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596 transportation
ground system �subway) began operations in New
York City during 1904. Automobile development
in the early twentieth century offered individuals
more flexibility and convenience, creating major
problems for public transit systems. By the 1960s,
the US government investment in streets and
highways, accompanied by dramatic increases in
automobile ownership and urban sprawl, led to a
significant decline in ridership and the demise of
virtually all privately-owned systems. To preserve
public transit services, local governments took over
operations of transit systems, with most in the
United States heavily subsidised. It is believed that
returning transit systems to the private sector
would permit competition to generate efficiencies
and reduce congestion, although not all would
agree.
See also: transportation
Further reading
Cervero, R. �1992) `Futuristic transit and futuristic
cities', Transportation Quarterly 46�2): 193±204.
�Provides an overview of potential transit developments
in the twnty-first century.)
Taafe, E.J., Gauthier, H.L. and O'Kelley, M.E.
�1996) Geography of Transportation, 2nd edn, Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. �Chapter 6
provides an overview of urban transportation.)
transportation
JOHN OZMENT, USA
Transportation, in its simplest form, is the movement
from one place to another of either people or
goods �tangible products). Of course this service
involves much more, including the amenities
provided for passengers travelling between two or
more points such as comfort, food and beverage
service. Passengers may also judge a carrier on such
transportation service quality elements as speed,
availability �frequency of service and points served),
dependability and safety.
For many destinations, transportation plays a
vital role in the development of a viable tourism
industry, both in the transportation of tourists to,
from and within them, and in the transportation of
goods �cargo) such as food and supplies to support
tourism operations. Without ample and convenient
access between tourists' origins and intended
destinations, development of those locations would
be nearly impossible.
There are five modes of transportation, based
on the physical characteristics of the service offered
and the right of way over which a transportation
carrier operates. These are air, highway, rail,
water and pipeline, arranged approximately in
descending order of speed. With the exception of
pipeline, each of the modes provides passenger
transportation in some form. Some may argue that
space transportation may constitute a sixth mode,
at least in the future, although not all agree.
The air mode �see airline) consists of vehicles
�aircraft) flying often at considerable altitudes,
above ten kilometres �six miles). These aircraft
may be `heavier than air' �fixed-wing aircraft such
as jets and non-fixed-wing aircraft such as
helicopters, for example) or `lighter than air' �such
as blimps, balloons or dirigibles). Typical speeds for
air carrier vehicles are from about 960 kilometres
�600 miles) per hour for most jet aircraft to 2,170
kph �1,350 mph) for supersonic aircraft such as the
Concorde �see aircraft, supersonic). Aircraft
such as helicopters may provide passenger transportation
over short distances of only a few
kilometres or miles. The main impact of air
transportation, however, is over longer distances,
up to over 12,900 km �8,000 miles) for non-stop jet
service. For the air mode, the right of way is
generally not geographically constrained, at least as
far as in-air routes go. Air traffic is often
constrained, however, by the location of terminals
�see airports) and the demands of air traffic
control to fly in fixed lanes.
The highway mode consists of a number of
types of vehicles including bus, taxicabs, car hire
and private automobiles. Bus services can be found
within urban areas and connecting origins and
destinations of varying distances, while taxicabs are
generally used only for trips of short duration.
Automobiles, whether private or rented, can travel
anywhere from a few blocks to thousands of
kilometres or miles in the process of transporting
a traveller. Some forms of highway transportation
are constrained geographically, although the automobile
can generally reach anywhere there is some