Transport - what is it? Types and purpose of transport

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The movement of people and goods is an absolute necessity in society. For their implementation, there are special means - transport. What he is, even a child knows. However, it is a complex system that requires absolute understanding.

Concept

From the point of view of an integrated approach, the named concept can be considered as follows:

1. The totality of all existing ways of moving.
2. Sector of economy and production.
3. System integration of all modes of transportation and related infrastructure.

In a generalized sense, transport is:

• link between cities, countries and continents;
• the main component of any production;
• means of moving people, as well as providing them with vital goods.

As a branch of production, it consists of:

• from the subject of labor - the actual transportation;
• means of labor - rolling stock;
• work in progress – managing them.

Functions

Consideringabsolute need for it, transport entered into all spheres of life. It has many functions:

1. Economic. It acts as a means of labor in the extraction and provision of the state with minerals: oil, gas, coal, ore, precious metals. It makes possible and accessible the specialization of industries simultaneously with their cooperation. Represents the main link in the domestic and international trade of any country.
2. Social. It manifests itself in providing opportunities to live, work and rest in different parts of a settlement, country, mainland, planet and simplify human labor.
3. Cultural meaning lies in the opportunities to exchange experiences and values, visit any culturally rich places, replenish with new works of art.
4. The political role is to establish international and trade relations.
5. Military - in providing the army with the possibility of peaceful and armed movements, medical care and food.

Thus, regardless of the type and characteristics, transport is an integral part of the state and society.

Classification

All existing methods of movement can be divided into two main groups: the environment of the main activity and the service area.

Depending on the environment, the following groups and types are distinguished:

1. Ground: rail, wheeled.
2. Underground (metro).
3. Air (aviation).
4. Space.
5. Water and underwater.
6. Pipeline.

By the nature of the service sector, they distinguish:

1. Public transport.
2. Special purpose equipment.
3. Transport for personal use.

Types of public transport are represented by a set of rolling stock for the movement of goods and passengers, aimed at performing their characteristic economic, social, cultural, and sometimes political functions.

The most important public transport options include rail, road, water, air and pipeline transport. What each of the groups is, we will consider further.

Cartage and pack transport

Horse-drawn transport can be considered the prototype of all land vehicles. Since antiquity and until the beginning of the 20th century, it performed all the functions corresponding to the current transport industry. At the same time, it served as an incentive to search for more technological and productive ways to move goods and passengers.

Depending on the territorial features, horses, donkeys, bulls, elephants, deer, dogs, camels were exploited. Animals were used for riding or harnessed to transport carts, wagons, carriages.

Pack transport was used off-road (mountains, deserts, taiga) - animals with packs on their backs were led by leashes.

With the development of rail and road communication, it gradually went out of public service,passing into rare personal use.

Water transport

Water sea transport also has ancient roots dating back to the III-II millennium BC. e., and was the only way to implement international trade and the conquest of overseas countries.

Today it is divided into sea and river. Its advantages include:

• less energy cost than rail and road;
• no need to build communication routes;
• capable of transporting bulky, non-urgent cargo over long distances and where bridges are difficult or costly to build.

Flaws:

1. Dependence on weather conditions.
2. Slow movement speed.
3. The high cost of building ports and docks.
4. The possibilities of the river are limited by the passability of the rivers.

An important feature of loading and unloading operations is the need to use several modes of transport within the framework of one port facility, namely road and rail.

Rail transport

It is a freight and passenger transport, the work of which is based on the movement of rolling stock on specially equipped tracks - rails. His merits:

1. Versatility, weather independence, reliability.
2. High cargo and passenger capacity, which allows to implementthe movement of large flows in small time intervals.
3. Possibility of direct deliveries from the manufacturer, if there are appropriate access roads.
4. Good speed.
5. Comfort for passenger travel.

If we consider the types of freight transport, then the railway occupies a leading position in the transportation of non-valuable, oversized cargo, including timber, grain, coal, building materials, and products of the oil refining industry. Containerization is applied where necessary.

Flaws:

1. Capital intensity and engineering difficulties in building railways and rolling stock.
2. Limitation of the direction of railways, maneuvers and simultaneous movement of several trains.
3. Almost always requires a previous or subsequent vehicular engagement, which is reflected in total costs.
4. Difficulties in loading and unloading operations.
5. International transport is often hampered by gauge differences.

Cargo turnover averages 40-50% in Russia and 15-20% in the world market. The corresponding passenger turnover in Russia is 30% and 10% in the world. Thus, it is a productive and reliable transport.

What is a steam locomotive - our ancestors knew. Today, its future lies in the electrification of railway lines. Modernization of communication lines and rolling stock, along with the comprehensive introduction of high-speed technologies, is a stable prospect for increasing the profitability of the industry.

Automotive

Types of public transport is represented by the automotive industry - the most mobile, technological and exploited. At the same time, it represents personal, special and departmental vehicles and their infrastructure. The share of Russian road freight traffic is only 4-6%, global - 8-10%. Automobile passenger transportation in the Russian Federation takes 30-40% of all carried out, while in the world - 70-75%.

Dignity:

1. Mobility, the possibility of direct deliveries without the use of intermediate types of movement.
2. Advantage in the transportation of valuable, fragile and perishable goods, including small volumes.
3. Method of food delivery, including to hard-to-reach regions.
4. Variety of vehicles by load capacity and body type.
5. Good speed, low cost and convenient passenger travel.
6. Ease of paths.

Flaws:

1. Energy intensive, negative impact on the environment.
2. High cost.
3. Insignificant carrying capacity compared to other types.
4. Minimum passenger comfort level.
5. Significant wear and tear on rolling stock.
6. Dependence on traffic safety. The presence of risks, associated downtime and additional capital losses.

Passenger transport is almost half represented by road. He remains the leader among optionsmovements within the locality and the country. For international, and especially intercontinental, rail, water or aviation are used.

Air

Airplanes and helicopters are the highest human achievement, literally and figuratively, which greatly simplifies the solution of super-complex tasks, which include: moving over long distances at high speed, delivering medicines or humanitarian aid to areas of natural disasters and catastrophes, implementing complex actions in construction, firefighting, evacuation, agriculture and more.

Dignity:

1. High speed.
2. Decent level of passenger comfort.
3. Opportunities for transporting valuable and perishable goods.
4. Do not require the construction of communication lines.

Flaws:

1. Low security.
2. The need for the highest qualifications of pilots and controllers.
3. Meteorological dependence.
4. Significant capital intensity and cost.
5. Limited shipping.

Along with significant risks and high costs, occupies about 20% of the world's passenger traffic.

Pipeline

The set of pipe-like ways of moving liquid and gaseous "goods" over long distances represent pipeline transport. With its help, they provide interregional, international and intercontinental supply of oil and gas. Work is carried out withusing the pressure difference in the system and their regulation, respectively, transport workers are represented by dispatchers and controllers of points.

The advantages include manufacturability, high performance and availability in any conditions. The disadvantages are high safety and compliance requirements, continuous monitoring and a narrow focus of the system.

It is extremely necessary to ensure a comfortable life for the population, since the possibility of convenient cooking and the level of heat in dwellings during the cold season depend on its functioning.

The most important system of any society is transport. What is a state without territory and population, without industry, cultural heritage and opportunities for movement? It is the bloodstream of any country and the world as a whole. It is the problem of ecology, but also, quite possibly, the salvation of mankind.