History of Transportation and Form

(Sources: http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch1en/conc1en/ch1c3_1en.html http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch1en/conc1en/ch1c3_2en.html)

The historical evolution of transportation is very complex and is related to the spatial evolution of economic systems. It is possible to summarize this evolution, from the pre-industrial era to transportation in the early 21st century, in five major stages, each linked with specific technological innovations in the transport sector.

1. Transportation in the Pre-Industrial Era (pre 1800s)

Because the efficiency of the land transport system of this era was poor, the overwhelming majority of trade was local in scope. From the perspective of regional economic organization, the provision of cities in perishable agricultural commodities was limited to a radius of about 50 kilometers, at most. The size of cities also remained constant in time. Since people can walk about 5 km per hour and that they are not willing to spend more than one hour per day walking, the daily space of interaction would be constrained by a 2.5 km radius, or about 20 square kilometers. Thus, most rural areas centered around a village and cities rarely exceeded a 5 km diameter.

2. The Industrial Revolution and Transportation (1800-1870)

It was during the industrial revolution that massive modifications of transport systems occurred in two major phases, the first centered along the development of canal systems and the second centered along railways.

By the 1850s, railroad towns were being established and the railways were giving access to resources and markets of vast territories. 6,000 miles of railways were then operating in England and railways were quickly being constructed in Western Europe and North America. Railroads represented an inland transport system that was at the same time flexible in its spatial coverage and that could carry heavy loads became available. As a result many canals fell into disrepair and were closed as they were no longer able to compete with rail services.

3. Emergence of Modern Transportation Systems (1870-1920)

(This section is missing from the web version of the book)

1. Transportation in the Fordist Era (1920-1970)

Basic telecommunications infrastructures, such as the telephone and the radio, were mass marketed during the Fordist era. However, the major change was the large diffusion of the automobile, especially from the 1950s as it became a truly mass consumption product and when the first major highway systems, such as the American Interstate, began to be built. No other modes of transportation have so drastically changed lifestyles and the structure of cities, notably for developed countries. It created suburbanization and expanded cities to areas larger than 100 km in diameter in some instances. In dense and productive regions, such as the Northeast of the United States, the urban system became structured and interconnected by transport networks to the point that it could be considered as one vast urban region; the Megalopolis.

2. A New Context for Transportation : the Post-Fordist Era (1970-)

Among the major changes in international transportation from the 1970s are the massive development of telecommunications, the globalization of trade, more efficient distribution systems, and the considerable development of air transportation.

Car production, which used to be mainly concentrated in the United States, Japan and Germany, has become a global industry with a few key players par of well integrated groups such as Ford, General Motors, Daimler Chrysler, Toyota and Mitsubishi. Along with oil conglomerates, they have pursued strategies aimed at the diffusion of the automobile as the main mode of individual transportation. This has led the growing mobility but also to congestion and waste of energy. As of the 21st century begins, the automobile accounts for about 80% of the total oil consumption in developed countries.

3. Future Transportation

In 200 years of history since the beginning of mechanized transportation, the capacity, speed, efficiency and geographical coverage of transport systems has improved dramatically. These processes can be summarized as follows:

• Each mode, due to its geographical and technical specificities, was characterized by different technologies and different rates of innovation and diffusion. A transport innovation can thus be an additive/competitive force where a new technology expands or makes an existing mode more efficient and competitive. It can also be a destructive force when a new technology marks the obsolescence and the demise of an existing mode often through a paradigm shift.
• Technological innovation is linked with faster and more efficient transport systems. This process implies a space-time convergence where a greater amount of space can be exchanged with lesser amount of time. The comparative advantages of space can thus be more efficiently used.
• Technological evolution in the transport sector is linked with the phases of economic development of the world economy. Transportation and economic development are consequently interlinked as one cannot occur without the other.

Since the introduction of commercial jet planes, high-speed train networks and containers in the late 1960s, no significant technological change have impacted on passengers and freight transport systems. The early 21st century is an era of car and truck dependency, which tends to constraint the development of alternative modes of transportation, as most of the technical improvements aim at insuring the dominance of oil as a source of energy.

(From here, the book goes onto talk about the next technological breakthrough in transportation with the usual suspects: Maglev, Hyrbid, Hydrogen Fuel Cell, and Automated Transport System.)