Place of the course in the system of professional training. Transport as a component of geographical distribution of labor and integration factor

INTRODUCTION

Movements of people, goods and information have always been fundamental components of human societies. Contemporary economic processes have been accompanied by a significant increase in mobility and higher levels of accessibility. Developing transport systems has been a continuous challenge to support economic development.

The objectives of the course are to obtain the knowledge of the geographical structure of the world transport system and of distributional peculiarities of transportation objects according to different transportation modes.

The course material is structured into two modules. The third module is devoted to term paper.

As a result of studying the material of module №1 “World Transport Systems” a student shall know:     

- current situation in the transportation market, world tendencies and prospects of its development according to transportation modes;

- composition and main parameters of the world transport system;

- advanced technical solutions to the development of transport system according to transportation modes;

- main trends in the transport policy and interregional transport relations;

- key transportation nodes and routes according to transportation modes;

- regional and industry peculiarities within transport systems;

Learning outcomes:

- analyze the transport system of a country (region);

- identify the variants of cargo and passenger transportation routes by utilizing the knowledge of main transportation nodes and routes allocation in different countries.

As a result of studying the material of module №2 “IATA Transport Geography” a student shall know:

- the system of international transport corridors;

- application of international time and international date line shift for calculation of transportation time;

Learning outcomes:

- calculate time for transрortation, zone time and UTC, time difference between the points of departure and destination.

Module 1. WORLD TRANSPORT SYSTEMS

Lecture 1.1

Place of the course in the system of professional training. Transport as a component of geographical distribution of labor and integration factor

1. Concept and object of transport geography.

2. Role of transport in modern world.

3. The notion of transport system.

4. Main parameters of the world transport system, its structure.

5. Place and function of transport systems in development of countries and regions.

The goal of this introductory lecture is to provide a definition of the nature, role and function of transport geography and where the discipline stands in regard to other disciplines. It also underlines the importance of specific dimensions such as nodes, locations, networks and interactions. Along with an overview of methods used in transport geography, some basic methods such as route selection are presented.

Transportation interests geographers for two main reasons. First, transport infrastructures, terminals, equipment and networks occupy an important place in space and constitute the basis of a complex spatial system. Second, since geography seeks to explain spatial relationships, transport networks are of specific interest because they are the main support of these interactions.

Transport geography is a sub-discipline of geography concerned about movements of freight, people and information. It seeks to link spatial constraints and attributes with the origin, the destination, the extent, the nature and the purpose of movements.

Transport geography, as a discipline, emerged from economic geography in the second half of the twentieth century. Traditionally, transportation has been an important factor behind the economic representations of the geographic space, namely in terms of the location of economic activities and the monetary costs of distance. The growing mobility of passengers and freight justified the emergence of transport geography as a specialized field of investigation. In the 1960s, transport costs were recognized as key factors in location theories and transport geography began to rely increasingly on quantitative methods, particularly over network and spatial interactions analysis. However, from the 1970s globalization challenged the centrality of transportation in many geographical and regional development investigations. As a result, transportation became underrepresented in economic geography in the 1970s and 1980s, even if mobility of people and freight and low transport costs were considered as important factors behind the globalization of trade and production.

Since the 1990s, transport geography has received renewed attention, especially because the issues of mobility, production and distribution are interrelated in a complex geographical setting. It is now recognized that transportation is a system that considers the complex relationships between its core elements. These core elements are networks, nodes and demand. Transport geography must be systematic as one element of the transport system is linked with numerous others. An approach to transportation thus involves several fields where some are at the core of transport geography while others are more peripheral. However, three central concepts to transport systems can be identified:

1. Transportation nodes: transportation primarily links locations, often characterized as nodes. They serve as access points to a distribution system or as transshipment / intermediary locations within a transport network. This function is mainly serviced by transport terminals where flows originate, end or are being transshipped from one mode to the other. Transport geography must consider its places of convergence and transshipment.

2. Transportation networks: considers the spatial structure and organization of transport infrastructures and terminals. Transport geography must include in its investigation the infrastructures supporting and shaping movements.

3. Transportation demand: considers the demand for transport services as well as the modes used to support movements. Once this demand is realized, it becomes an interaction which flows through a transport network. Transport geography must evaluate the factors affecting its derived demand function.

The analysis of these concepts relies on methodologies often developed by other disciplines such as economics, mathematics, planning and demography. Each provides a different dimension to transport geography. Multidisciplinarity is consequently an important attribute of transport geography, as in geography in general.

Hence, transport geography has the following dimensions closely related with other sciences:

1. Economics. The economic dimension is concerned about the costs of movements, the construction and the maintenance of transport modes and infrastructures. The performance of transport systems are often measured and justified by economic criteria. This dimension also tries to evaluate the transport demand by different sectors of activity.

2. Engineering. Notably concerned by the construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructures. A dominant aspect of transport supply is linked to engineering considerations.

