THE GEOGRAPHY OF TRANSPORT SYSTEMS
Transport geography is concerned with movements that take place over space. The physical features of this space impose major constraints on transportation systems, in terms of what mode can be used, the extent of the service, its costs, capacity and reliability. Three basic spatial constraints of the terrestrial space can be identified:
From a geometrical standpoint, the sphericity of the earth determines the great circle distance; the least distance line between two points on a sphere. This feature explains the paths followed by major intercontinental maritime and air routes.
Rapid scientific and technological developments have and continue to enable transportation to overcome the physical environment. Before the Middle Ages, road location have been adapted to topography. Since then, efforts have been made to paving roads, bridging rivers and cutting paths over mountain passes. Engineering measures in terms of arch and vault used in Byzantine and Gothic church constructions in the twelfth century permitted bridge building across wider streams or deep river valleys. Road building has been at the core of technological efforts to overcome the environment. Roads have always been the support for local and even long distance travel. From the efforts to mechanize individual transport to the development of integrated highways, road building has transformed the environment. Land transportation was further facilitated with the development of technical solutions for preventing temporary interruptions in road transport provision through routeways protection. In the last 20 years, the development of road transport and the growth in just-in-time and door-to-door services have increased engineering demands for constructing multi-level and high speed highways.
Innovations in maritime transport can be found around the world. The earliest developments came in the transformation of waterways for transportation purposes through the development of canal locks. Adverse natural gradients in inland waterways can be overcome through the use of locks. Further improvements in navigation came with the cutting of artificial waterways. Some of the earliest examples can be found in the Dutch canal, the Martesana canals of Lombardy, the canal de Briare in France or the Imperial canal of China. Further improvements in navigation technology and the nature of ships permitted to increase the speed, range and capacity of ocean transport. But the increasing size of ships has resulted in excluding canals such as Panama and Suez from servicing the largest, modern and efficient world’s maritime carriers. Several canal authorities have thus embarked in expansion programs that have severe environmental consequences. Increasing attention has also been paid to creating new passages between semi-enclosed seas. In Canada and Russia, the growing competition between the sea and land corridors are not only reducing tariffs and encouraging international trade but prompting the governments to reassess traditional ocean connections. Passages through the Arctic Ocean are being investigated with a view to create new international connections. Artificial islands are also created with as view to permit port installations in deep waters. In China, it had become clear that dredging the Yangzi River Delta was insufficient to insure the competitiveness of the port of Shanghai. The development of a new port site in Hangzhou Bay and the modification of the Yangshan islands landscape have become indispensable.
As level ground over long distance is important for increasing the efficiency of railway routes, the transport industry has come to modify the earth’s features by building bridges and tunneling, by embanking and drainage. From medieval Germany to France’s high speed TGV, increasing motive power has permitted physical obstacles to be overcome.
The role of technology has been determinant in the development of the air transport sector. From the experiments of the Montgolfier brothers to the advent of jet aircraft, aerial crossing of rugged terrain over considerable distance became possible. Technical innovation in the aeronautic industry has permitted planes to avoid adverse atmospheric conditions, improve speed, increase stage length and raise carrying capacity. With the rapid rise in air passenger and freight transport, emphasis has been given to the construction of airport terminals and runways. As airports occupy large areas, their environmental imprint is important. The construction of Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong led to leveling mountainous land for the airport site. Kansai airport servicing Osaka has been built on an artificial island.
The concepts of site and situation are fundamental to geography and to transportation. While the site refers to the geographical characteristics of a specific location, its situation concerns its relationships in regard to other locations. Thus, all locations are relative to one another but situation is not a constant attribute as transportation developments change levels of accessibility, and thus the relations between locations. The development of a location reflects the cumulative relationships between transport infrastructure, economic activities and the built-environment. The following factors are particularly important in shaping the spatial structure:
Many contemporary transportation networks are inherited from the past, notably transport infrastructures. Even if over the last two hundred years new technologies have revolutionized transportation in terms of speed, capacity and efficiency, the spatial structure of many networks has not much changed. This inertia in the spatial structure of some transportation networks can be explained by two major factors:
