The Geography of Transport Systems, 3rd Edition

432 Pages·2014·9.27 MB·English

The Geography of Transport
Systems
Mobility is fundamental to economic and social activities such as commuting, manufac-
turing or supplying energy. Each movement has an origin, a potential set of intermediate
locations, a destination and a nature which is linked with geographical attributes. Trans-
port systems composed of infrastructures, modes and terminals are so embedded in the
socio- economic life of individuals, institutions and corporations that they are often
invisible to the consumer. This is paradoxical as the perceived invisibility of transporta-
tion is derived from its ef(cid:191) ciency. Understanding how mobility is linked with geo graphy
is the main purpose of this book.
The third edition of T he Geography of Transport Systems has been revised and
updated to provide an overview of the spatial aspects of transportation. This text provides
more content related to security, energy and environmental issues, as well as new and
updated case studies, a revised content structure and new (cid:191) gures. Each chapter covers a
speci(cid:191) c conceptual dimension including networks, modes, terminals, freight transporta-
tion, urban transportation and environmental impacts. A (cid:191) nal chapter contains core
methodologies linked with transport geography such as accessibility, spatial interac-
tions, graph theory and Geographic Information Systems for Transportation (GIS-T).
This book provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the (cid:191) eld, with a
broad overview of its concepts, methods and areas of application. The accompanying
website for this text contains useful additional material, including digital maps, Power-
Point slides, databases and links to further reading and websites. The website can be
accessed at: http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans. This text is an essential resource for
undergraduates studying transport geography, as well as those interested in economic
and urban geography, transport planning and engineering.
Jean-Paul Rodrigue is Professor in the Department of Global Studies and Geography
at Hofstra University, New York.
Claude Comtois is Professor of Geography at the University of Montreal, Canada, and
is af(cid:191) liated with the Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transporta-
tion at the same institution.
Brian Slack is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Concordia University, Montreal,
Canada.
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The Geography of Transport
Systems
Third edition
Jean-Paul Rodrigue
with Claude Comtois and Brian Slack
First edition published 2006 by Routledge
Second edition published 2009 by Routledge
Third edition published 2013 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2006, 2009, 2013 Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Claude Comtois and Brian Slack
The right of Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Claude Comtois and Brian Slack to be
identi(cid:191) ed as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance
with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identi(cid:191) cation and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Rodrigue, Jean-Paul, 1967-
The geography of transport systems / Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Claude Comtois,
and Brian Slack. – [Third edition].
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Transportation geography. I. Comtois, Claude, 1954- II. Slack,
Brian, 1939- III. Title.
HE323.R63 2013
388.01—dc23
2012048389
ISBN: 978–0–415–82253–4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978–0–415–82254–1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978–0–203–37118–3 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Re(cid:191) neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk
To Gordana and Nikola
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Contents
List of photographs ix
List of (cid:191)gures x
List of contributors xiii
Preface xiv
Chapter 1 Transportation and geography 1
CONCEPTS: 1 What is transport geography? 1
2 Transportation and space 9
3 Transportation and commercial geography 17
4 The geography of transportation networks 22
CASE STUDY: Strategic maritime passages 30
Chapter 2 Transportation and the spatial structure 42
CONCEPTS: 1 Historical geography of transportation:
the emergence of mechanized systems 42
2 Historical geography of transportation: the setting of
global systems 58
3 Transport and spatial organization 65
4 Transport and location 72
5 Future transportation 77
CASE STUDY: High speed rail systems 83
Chapter 3 Transportation modes 89
CONCEPTS: 1 A diversity of modes 89
2 Intermodal transportation 110
3 Passengers and freight: complementarity and competition 120
CASE STUDY: Information technologies and mobility 122
Chapter 4 Transportation terminals 127
CONCEPTS: 1 The function of transport terminals 127
2 The location of terminals 134
3 Transport terminal governance 149
CASE STUDY: Inland ports 152
Chapter 5 International trade and freight distribution 158
CONCEPTS: 1 Transportation, globalization and
international trade 158
2 Commodity chains and freight transportation 166
viii • Contents
3 Logistics and freight distribution 173
CASE STUDY: Commodity chain analysis: the cold chain 183
Chapter 6 Urban transportation 188
CONCEPTS: 1 Transportation and the urban form 188
2 Urban land use and transportation 198
3 Urban mobility 206
4 Urban transport problems 212
CASE STUDY: City logistics 219
Chapter 7 Transportation and the economy 226
CONCEPTS: 1 Transportation and economic development 226
2 Transport costs 236
3 Transport supply and demand 243
CASE STUDY: The cruise industry 249
Chapter 8 Transport, energy and environment 255
CONCEPTS: 1 The environmental impacts of transportation 255
2 Transportation and energy 261
3 Transport and sustainability 269
CASE STUDY: Green logistics 274
Chapter 9 Transport planning and policy 280
CONCEPTS: 1 The nature of transport policy 280
2 Transport planning 285
3 Transport safety and security 291
4 Transportation and disasters 294
CASE STUDY: Transportation and pandemics 299
Chapter 10 Methods in transport geography 304
METHODS: 1 Methods in transport geography 304
2 Graph theory: de(cid:191) nition and properties 307
3 Graph theory: measures and indices 312
4 Geographic Information Systems for Transportation (GIS-T) 317
5 The notion of accessibility 322
6 Network data models 328
7 Transport technical and economic performance indicators 333
8 The Gini coef(cid:191) cient 337
9 Spatial interactions and the gravity model 340
10 Market area analysis 345
11 The policy process 351
Conclusion: Issues and challenges in transport geography 356
Glossary 364
Index 396
Photographs
1.1 Container ship exiting the Gaillard Cut, Panama Canal 34
2.1 Antwerp Central train station 86
3.1 Boarding of a Ryanair (cid:192) ight 103
3.2 Forty- foot containers double- stacked on a rail car 115
3.3 Stacked container ship 119
4.1 Modern airport terminal, Barajas, Madrid, Spain 130
4.2 Portainer, APM Terminal, Port Newark, New York 131
4.3 Terminal Intermodal Logistica de Hidalgo 156
5.1 Third- party less- than-truckload service, FedEx 179
5.2 Grocery chain cold storage facility, Regina, Saskatchewan 186
6.1 High density structured urban form, Paris, France 193
6.2 Bicycle pool, Paris, France 197
6 .3 B TS Skytrain, Bangkok 211
6.4 Parking in a public park, Brussels 217
7.1 Cruise ships at the Port of Barcelona, Spain 253