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Source: Adapted from the Economist Intelligence Unit, 2015. For centuries the oceans have been used for fishing, transport, and trade. However, such use remained relatively marginal concerning the bulk of human activities. With globalization, economic growth, and technological innovation, the usage of the oceans for economic purposes has increased substantially.

Containerization is evocative of a standard diffusion curve concerning four major phases:

Colonial (or resource-based) transportation systems were designed to facilitate the extractive nature of colonial economies from the 19th to mid-20th century. They were particularly prevalent in Africa and Latin America. Still, resource-rich countries such as Canada, Russia, and Australia also have parts of their rail transport systems fashioned in such

Source: Adapted from Hargroves, K. and M. Smith (2005) Natural Advantage of Nations: Business Opportunities, Innovation and Governance for the 21st Century. London: Routledge. Technological innovation and economic growth are closely related and can be articulated within the concept of cycles or waves. Each wave represents a diffusion phase of

Source: adapted from HOP Associates (2005) “Time, mobility and economic growth”. Each transport mode and technology is linked to a set of economic opportunities, notably in terms of the available market areas, what can be transported (passengers and freight), and the provided economies of scale. All these issues are related to

Transport improvements usually increase the scale and scope of economic (mostly for freight) and social interactions (mostly for passengers). There is a wide range of economic benefits conveyed by transportation systems, some direct (capacity and efficiency), some indirect (accessibility and economies of scale), and some induced (multipliers and opportunities). They

Source: OECD. Transport infrastructure investment and maintenance spending represent a relatively constant share of the GDP among a sample of countries, around 0.5% to 1% of GDP. Outliers, such as China and India, are facing strong economic growth and, more importantly, improving the performance of their transport systems. A lower

Source: The World Bank. As the income level increases, so does the diversity of consumption. Consumption patterns in developing economies reveal that while food is the most important expense for lower-income levels, its share drops significantly as income levels increase. Transportation becomes the second most important expense at higher income

Source: Adapted from US Department of Commerce. There is a distinct difference between the level of transport intensity of goods and the economic sectors they are associated with. This trend is mostly attributed to the material intensiveness of each good in relation to its value. Goods with a high transport

The economic impacts of transportation infrastructure can be categorized as core (fundamental), operational, and geographical: Improvements in one or more of these characteristics usually result in improvements in the competitiveness level of an area, such as a region.