Transportation 3A CBTM301 Transport III Notes. Chapter 1 Transport and Society At the end of this chapter students will be expected to be: discuss the.

Transportation 3ACBTM301

Transport III Notes

Chapter 1Transport and Society

At the end of this chapter students will be expected to be:

• discuss the cost and benefits of accessibility;• explain the link between accessibility and

development;• understand the demographic and socio-

economic characteristics which influence the demand for transport;

• have insight into the role of transport in the economy and its growth;

• outline the impact of transport on the environment in general; and

• discuss the role of transport in politics with regard to the use of energy and the effect on equity in society.

1.1 INTRODUCTION TO TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

1.1.1 THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF ACCESSIBILITY AND DEVELOPMENT

• Accessibility - Is the ability or ease of the transportation provider to move the freight between a specific origin and destination.

• Benefits: better the transport facilities - the better the levels of accessibility and the wider the range of tertiary facilities attracted to the location.

1.1.1 THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF ACCESSIBILITY AND DEVELOPMENT cont’

Other social costs involved:• For example, those who are not mobile (the

elderly, non-car owners, school children) are often deprived of ready access to services such as a village shop, which closes down in the face of competition from newly accessible places.

• Wider social costs includes accidents, congestion, noise and pollution, which should not be ignored.

• Transport decisions and politics are highly interrelated.

• All decisions relating to investment into transport infrastructure are political in that they are distributive, i.e. the outcome of the allocation of scarce resources means that some people will benefit, while others will lose.

1.1.1 THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF ACCESSIBILITY AND DEVELOPMENT cont’

1.1.2 THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

• For the above-mentioned, and other, reasons - it is important for governments and other regulatory institutions to become involved in ensuring that land use and transportation planning are undertaken according to integrated planning processes.

Governments therefore, through appropriate bodies, agencies, or institutions, for example in:

• South Africa the Department of Transport (DOT), • the Committee of Land Transport Officials (COLTO), • Provincial Departments of Transport and Public Works, • Provincial Transportation Coordination Committees (TCCs),

etc.

often provide general guidelines and requirements for the preparation of such integrated transport plans.

1.1.2 THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT cont’

1.2 DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS INFLUENCING

THE DEMAND FOR TRANSPORT

1.2.1 INTRODUCTION• The demand for transport derives from the

needs of people to travel from one place to another to carry out the activities of their daily lives.

1.2.1 INTRODUCTION cont’

This demand for movement is affected by:• the location of the home, workplace,

shopping, educational and other activities;• the nature of the available transport system;

and• the demographic and socio-economic

characteristics of the population.

Experience has shown that the demographic and socio-economic characteristics which are most significant in influencing the demand for transport are:

Population sizePopulation structure, by age and sexHousehold size, structure and formation rate

1.2.1 INTRODUCTION cont’

The size and structure of the labour force, income level, which is usually measured by some proxy such as number of cars owned, or owner occupation.

The socio-economic status of the chief economic supporter of the household.

1.2.1 INTRODUCTION cont’

• Demographics: Studies of a population based on factors such as age, race, sex, economic status, level of education, income level and employment, among others.

• Socio-Economics - A branch of economics that focuses on the relationship between social behavior and economics. Social economics examines how social norms, ethics and other social philosophies that influence consumer behaviour shape an economy, and uses history, politics and other social sciences to examine potential results from changes to society or the economy.

1.2.1 INTRODUCTION cont’

Different groups within the population have different demands for travel. These differences can largely be explained by:

• economic, social, and cultural factors;• time, money and effort constraints; and• personal tastes.

1.2.1 INTRODUCTION cont’

1.2.2 DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGES

Economic changes are accompanied by population and household changes like:

Decisions taken by economic organisations in the context of the international economy.

Decisions taken by households to maximise their relative satisfaction from jobs, housing, social and environmental factors.

Decisions taken by government organisations in the context of their political-administrative responsibilities and the pressures for land in the area.

1.2.2 DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGES cont’

Research on personal mobility has shown that:car ownership and availability are low in large

towns and areas of high housing density, particularly for example in Europe.

• WHY?

high-density areas have a much higher proportion of facilities (shops, banks, clinics) than low-density areas; and

that high-density areas are often dominated by public housing, while low density areas and small towns and villages have mainly owner-occupied dwellings (SA?)

1.2.2 DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGES cont’

EFFECTS ON THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM• Major transport problems of the near future

will arise in the suburban areas, which are currently experiencing high rates of residential and employment growth, without matching increases in highway capacity or public transport services.

• How to counter this trend?

1.2.2 DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGES cont’

There is unlikely to be an increase in highway capacity to match this growth in movement demand as a result of factors such as the:

• ?• ?

?

1.2.2 DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGES cont’

There is unlikely to be an increase in highway capacity to match this growth in movement demand as a result of factors such as the:

o constraints on public expenditure; o the increasing costs of highway construction

and improvement; and o the extensive maintenance programme

required for existing motorway networks.

• These factors, together with the present high level of environmental consciousness shown by the public, suggests that, even where financial and political commitment for new works exists, public opposition to such projects may prevent their implementation.

1.2.2 DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGES cont’

• Increasing levels of congestion can be anticipated in suburban areas - congestion which may be alleviated by car-sharing or the provision of firm’s busses.

• The provision of an enhanced level of public transport to meet these new demands is not feasible, given the low density of the residential development and the dispersed location of employment centres. ??