3. Environment / Ecology. The environmental dimension is concerned about impacts of transportation on ecological systems such as the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the ecosphere. It also considers a wide array of externalities such as noise and land use. Another dimension of this field involves the impacts of natural conditions, such as the topography and the climate on the operation of transport systems.

4. History. The historical dimension covers the evolution of transport networks in time and space. It tries to identify specific conditions that have influenced the establishment of transport networks and the technological, economic and social environments that have produced transport systems.

5. Mathematics and Computer Science. Provide a set of tools and methods to manage information and to analyze transport related information. Most models applied to transport geography, such as spatial interaction models, are derived from mathematical methods. Operations research has considerably contributed to the field of transportation by offering a set of methods to optimize the distribution and scheduling of transportation resources.

6. Planning and Policy. The political dimension aims to plan and control the transportation system through several agents and their intervention strategies. It is mainly concerned about the processes and methods for the allocation of transportation resources within corporations and governments.

7. Sociology and Demography. The social dimension covers problems such as accidents, the behavior of drivers and other social aspects related to modal and spatial choice having an effect on the distance traveled. For instance, the social costs of car use impose heavy tolls on health and safety systems (police, ambulance, trauma centers, road signs, etc.). Demographic attributes and changes are also linked with the evolution of transport system, the modes used and the level of services.

8. Technology. The technological dimension of transportation is not necessarily a field of study but a consideration of technological change on transportation systems. It is mainly concerned about the efficiency of infrastructures, modes and motive forces.

Transport systems are closely related to socio-economic changes. The mobility of people and freight and levels of territorial accessibility are at the core of this relationship. Economic opportunities are likely to arise where transportation infrastructures are able to answer mobility needs and insure access to markets and resources.

The world transport system (WTS) was established in the 20^th century. It is highly varied in terms of regional development. The transportation network of the developed countries equals 78% of its total length, whereas the freight turnover in the developed countries comprises 74% of the world freight turnover. We should also note here that the length of the transportation network of the United States of America exceeds the total length of the transportation networks of all developing countries. The density of the transportation network varies from 50-60 km per 100 square km of territory to 5-10 km per 100 square km.

Mobility in developed countries is much (10 times) higher than the mobility in the countries with undeveloped economies. There exist several regional transport subsystems. These are the Northern American transport system, the Western European transport system, etc.

The annual amount of freight processed within the world transport system exceeds 100 billion tons, whereas the annual freight turnover equals 50 trillion ton-km. The world transport system has obviously stabilized recently with regard to its length and is slowly growing. Moreover, many changes within the world transport system have taken place. The number of electrified and high speed main lines, modern highways, pipelines of large diameter and superpower electricity transmission lines grows rapidly.

In 1990 the international projects for transport corridors have been introduced. The transport corridors are the modern mains that unite different means of transport used for busy international freight and passenger flows.

The world system of communication is unevenly divided between various continents and countries. The division of main means of transport and communication for different countries and regions is also diverse.

The rail transportation of many countries yields to air and road transportation. The passenger turnover at the railroad of the United States of America, Canada and European countries has reduced by more than three times for the last 50 years. At the same time in some countries, like in France and Japan, the rail transportation has made a “great leap”. The high speed trains speed up to 250 km per hour there.

All over the world the tendency for correlation of major means of transport is the following. The freight transportation over long distances is mainly performed by rail and maritime transport. However, road transport is the leader of the world freight turnover within the continents. In general, freight distribution among the transport modes in the world freight turnover is represented in Figure 1.1.

Fig.1.1. Distribution of world freight turnover by transport modes

The world maritime fleet is nowadays specialized in three main types of freight:

· oil and oil products comprise above 40% of the total freight turnover;

· metal ores (iron ore, black iron ore, bauxites), wood and phosphorites constitute about 45% of the total freight turnover;

· finished and half-finished products that are carried in containers represent 24% of the total freight turnover.

The overall length of transportation networks within the world transport system and the freight and passenger turnover are given in table 1.1 below.

Table 1.1

Main Parameters of the World Transport System in 2010

Depending on the level of transport means development and the correlation of transport modes, there are four types of transport systems performing movement of freight and passengers within the world transport system:

1. Northern American Transport System. The transport system of the countries of North America is characterized by a high level of transport means development. However, the correlation of transport modes within this transport system is uneven.

2. Western European Transport System. This transport system signifies the transportation sector of the highly developed Western European countries. The movement of passengers and freight is unequally distributed between the transport modes.

3. Transport System of Type Three. This variant of transport system is typical for the countries where only one or two transport modes are developed. For instance, rail transportation is the main transportation mode in India, Pakistan, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Zambia, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay. The second important transportation mode for these countries is the road transport.

4. Transport System of Type Four. The transportation in the countries with this type of transport system is performed by one major transportation mode. In Afghanistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia, for example, the road transport is the major transportation mode. In Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Paraguay the river transportation is widely spread.