In 1919, a convoy of army trucks was sent on a journey across the United States, from Washington to San Francisco, to test the efficiency of the roadway system in case of an emergency. It took 62 days for the convoy to cross the nation, underlining the need for better
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World Main Highway and Primary Road Network
Source: Road data from Meijer, J.R., Huijbregts, M.A.J., Schotten, C.G.J. and Schipper, A.M. (2018): Global patterns of current and future road infrastructure. Environmental Research Letters, 13-064006. Data is available at www.globio.info Even if the world road network appears to be connected and rather extensive, it is more a collection of
Macadam Road Construction, Maryland, 1823
Source: United States Department of Transportation – Federal Highway Administration, Painting by Carl Rakeman. The macadam road construction principle permitted the first modern all-weather hard surface roads. The above painting shows the process being applied to build the first macadam surface road in the United States in 1823. It linked
Linearity, Capacity and Surface of Roads
Road capacity is a function of linearity as linear roads usually have more capacity than curved roads. This is also linked with the road surface as historically curved roads tended to have a soft surface while linear roads tended to be paved. On a smooth surface, road conditions deteriorate with
Roman Road (Appian Way)
Source: Wikipedia, Appian Way. The Appian Way was completed around 312 BC, linking Rome to the port city of Brundisium (Brindisi). It played a fundamental role in helping expand the Roman hegemony, which was then in its early stages. It also set engineering standards that would be applied to most
Modal Competition, Complementarity and Shift along a Corridor
Transport corridors usually offer a variety of modal options with a linear accumulation of infrastructure. The interactions between these modes usually take three forms: Modal competition. When one mode is directly competing with another other or with different firms on the same mode, which is often a zero-sum game. Competition
Modal Share of Freight Transportation, Selected Countries, 2020
Source: ITF Transport Statistics. The respective share of transportation modes reflects different geographical conditions in which transport systems operate. The most basic ones are related to country size and the amount of coastline available. While within the European Union, China, and Japan, road and coastal shipping account for the great
Principles of Modal Shift
A modal shift occurs when one mode has a comparative advantage in a similar market over another. Comparative advantages can take various forms, such as costs, capacity, time, flexibility, or reliability. Depending on what is being transported, the importance of each of these factors varies. For some, time is of
Passenger Modal Split by Travel Distance, United States
Source: adapted from Schafer, A. (2000) Regularities in Travel Demand: An International Perspective, Journal of Transport Statistics, Vol. 3, No. 3. Distance remains a significant factor in the modal choice of passengers. The above figure represents the respective share of three modes by travel distances and excludes public transit and
Four Travel Options between New York and Boston, 2004
Mode Price (one way) Time LimoLiner (luxury bus) $69 4 hours Acela (Amtrak train) $99 3 hours Greyhound bus $30 4 hours Air Shuttle $128 1 hour (plus check-in) Source: K. Gordon (2004) “Boston to New York: Four Ways to Make the Trip”, New York Times, January 20. New York