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involves a series of transactions. Most are either
complementary or crossed. The latter causes
trouble because an expected response is not
received, thereby stopping good communication
and setting off a number of ineffective transactions.
Some crossed transactions are so common that
they have been termed games and given distinct
names such as `uproar' or `ain't it awful'.
The second area is `ego states', or structural
analysis of the personality. An ego state is a distinct
mood with a consistent pattern of feeling and
behaviour which resides in the brain like a tape in a
video recorder. Each person has a similar parent,
adult and child ego state which contain the `taped
messages' of a lifetime and differ based on each
person's unique life experiences. Tourism professionals
and customers may transact from only one
of these ego states at a time, and this may be
analysed and identified based on ego state-specific
behaviour �such as gestures, body postures, facial
expressions and words). For example, the adult ego
state is the thinking, objective and rational part of
the personality which has attentive posture and
facial expression with eye-to-eye contact, relaxed
gestures, an unemotional tone of voice which uses
question words such as what, how, where, or
factual words such as `the flight takes off at 2:00
pm'.
The third area is `improving crossed transactions'.
Transactional analysis suggests that the
tourism professional should remain in their adult
ego state so that they are not `hooked' into the
parent or child by the person crossing the
transaction. Adult questions may then be used to
make the other person think. This usually results in
their return to the adult. Other methods include
agreeing in some way with what the person is
saying and active listening.
The final area is `additional concepts'. Other
transactional analysis concepts such as strokes, time
structuring, trading stamps and life positions can
further the tourism professionals' understanding of
themselves and others. For example, a life position
describes a person's basic feelings about themselves
and the healthy `I'm OK, You're OK' position, the
one that a successful tourism professional should
rationally choose. People are born into this
position, and it is reinforced by many `OK'
experiences with others. Although tourism profes-
sionals may have some `Not OK' feelings, according
to transactional analysis theory, these may be
reasoned away by a person's adult ego state.
Further reading
`Using T.A. to keep things OK', �1978) Hotel and
Motel Management Journal, April.
Wachtel, J.M. �1980) `Transactional analysis training
for the travel industry', Annals of Tourism
Research 7�3): 455±71.
transit
transit 595
JEFFREY M. WACHTEL, USA
Transit, also called mass transit and/or urban
passenger transportation, refers to the movement
of passengers within a city or metropolitan
area. Transit systems are also important to rural
areas, but light density traffic patterns make them
inefficient and have limited their development.
Transit systems may carry a mix of local residents
for commuting and personal travel, as well as
tourists. Transit consists primarily of buses,
subways, and light rail systems.
Bus systems use motor-powered vehicles operating
on fixed schedules along fixed routes, but not
confined to fixed guideways. This provides
flexibility to alter routes and service times to
accommodate changes in demand and traffic
patterns. Subways refer to high speed rail systems
operating in tunnels or on elevated structures,
separated from highways to avoid interference with
traffic. They may use high-performance trains
reaching speeds of up to 130 kilometres �80 miles)
per hour, carrying up to 40,000 passengers per
hour. Light rail systems, also called streetcars or
trams, are electric railway systems that use single
rail cars or short trains driven by overhead electric
power lines. These supply an attractive option to
cities that need more capacity than bus systems
provide, but not enough to justify investing in
expensive subway systems.
By the 1860s, many cities in the United States
and elsewhere had horse-drawn streetcar systems.
Electrification led to rapid expansion of streetcar
systems during the 1890s, and the first under