Characteristic	Fixed Infrastructure	Variable Costs
Examples	Highways, rail tracks, airports, ports	Trucks, railcars, planes, ships
Ownerships	Mostly public	Mostly private
Lifespan	Very long (decades)	Short to average (5 to 20 years)
Rate of change	Slow	Rapid redeployment
Impact on service	Shapes accessibility	Shapes level of service
Competition	Level the playing field	Source of comparative advantages

Source: adapted from J. Cortright (2001) Transportation, Industrial Location and the New Economy: How Will Changes in Information Technology Change the Demand for Freight Transportation and Industrial Location? Impresa Inc., March.

Fixed and Variable Costs and Service in the Transportation System