Fundamental Concepts and Functions of Passenger and Freight Transportation in Great Britain

Mengqiu Cao

• Publisher: BrownWalker Press
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781599426273
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Transportation & Navigation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamental concepts and function of transport, as well as covering a wide array of themes, including different modes of both passenger and freight transport, primarily using various case studies from Gre

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1The Function of Transport

The function of transport is to move goods from A to B, and it is often stated that this will only occur if the price at B is greater than the cost at A by at least the cost of transport. This is not always true, however, since in periods of famine, such as in many war-torn areas at the present time, food or vaccines may be sent to these disaster areas, even if the cost at A might be higher than the price at B.

Importantly, freight transport is not demanded for its own sake, but because it fulfils another purpose, so the demand for freight transport is a derived demand. It is easy to see this if we analyse the various sectors of business.

1.2Transport of Primary Products

Primary products include raw materials such as minerals and oil and food crops and timber.

1.2.1Agricultural Produce

The demand for transporting agricultural products arises in any community which does not consist completely of subsistence farmers, i.e. those who produce food solely to meet the needs of their households.

Various factors affect the demand for transport, one of which is the seasonal nature of products. For example, the Canary Islands can supply tomatoes during periods when British producers cannot do so. In some cases, one country may produce commodities which other countries cannot produce, such as cocoa production in Ghana, and therefore the provision of transport gives the consumer in the latter countries a greater variety of foods.

The price of food and therefore transport is not, however, determined solely by the market, but also by international groupings such as the European Union with its Common Agricultural Policy (C.A.P) and the United States of America (USA), which heavily subsidises its own farmers. This was even more the case during Donald Trump’s presidency, with his policy of ‘America first’ rather than free-trade on equal terms.

It is still unclear exactly what happen to the UK’s agricultural policy in post-Brexit Britain, although it provides us with the opportunity to implement reforms.

It is scandalous, yet often goes unnoticed that, in the UK around one third of the food in the supermarket chains gets wasted. Currently some of the supermarket chains such as Tesco have set themselves targets for reducing this food wastage as well as energy consumption. More specifically, they are committed to making progress towards UN Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3 to halve global food waste by 2030.

Some supermarket chains also now sell misshapen fruit and vegetables. In December 2017, the Co-op (Figure 1.1) announced that, in East Anglia, it would sell such food for 10p an item after a specific time to try to minimise wastage.

Figure 1.1Co-op food shop at Canning Town, London.
(Photo: Mengqiu Cao)

Different types of agricultural produce will require different characteristics in their means of transport. Where freshness at the point of consumption is essential, as with soft fruit such as strawberries, speed will be a primary requirement. Sometimes the demand for transport can be postponed by freezing food, as is the case with a great deal of fresh fruit, or canning or making it into jam. A lot of fruit and vegetables is converted into a juice called concentrate. Another alternative is to turn it into wine. Commodities such as grain and cocoa are suitable for bulk carriage.

1.2.2Fish

This is an important commodity in some countries and the growth of refrigerated facilities means that the market has been widely extended. Within the European Union, the Common Fishing Policy (C.F.P) is important in determining the volume of fish which can be caught and therefore transported. Fishing quotas have not always been helpful because dead fish have been thrown back into the sea. The objective of quotas is to prevent overfishing, but the law of unintended consequences is important. The policy is currently being reviewed. It is still unclear exactly what the UK will do in the post-Brexit context.

1.3Minerals

Minerals form a large part of the total demand for transport. Oil accounts for a considerable part of the world demand for shipping and therefore transport operators will carefully watch for any political or economic factors which will affect this demand, for example monitoring developments in Middle Eastern countries such as Libya following the Arab Spring.

Minerals are often suitable for bulk transport and the super tankers, which can weight up to around half a million tonnes, are frequently used for this traffic.

Mineral ores are also very important. Thus, iron ore in Sierra Leone was not useful until the railway system was available.

The climate change conventions to which most nations have signed up may also reduce the volume of oil in the medium term.

Some vehicle manufacturing companies such as Volvo in 2019, have committed to producing only either pure electric or hybrid vehicles. There are also a growing number of electric charging points, which have been gradually installed both on roads and at car parks in the UK (Figures 1.2 and 1.3).

