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Author: Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue Transport systems support complex economic and social interactions and are thus a component of society. Transportation reflects the aspirations of a society such as accessibility and mobility, which expands its horizon. 1. Mobility and Society Mobility is one of the most fundamental characteristics of human activities.

Authors: Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue and Dr. Theo Notteboom The development of transportation systems is embedded within the scale and context in which they take place, from the local to the global and from environmental, historical, technological, and economic perspectives. 1. The Economic Importance of Transportation Development can be defined as

Source: New York Transit Museum. Note: Inflation adjusted figures are not available before 1913. Since it was opened in 1904, the New York City subway operated on a flat fare structure, implying that fares are irrespective of the distance traveled. Adjusted to inflation, fares have substantially increased over the years,

There are several challenges facing a city’s transit system: Decentralization and suburbanization (sprawl) have been associated with lower densities that cannot be efficiently serviced by mass transit systems outside specific corridors. Under such circumstances, transit is limited to a part of the city and city-wide services become prohibitive. Therefore, sprawl

Source: Adapted from Wikipedia. Very few public transit systems worldwide generate enough revenue from fares to cover operating expenses. This is even more challenging if capital costs, such as infrastructure investments, are considered. The profitability of a transit system is usually measured using the farebox recovery ratio, which is the

Source: US DOT. The George Washington Bridge (GWB), linking Manhattan to New Jersey, is one of the most heavily used bridges in the world, with daily traffic between 275,000 and 300,000 vehicles. This accounts for more than 100 million vehicles per year. Completed in 1931, a second level containing six

Photo: Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, 2008. The pooling of vehicles for short-term rent is an option that is increasingly being considered and applied to support urban mobility. The above photo shows the “Velib” (Velo Libre) initiative in Paris, France, where bicycles are offered for rental for less than 24 hours, and

Source: OECD. The average commuting time in most European countries is 38 minutes, as opposed to 25 minutes in the United States. This figure goes as high as 45 minutes in the United Kingdom, the most congested commuting in Europe. However, in Asian cities, the daily commuting time tends to

Note: Video is provided through YouTube. This video depicts a typical traffic behavior known as backward propagation. When a roadway is close to capacity, a slight change in the driving speed of one vehicle is enough to trigger congestion as it forces the vehicles that follows to slow down, which

A typical daily urban commuting profile involves two peak hours, morning and afternoon, which are recurring, particularly on weekdays and less so on weekends. Under normal circumstances, the transport system has a fixed capacity that remains constant throughout the day. This capacity is an outcome of road characteristics, such as