The global oceanic system has five major sea current gyres that act as large conveyor belts. These gyres are also correlated with dominant wind flows where they rotate clockwise north of the equator and counterclockwise south of the equator. During the era of sailship navigation, these gyres had a strong
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Absolute, Relative and Arbitrary Barriers
A barrier is a feature that can impede mobility and comes in three forms:
Polar Shipping Routes
Note: Ice extent is the average from the 1981-2010 period. Since then, the average ice extent has receded. Global climate change is offering new opportunities for international transportation networks, notably with a trend of receding ice around the North Pole. If this trend continues, parts of the Arctic could be
Appendix A – Methods in Transport Geography
Transportation is not a science but a field of inquiry and application. As such, it tends to rely on specific methodologies since transportation is a performance-driven activity, and this performance can be measured and compared. Transportation planning and analysis are interdisciplinary by nature, involving civil engineers, economists, urban planners, and
1.2 – Transportation and the Physical Environment
Author: Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue The physical environment imposes major constraints on transportation systems, in terms of what mode can be used, the extent of the service, its costs, capacity, and reliability. 1. Physical Constraints Since transportation involves a set of technologies designed to overcome the constraints of space, particularly distance,
Common Challenges for Transport Systems
There are four major types of challenges that affect transport systems: Capacity. A basic constraint concerns appropriate capacity, both along a transport route and at a terminal. The capacity of a transport system is often restricted by its circulation bottlenecks and expensive to improve. Transfer. Transfer points are crucial as
Common Fallacies in Transport Geography
Complex Systems and Transportation
Source: adapted from OECD (2009) “Applications of Complexity Science for Public Policy: New Tools for Finding Unanticipated Consequences and Unrealized Opportunities”, Global Science Forum.Transportation, as a complex system, shares many of its characteristics, including: Adaptability. A standard characteristic best reflected by the concept of competition where transport firms adapt to their
Dimensions of Transport Geography
Source: adapted from B. Hoyle and J. Smith (1998) “Transport and Development: Conceptual Frameworks”, in B. Hoyle and R. Knowles, Modern Transport Geography, 2nd Edition, London: Wiley, p. 17. Since transport geography is a multidisciplinary field, it can be approached from several dimensions of inquiry: Economics. This dimension is concerned
The Transport System
A transport system can be conceptualized as the set of relationships between nodes, networks, and demand. These relationships involve locations spatially expressing this demand, flows between them, and infrastructures designed to handle and link these flows. All the components of a transport system are designed to facilitate the movements of