Figure 1.2Electronic charging point at the roadside on Euston Road, London.
(Photo: Mengqiu Cao)

Figure 1.3Electric vehicle recharging point at car park.
(Photo: Mengqiu Cao)

1.4Transport of Manufactured Goods

A large part of the total costs of manufacturing are transport costs, whether these are of the raw materials to and from the manufacturer or the cost of distributing the finished products.

Transport can be an important factor in determining the location of manufacturing industry. Within the UK, a large number of manufacturers originally chose sites near railway lines and many still have private sidings which link up to the main railway network. In other countries, such as France and Germany, the use of private sidings has been encouraged more.

The advent of road haulage meant that, in many countries, industries had a wider choice of location than when railways were the main source of transport.

Now, sites adjoining motorways are often important for the location of very large warehouses and there has been more interest in what is usually known as the supply chain, i.e. how manufacturers ultimately get the goods to the final customers, sometimes via the retailers.

The advent of the World Wide Web has brought significant changes in the distribution system.

As the price of oil is likely to rise in the long term with increasing demands from China and India, as well as the problems of climate change, more emphasis is likely to be placed on electric vehicles, which are suitable where customers live within one compact area. This was because the range that vehicles could travel between recharging points was small. However, as electric vehicles develop, this will no longer be a limitation. In the short term, however, the price of oil unexpectedly collapsed considerably in 2015 and declined dramatically again between 2019 and 2020, which could have an adverse effect on the promotion and roll out of electric vehicles.

1.5Transport for Military Purposes

Using transport for military purposes is nothing new. The word ‘highway’ probably originates from the Roman practice of having roads higher than the surrounding countryside, in order to avoid the risk of ambushes. Currently, a great deal of money is spent on armaments and NATO has set a target of 2% for its members. Ships and planes as well as other military equipment such as tanks frequently need to be transported.

1.6Demand for Business Travel

Business travel is one of the most well-known features of transport and, in large conurbations such as London, people may travel considerable distances to and from work. Generally, travel distances to and from work tend to be greater in some areas, such as Southeast England than in the Northeast. White-collar workers also often travel further than manual workers.

Commuting is not new; the Metropolitan railway became part of the London underground system and extended over a distance of 70 km (40 miles) from London to Aylesbury by the 1870s.

In most countries the peak demand for journeys to and from work is in the mornings and evenings, whilst sometimes there may also be a mid-day peak when workers go home for lunch.

One of the main characteristics of transport demand is the need for greater capacity as well as speed and the 12 coach trains which are common on the British rail system have considerable seating capacity, as well as often carrying large numbers of standing passengers.

In some other countries, double-decker trains are used which offer greater capacity for the same length of trains, whilst there have also been discussions about whether longer trains could be provided.

The peak demand for transport presents transport operators with major economic and operating problems.

Sometimes, businesses will try to encourage workers, if they have to travel to work by car, to car share since this reduces the volume of car parking space necessary (Figure 1.4) and it also makes a contribution to reducing climate change.

Figure 1.4No parking at Canary Wharf (specific area only).
(Photo: Mengqiu Cao)

Firms are encouraged to implement measures to encourage green travel. One of the best-known organisations doing this is the Body Shop.

Business travel does not, however, consist solely of journeys to and from work, but may include business executives going to conferences and sales representatives making a considerable number of journeys during the working day.

In some cases the number of journeys to and from work can be reduced by using modern technology, so that sometimes, people can work at home, at least for some of the working week, and perhaps go into the workplace on a couple of days a week.

Business travel may also be reduced by new methods of technology which allow people to have virtual conferences while sitting in their own offices or homes. The use of technology and electronic communication also allows people to access documents at home or in small offices rather than having to travel long distances. In addition, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have also changed traditional commuting to work patterns and resulted in more home working.

1.7Educational Travel

Travel to and from school, college or university accounts for a large part of the total demand for transport in some countries. Increases in the number of people going onto higher education have resulted in more journeys at the beginning and end of term to and from universities. Daily journeys to and from colleges or universities may also be substantial, especially in towns where the number of students and lecturers may be comparable to that of the residential population.

1.7.1Rural Educational Travel

In the United Kingdom, rural travel often forms...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title
• Full Title
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• About the Authors
• Acknowledgements
• List of Figures and Tables
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Definition of Terms
• Chapter 3: Passenger Transport Demand
• Chapter 4: Freight Transport Demand
• Chapter 5: Freight Transport Costs
• Chapter 6: Terminals
• Index