ABDULLAH PATEL HIGH SCHOOL AND JR.

COLLEGE
Kausa, Mumbra, Thane – 400612. (MS)

PROJECT TOPIC
“MODES OF TRANSPORT”
SUBMITTED BY

SHAIKH ZUBIYA FIROZ AHMED

XTH – D, ROLL NO. 49

YEAR 2023 – 24
Ref:

https://transportgeography.org/contents/chapter5/transportation-modes-modal-competition-modal-shift/
 ROAD TRANSPORTATION

Road infrastructures are large consumers of space with the

lowest level of physical constraints among transportation
modes. However, physiographical constraints are significant
in road construction, with substantial additional costs to
overcome features such as rivers or rugged terrain. While
historically, road transportation was developed to support
non-motorized forms of transportation (walking, domestic
animals, and cycling at the end of the 19th century), it is
motorization that has shaped most of its development since
the beginning of the 20th century, particularly with the setting
of national highway systems.

Road transportation has average operational flexibility as vehicles can serve several purposes but can rarely operate outside
roads. Road transport systems have low barriers of entry, but high maintenance costs, both for the vehicles and
infrastructures, which are related to low life spans of less than 10 years for a vehicle. They are mainly linked to light
industries and freight distribution, where rapid freight movements in small loads are the norm. With containerization, road
transportation has become a crucial link in freight distribution between ports and commercial hinterlands.

The main downside to road transport is the external influences that play into its effectiveness, primarily weather, traffic, and
road regulations, three things that mostly don’t influence other modes. In addition to these drawbacks, in the current
shipping environment it has become increasingly difficult to find truck drivers. This capacity shortage has led to an increase
in intermodal transportation.
 RAIL TRANSPORTATION

First invented for use in the early 19th century, rail transport quickly became vital for the expansion of the western world
and has played a pivotal role in the realm of logistics for over two centuries. In modern practice, rail is used more
exclusively for the largest and heaviest payloads (bulk cargo) traveling across land. The vast majority of railway
infrastructure connects highly populated areas with large
unpopulated strips of land between them making rail ideal for long-
distance and cross country hauls. Canada, for example, is very
sparsely populated between coasts so anything shipped more than
500 miles often requires a rail transport.

Rail transport is confined to a more limited infrastructure than road

transport. As a defining trait, locomotives (trains, monorails, etc.)
are confined to a traced path going between point A and B with very
few points of divergence. Railways are costly and time consuming
to construct and only a few new railways have been constructed
since the early 1900’s. Additionally, railways are limited to semi-
level geographic areas making construction increasingly laborious. Thus, railways are primarily only accessible in large
metropolitan areas. This attribute makes rail one of the primary players in the intermodal transportation.

Within the confines of the railway system, the rail vehicle is not influenced by traffic, points of diversion, and switch offs
between modes. This makes the rail the most dependable mode for making long hauls across land with minimal damage.
Trains commonly carry bulk cargo items such as coal, corn, iron, ore, and wheat, items that would be uneconomical to ship
by truck.
 PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline shipping is not a formal mode of transportation in

the traditional sense. However, it is important to
acknowledge for its importance in the current fossil fuel
market.

Pipelines transport unrefined fossil fuels such as gas and oil

from their point of origin to the point where they can then be
transferred to the refineries or another mode of
transportation. The cost of shipping primarily lies in its
construction, the diameter of the pipeline, and the viscosity
of the fluid being transported. They can be built above
ground, underground, or underwater making them ideal for
offshore drilling.

The pumping of crude oil has risen in recent years the

increasing need of transporting crude oil is correlative with the increase in drilling and extraction Traditionally, the
transporting of oil was accomplished by rail but oil and gas companies are quickly turning to pipeline shipping because of
increased safety and efficiency. Regardless, the building of pipelines has been a topic of controversy because of the
environmental damage they will cause by increasing the speed of the oil industry, creating additional fossil fuel emissions,
and slow the progress of sustainable energy. The controversies surrounding the Trans-Alaska pipeline are a prime example
of this.
 MARITIME TRANSPORTATION

With physical properties such as buoyancy and limited friction, maritime transportation is the most effective mode of
moving large quantities of cargo over long distances. Main maritime routes are composed of oceans, coasts, seas, lakes,
rivers, and channels. However, due to the location of economic activities, maritime circulation takes place in specific parts
of the maritime space, particularly over the North Atlantic and the North Pacific. The construction of channels, locks, and
dredging are attempting to facilitate maritime circulation by reducing its discontinuity, but such endeavors are highly
expensive. Comprehensive inland waterway systems include Western Europe, the Volga / Don system, the St. Lawrence /
Great Lakes system, the Mississippi and its tributaries, the
Amazon, the Panama / Paraguay, and the interior of China.

Maritime transportation has high terminal costs since port

infrastructures are among the most expensive to build,
maintain, and operate. These high costs also relate to maritime
shipping, where the construction, operation, and maintenance of
ships are capital-intensive. More than any other mode, maritime
transportation is linked to heavy industries, such as steel and
petrochemical facilities adjacent to port sites. Yet, with
containerization, maritime shipping has become the linchpin of
globalization, allowing the trading of a wide range of goods and
commodities.
 AIR TRANSPORTATION

The newest mode of transportation is air. Airplanes are becoming increasingly important in domestic and international
trade. With continually improving technologies and practically unlimited route possibilities, air transportation is the fastest
growing and most time efficient shipping mode. Consequently, many companies, such as Amazon and UPS, have purchased
their own fleets of airplanes to gain a competitive edge in the growing market.

As air travel has become increasingly advanced and dependable, more companies are trusting airplanes with high value
freight and goods. The increasing popularity of flight as a preferred way to travel also makes shipping by air more
convenient as shipments regularly piggyback on passenger planes, further making air an economic way to transport goods.

There are a couple drawbacks to air transport. In its current state, air transport is still, by far, the most expensive way to
ship. Also, due to the nature of air travel, weight and volume of freight has to stay minimal to ensure the safety of the flight.
The level of emissions produced by air transport are also the highest of any mode.
 TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Telecommunication systems are paradoxical in terms of if they can be considered as a transport mode since
telecommunications often do not have an apparent physicality. This physicality is real since they are structured as high-
capacity networks with low constraints, which may include the
physiography and oceanic masses crossed by fiber optic cables. They
provide for the instantaneous movement of information (speed of light).
Because of their limited coverage, wave transmissions often require
substations, such as for cellular phone and data networks where WiFi
connections are of even more limited range. Satellites are often using a
geostationary orbit, which is getting crowded.

High network costs and low distribution costs characterize many telecommunication networks, which are linked to the
tertiary and quaternary sectors (stock markets, business-to-business information networks, etc.). Telecommunications can
provide a substitution for personal mobility in some economic sectors, but the major impact is e-commerce, which has
opened a range of commercial opportunities.