Transportation and Areal Specialization

• The main role of transportation is to connect places and move things and people (and ideas) from place to place

• Transportation allows places to specialize in the production of goods

• Places can exchange goods and no longer need to be self-sufficient

• Transportation reduces time and friction of distance

American Culture and Mobility

• 18% of income goes to transportation

• 18% of Americans change their residence every year, both local and long-distance

Transportation in the US, 1950-2000

• 1950 Already well-developed networks

• PEOPLE:– Autos dominated intercity transport (86%)– Railroads (6%)– Buses (5%)– Airlines (< 3%)– 10.4% of GDP on passenger transportation– Auto 83%; air 7%; bus/taxi/light rail 5%; rail/bus 2%

• 6.1% of the GDP

• Trucks 79%

• Railroads 8% (loss from 14 to 8%)

• Water 5%

• Air (1-4%)

• oil pipelines 2%

Transportation Freight Movement

Highway Transportation• 1930s national network system of paved roads with

federal dollars

• By 1950s basically complete • but linked towns

• Truck rapidly replaces rail for freight

• 1950-95 number of cars increased by 200%; trucks almost 800%

• Buses leading form of intra-city transportation

- Interstate System

• 1950s Eisenhower Government

(I.H.S.)

• Federal gasoline tax to finance

construction (Highway Trust Fund)

• After 1980 “ring” freeways added

• Considered “circulatory system of the nation”

- Truck Transportation Location Strategy and Traffic Patterns

• 1920s started monopolizing freight transportation within cities

• New locations to manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers

• Flexibility and reasonable, relatively low cost compared to rail and water

• Began to change the shape (morphology) of cities, and where people went to work

Railroads• 1950-1996 importance of rail as a method of transportation

declined• Number of miles of rail declined as railroad routes were

abandoned• 1950 – 393,000 miles • 1996 – 136,000 miles of rail• But freight traffic increased from 628 billion to 1426 billion ton-

miles in 1996• Dominated by a few bulk commodities (grain and coal)• Intermodal traffic involves moving a commodity using different

modes of transport e.g. grain from barge to rail or containers from ships to rail to truck (land-bridge services)

• Container ports and break-in-bulk points

• Gateways where traffic is exchanged between railroad companies e.g. Chicago,

• St Louis, Kansas City and New Orleans• But less important today with container and truck freight• Old rail stations reused in many cities for shopping centers or

offices• Similarly passenger rail traffic declined from 36 to 14 billion

passenger-miles• 1970 Congress created Amtrak (federally supported National

Railroad Passenger Corporation)

• Only Northeast corridor and a few other routes now possible for passengers

• Late 1990s Amtrak invested in the New Haven - Boston – New York track allowing high speed trains

• Some cities have extensive commuter services • Also subway systems