While physical and historical considerations are at play, the introduction of new transport technology or the addition of new transport infrastructure may lead to a transformation of existing networks. Recent developments in transport systems such as container shipping, jumbo aircrafts and the extensive application of information technology to transport management have created a new transport environment and a new spatial structure. These transport technologies and innovations have intensified global interactions and modified the relative location of places. In this highly dynamic context, two processes are taking place at the same time:
Segregation. Linked geographical entities may see the reinforcement of one at the expense of others, notably through economies of scale. This outcome often contradicts regional development policies aiming at providing uniform accessibility levels within a region.
The continuous evolution of transportation technology may not necessarily have expected effects on the spatial structure, as two forces are at play; concentration and dispersion. A common myth tends to relate transportation solely as a force of dispersion, favoring the spread of activities in space. This is not always the case. In numerous instances, transportation is a force of concentration, notably for business activities. Since transport infrastructures are generally expensive to build, they are established first to service the most important locations. Even if it was a strong factor of dispersion, the automobile has also favored the concentration of several activities at specific places and in large volumes. Shopping centers are a relevant example of this process where central locations emerge in a dispersed setting.
One of the most basic relationships of transportation involves how much space can be overcome within a given amount of time. The faster the mode, the larger is the distance that can be overcome within the same amount of time. Transportation, notably improvements in transport systems, changes the relationship between time and space. When this relationship involves easier, faster and cheaper access between places, this result is defined as a space / time convergence because the amount of space that can be overcome for a similar amount of time increases significantly. Significant regional and continental gains were achieved during the 18th and 19th centuries with the establishment of national and continental railway systems as well as with the growth of maritime shipping, a process which continued into the 20th century with air and road transport systems. The outcome has been significant differences in space / time relationships, mainly between developed and developing countries, reflecting differences in the efficiency of transport systems.
At the international level, globalization processes have been supported by improvements in transport technology. The result of more than 200 years of technological improvements has been a space / time convergence of global proportions in addition to the regional and continental processes previously mentioned. This enabled the extended exploitation of the advantages of the global market, notably in terms of resources and labor. Significant reductions in transport and communication costs occurred concomitantly. There is thus a relationship between space / time convergence and the integration of a region in global trade. Five major factors are of particular relevance in this process:
However, space / time convergence can also be inverted under specific circumstances, which means that a process of space / time divergence takes place. For instance, congestion is increasing in many metropolitan areas, implying additional delays for activities such as commuting. Traffic in congested urban areas is moving at the same speed that it did one hundred years ago on horse carriages. Air transportation, despite having dramatically contributed to the space / time convergence is also experiencing growing delays. Flight times are getting longer between many destinations, mainly because of takeoff, landing and gate access delays. Airlines are simply posting longer flight times to factor in congestion. An express mail package flown from Washington to Boston in about an hour (excluding delays at takeoff and landing due to airport congestion) can have an extra one hour delay as it is carried from Logan Airport to downtown Boston, a distance of only two miles. More stringent security measures at airports have also imposed additional delays, which tends to penalize more short distance flights. The "last mile" can be the longest in many transport segments.
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Attributes of the Terrestrial Space
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Absolute and Relative Barriers

The Geographical Space of Maritime Transportation

Polar Shipping Routes
Detailed
PDF Map
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Seasonal Variations of Global Wind Patterns

The Great Circle Distance
Detailed PDF Map
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The Spatial Structure and Transportation

Transportation Networks and Geographical Specialization

Transportation Networks and Geographical Segregation
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Regional Space / Time Convergence (London - Edinburgh, New York
- Boston)
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Days Required to Circumnavigate the Globe
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Mail Delivery Times between New York and San Francisco, 1840-2000
(in days)
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Cumulative Distribution of per Capita Trip Rate for all Modes by
Trip Distance, 1995