• Congestion is inevitable, although it could be a level of congestion which people may be prepared to tolerate.

1.2.2 DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGES cont’

• By contrast, the quality of transport in central city locations may be improved.

• However, the financial situation of public transport services arising out of rapidly increasing operating costs, and declining levels of service, suggest severe difficulties ahead.

• END END

1.2.2 DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGES cont’

• Economics is primarily concerned with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services on which people place a value.

• Very few groups can sustain the standard of living they demand from only local resources.

1.3 TRANSPORT AND THE ECONOMY

• Thus, there is an inevitable requirement to transport raw materials, finished products and knowledge between different parts of the world if the standards of living demanded are to be satisfied.

• Transport is used by firms as an integral part of their commercial operations; and by individuals to get to work, to shop, and to visit friends.

1.3 TRANSPORT AND THE ECONOMY cont’

• What is the relationship between distance and the number of trips???

• A decision to make a journey is not made solely on the basis of minimising total time or cost spent on travelling but on both factors.

1.3 TRANSPORT AND THE ECONOMY cont’

• This combination of the time and money costs of travel is usually termed the generalised cost of travel.

• Thus, the price of a commodity or activity consists of two elements - access to the activity or the commodity and the direct price for it.

1.3 TRANSPORT AND THE ECONOMY cont’

• A reduction in the cost of transport between A and B has place utility to the goods produced at A.

• Thus, an improvement for one group may result in a loss or another.

• As a result of what appears simply to be physical improvements to the system, somebody gains and somebody loses.

• Transport investment decisions are thus distributional and, hence political.

1.3 TRANSPORT AND THE ECONOMY cont’

1.3.2 REGIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH AND TRANSPORT

• It is generaly accepted that the improvement of transport infrastructure has a consequential improvement on the economy of the region benefiting from that infrastructure,

• Yet the evidence to support this view is not that strong.

1.4 TRANSPORT AND THE ENVIRONMENT

1.4.1 INTRODUCTION• With the penetration of motor vehicles

throughout urban areas come the consequences of accidents, anxiety, intimidation by large or fast cars, noise, fumes vibration, dirt, and visual intrusion.

• Environment is used here in the context of the effect of transport upon the surroundings.

1.4.1 INTRODUCTION cont’

• Environmental elements, which need to be taken into account in any assessment of traffic proposals or conditions, are safety, comfort, convenience, and appearance, and therefore the need for:

Pedestrians to be able to move about safely in urban areas;

the segregation of pedestrian and vehicles;

the removal of the polluting effects of the motor vehicle noise and smell from working and living areas of our towns; as well as

the elimination of the overpowering visual intrusion of large vehicles, which should not penetrate into those areas unless their destination is there.

1.4.1 INTRODUCTION cont’

1.4.2 FACTORS AFFECTING THE ENVIRONMENT

The factors generally seen as having the most significant effect on the quality of the environment are:

safety and accidents, noise, vibration, air pollution, and visual intrusion. Difficult to measure

Environmental consequences of new transport infrastructure

A) SAFETY AND ACCIDENTS• To be safe to feel safe at all times, to have no serious

anxiety that family will be involved in a traffic accident are surely prerequisites for civilised life.

• Safety cannot be divorced from accidents. • A transport planner has to decide how best to

improve the situation so as to minimise the deaths on the road. (pedestrian or not)

B) NOISE

1.5 TRANSPORT AND POLITICS

1.5.1 INTRODUCTION• Limited resources for the implementation of

transport policies and proposals, certain decisions about the allocation of those resources invariably mean that some people benefit from these decisions, while others lose.

1.5.1 INTRODUCTION cont’

• Central government relies heavily on local government to implement or administer policies to secure social and economic change.

• Yet the administrative units of local government may well be controlled by political parties with different views to these held by the party controlling central government.

• Other issues that could arouse conflict of interest are:

• Energy• Equity• Pollution and • The Environment

1.5.1 INTRODUCTION cont’

1.5.2 ENERGY

• The oil embargo of 1973-4 immediately focused attention on the obvious fact that the cost of transport is affected by an increase in the cost of fuel:

• Directly because of the relationship between the price of oil and the cost of transport.

• lndirectly because increased fuel costs result in a lower rate of economic growth, which in turn reduces the demand for transport.

1.5.2 ENERGY cont’

Politically there are a number of ways in which government can react to implications of a continued increase in the price of oil:

At one extreme, market forces can be left to resolve the matter.

At the other, the government can intervene in the supply and pricing mechanisms of the oil and transport industries.

Individual local authorities have attempted to reduce the dominance of the motorcar within their area - primarily for environmental, equity and energy conservation reasons.

The typical approach adopted is:• to subsidise public transport;

1.5.2 ENERGY cont’

1.5.2 ENERGY cont’

• to adopt policies such as park and ride, which encourages the motorist to switch to public transport before entering the more congested parts of our towns and cities;

• to encourage car sharing; and• to increase central area parking charges,

EG (London city has congestion charge)

1.5.3 EQUITY

• With the construction of interurban motorways the transport system improves enormously and the car-owning, car-using sector of the population benefits a lot.

• But significant proportion of the population ‘loses’ as a result of the policies implemented, for example due to disrupted farm units, destroyed parts of the natural heritage, etc.

1.5.3 EQUITY cont’

• The decisions to adopt the policies tend to be distributive and political with the political weight of the car-owning population, allied with the oil, commercial and road haulage interests inevitably lead to a road-dominated transport policy.

• THE END