Bangladesh.[1] Most of the funding comes
from the larger, more advanced Asian nations like
Japan, India, Taiwan, South Korea and China as well as
international agencies such as the Asian Development
Bank.
The project aims to make maximum use of the
continent's existing highways to avoid the construction
of newer ones, except in cases where missing routes
necessitate their construction. Project Monitor, an Asian

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infrastructure news website, has commented that "early
beneficiaries of the Asian Highway project are the
planners within the national land transport department
of the participating countries [since] it assists them in
planning the most cost-effective and efficient routes to
promote domestic and international trade. Non-coastal
areas, which are often negligible, are the other
beneficiaries."
However, in the mid-2000s some transportation experts
were sceptical about the viability of the project given the
economic and political climate in both South and
Southeast Asia.
Burgess Model:
Evolution: The concentric zone model, also known as
the Burgess model or the CCD model, is one of the
earliest theoretical models to explain urban social
structures. It was created by sociologist Ernest Burgess
in 1925.
Premises: Based on human ecology theory done by
Burgess and applied on Chicago, it was the first to give
the explanation of distribution of social groups within
urban areas. This concentric ring model depicts urban
land usage in concentric rings: the Central Business
District (or CBD) was in the middle of the model, and
the city expanded in rings with different land uses. It is
effectively an urban version of Von Thünen's regional
land use model developed a century earlier. It influenced
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the later development of Homer Hoyt's sector model
(1939) and Harris and Ullman's multiple nuclei model
(1945). The zones identified are:
1. The center with the central business district,
2. The transition zone of mixed residential and
commercial uses or the zone of transition,
3. Working class residential homes (inner
suburbs), in later decades called inner city or
zone of independent working men's home,
4. Better quality middle-class homes (outer
suburbs) or zone of better housing,
5. Commuter zone.
Criticism:
 It describes the peculiar American geography,
where the inner city is poor while suburbs are
wealthy; the converse is the norm elsewhere.
 It assumes an isotropic plane – an even,
unchanging landscape.
 Physical features – land may restrict growth of
certain sectors; hills and water features may
make some locations unusually desirable for
residential purposes.
 Commuter villages defy the theory, being a
distant part of the commuter zone.
 Decentralization of shops, manufacturing
industry (see Industrial suburb), and
entertainment.
 Urban regeneration and gentrification – more
expensive property can be found in formerly
'low class' housing areas.
 Many new housing estates were built on the
edges of cities in Britain.

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 It does not address local urban politics and
forces of globalization.
 The model does not fit polycentric cities, for
example Stoke-on-Trent.
Transportation Planning and Process:
Planning: The study of development and planning is
basically a study of interaction between man, land and
activity in the form of spatial organization of economy.
In fact, transport planning is the process of regulating
and controlling the provision of transport to facilitate the
efficient operation of the economic, social and political
life of the country at the lowest social cost. In practice,
this means assuring adequate transport capacity and
efficient operations to meet the needs generated by the
nation’s geographical array of activities.
Planning Process:
The four main stages of the transportation planning
process are:
i. Transportation survey, data collection and
analysis;
ii. Use of transportation model;
iii. Future land use forecasts and alternative policy
strategies; and
iv. Policy evaluation.
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Transportation and Globalization:
Globalization has been supported and expended by the
development of modern transport systems. From large
containerships to small delivery trucks, the whole
distribution system has become closely integrated
linking manufacturing activities with global markets.
However, the beginning of the 21st century brings many
challenges to the role of transportation in the global
economy. The capacity of many segments of transport
system has been stretched by additional demands tying
up long distance transportation modes. Congestion in
many international transport terminals such as ports
often causes delays and unreliable deliveries and there
is an acute need for improving inland transportation
systems, notably those linked to the major gateways of
the global economy. Last, but not least, the long trend of
growing energy costs is likely to impose significant
adjustments to international transport systems.
International transportation systems have been under
increasing pressures to support the growing demands of
international trade and the globalization of production
and consumption. This could not have occurred without
considerable technical improvements permitting to
transport larger quantities of freight and people, and this
more quickly and more efficiently. Since containers and
intermodal transportation improve the efficiency of
global distribution, a growing share of general cargo
moving globally is containerized. Consequently,
transportation is often referred as an enabling factor that
is not necessarily the cause of international trade, but a
mean over which globalization could not have occurred
without.
Von Thunen Model:
Early in the 19th century Johann Heinrich von Thünen
(1783-1850) developed a model of land use that showed
how market processes could determine how land in
different locations would be used. Von Thünen was a
skilled farmer who was knowledgeable in economics.
Zones according to this model are (from core to outer
layers):
 Central city
 Intensive farming/ dairying
 Forest
 Field crop
 Ranching/animal product