Transportation and the Mobility of Passengers and Freight

The mobility of passengers and freight has very different spatial dynamics. While the intensity of passenger transportation is dominantly focused on a rather short distance range, freight transportation includes a wide range of geographical perspectives. The great majority of passengers movements are related to commuting, shopping and recreation. These movements are bound by the time constraints of individuals who are unwilling to spend more than one hour per day moving. It is only when passenger movements are less bound to time constraints, such as for business and tourism (when an individual has days instead of hours), that their geographical range can extend. Unlike passengers, freight does not have much of a time constraint, although perishables may. This means that the intensity of freight movements has a much more significant variety of geographical conditions. While waste disposal and local distribution (supplying stores with goods, mainly groceries and mass retailing) have a limited range, it is at the level of commodity chains (agriculture, manufacturing) that the highest intensity is observed. The substantial amount for goods being traded at the international level, including energy and raw materials, also matters. In a global economy, the majority of passengers movements are still bound by a distance / time ratio, but freight movements are more a function of comparative advantages in production.