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Passenger transportation

There are two main types of passenger transporta­tion: (1) private transportation and (2) public transporta­tion. People who use private transportation operate their own vehicles. Those who use public transportation pay to ride on vehicles owned and operated by private companies or the government.

Private transportation in industrial countries is pro­vided mainly by automobiles, bicycles, motorcycles, and private airplanes. Automobiles are by far the most important means of private transportation.

Automobiles are also the chief means of passenger transportation in Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and most of the nations of Western Europe. People in these countries and in the United States own about 77 per cent of the world's automobiles. There are about 12 million miles (19 million kilometres) of roads throughout the world. About one-third of this mileage is in the United States.

Public transportation. Any organized passenger service that is available to the general public can be classed as public transportation. There are three main types of public transportation service: (1) urban (2) inter­city, and (3) overseas.

Urban service. Most large urban areas provide some means of public transportation for people who do not own a car or who prefer to avoid city driving whenever possible. Public transportation in urban areas is called mass transit. Mass transit between cities and their sub­urbs is often called commuter service.

Buses are the chief mass transit vehicles. However, most of the world's big cities offer rail service in addition to bus service. About 90 cities throughout the world, have both subway and surface rail lines. Many big cities throughout the world also have elevated trains, which run on tracks above the streets.

Intercity service is provided mainly by airplanes, buses, and trains. Airlines handle the biggest share of this traffic, and railroads the small­est. The airlines share increases with the length of the trip. High-speed trains can compete with airliners for passengers on runs up to about 500 miles (800 kilometres).

Overseas service. The first overseas airlines began operations during the 1930's. But the planes had to stop frequently during a flight for refuelling. The first non-stop transoceanic airliners appeared during the late 1940's. These propeller-driven planes could carry passengers across the Atlantic safely and comfortably in hours rather than days.

Today, almost all overseas travellers go by plane. Only one ocean liner, Britain's Queen Elizabeth 2, still makes transatlantic voyages. Most ocean liners today operate as cruise ships. They specialize in taking vacationists to the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and other warmareas.

In 1976, the first supersonic airliner, the Concorde, began service between Europe and the United States. The Concorde travels between New York City and London or Paris – a distance of about 3,500 miles (5,630 kilometres) – in approximately 3.5 to 4 hours. However, travelling by supersonic airliner is expensive because these planes consume large amounts of fuel.



The cheapest way to move general cargo is by water. Rail transportation costs about 3 times as much as water transportation, and truck transportation costs about 10 times as much. Air transportation is by far the most expensive way to move freight. It costs nearly 40 times as much as water transportation. Because air transportation is so costly, cargo planes usually carry only expensive, lightweight, or perishable merchandise.

Transportation is one of the leading industries in the world. Many of the world's biggest industrial firms earn all or much of their income from the sale of equipment or fuel for transportation. The transportation industry employs many millions of people in countries through­out the world. In the United States alone, about 10 per cent of all workers are directly or indirectly involved in providing transportation.

The transportation industry consists of (1) equipment manufacturers, (2) passenger and freight carriers, and (3) related industries.

Equipment manufacturers produce the vehicles on which modern transportation depends. These manufac­turers also supply the equipment needed to operate the vehicles, such as railroad tracks and airplane communications systems.

Companies that make automobiles, buses, and trucks are by far the largest producers of transportation equip­ment. The two leading U.S. producers of such motor ve­hicles are General Motors Corporation and Ford Motor Company. They rank among the leading manufacturing firms in the world.

Passenger and freight carriers include airlines, in­tercity bus lines, mass transit companies, pipeline com­panies, railroads, shipping lines, and trucking firms. In most countries, the central government owns and oper­ates all the airlines and railroads and some or all of the intercity bus times.

Related industries include glass, petroleum, steel, and tire production; road construction; the selling of new and used automobiles; and the servicing of automobiles. Petroleum production is the leading transportation-related industry in terms of value.


Date: 2016-04-22; view: 2287


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