Types of Transportation

There are various types of transportation that keep the day to day operations of American society up and running.  We need roadways open and unobstructed to get to work each day.  Airplanes need to fly us to far away destinations to transact business deals or just for vacation getaways.  Subways and public transportation are the center of major city operations.  School buses transport thousands of children to classes.  Trucks deliver everyday items to distribution centers and warehouses.  Barges float down rivers and waterways carrying natural resources like coal and steel.  It is all a part of keeping our daily lives moving every day. 

History of Transportation

Transportation began with the invention of the wheel in about 3500 BC.  Wheels were placed first on carts and then chariots.  Next came travel by riverboats believed to have first been used by the Egyptians.  Horses were added as a means of transportation.  It is believed Asians were the first to place some kind of protector on the horse's hooves. The wheelbarrow was instrumental in transporting heavy goods from one site to another.  The submarine used to travel underwater was invented in 1620 by Cornelis Drebbel.  The first paddle wheel steamboat began rolling down the river during the late 1700s and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.  About 100 years later we saw the first cable car.  The Wright Brothers took off in the first airplane which they called a "flying machine" in 1903. (They also made bicycles.)  Henry Ford created the system to mass produce cars in 1908.  Successful helicopter flights took off in the 1940's.  Jumbo jets began gracing the runways in 1970.  And, the Space Shuttle blasted off in 1981.

Interstate Highway System

In the United States, one key type of transportation is the use of interstate highways.  Federal officials refer to it as the National Highway System which includes about 160,000 miles of paved roads and interstate that serves the purposes of keeping residents mobile, keeping the country safe and keeping the economy stable.  Officially, the National Highway System is divided into several key groups:

• Interstates: The current system of interstate highways in the U.S. is formally called the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highway.  Congress passed a law in 1944 to begin the creation of about 40,000 miles of roadway.  However, it was President Eisenhower who was instrumental in getting the roadways funded.  Interstate roadways all carry standard markers that include a red, white and blue shield, a number.  Roadways with odd numbers travel north to south.  Roadways with even numbers travel east to west.
  
  
• Principal Arterials: These roads generally carry a high volume of traffic between large cities.  They can be considered highways and are key links to major transportation facilities and airports.
  

  

• Strategic Highway Network: This is a combination of interstate highways and other roadways to provide a strategic route of operation for the government in peacetime and wartime.  It includes 61,000 miles and is connected to over 200 military installations.  It is commonly referred to as STRAHNET.

• Strategic Highway Network Connectors: These are roadways that connect major U.S. defense operations and military compounds to to highways that make up STRAHNET.
  
  
• Inter modal Connectors:  These are additional connector highways that link interstates, major ports and transportation systems.  These connectors are also used to link the other four subgroups of highways.

Automobiles & Trucks

It is hard to believe that some people thought the automobile would never be widely received as a mode of transportation in America.  Not only is it a main way to get around in the United States, the availability and use of cars is the key to local and regional travel worldwide.  The United States is the number one market in the world for passenger vehicles.  As of 2007, the Department of Transportation reported over 254 million registered vehicles.  Ironically, there are actually more registered vehicles in America than there are licensed drivers which is contributing to a growing problem of overcrowding on U.S. roadways.  However the declining U.S. economy and periodic spikes in fuel costs is causing some drivers to change their driving patterns.  A recent Harris Poll showed that "stay-cations", public transportation usage, telecommuting and car-pooling were all increasing options that American drivers selected to deal with the recent changes in the economy.

Meanwhile, if you have driven on the road at any point, you know you have to share the road with an increasing population of freight trucks.  Freight trucks that transport goods from point A to point B on a 24/7 basis are the blood flow of the American economy.  And, as the American economy and population increases, so will the need for transportation via freight trucks.  According to the Federal Highway Administration, about 53 million tons of freight is on the move daily valued at $36 billion.  Goods moved include everything you can think of from consumer goods to industrial equipment to hazardous materials. 

However, the use of both automobiles and trucks on American roadways is expected to increase in the coming years.  The Federal Highway Administration estimates that by 2035, we will see congestion increase nearly 30 percent from where it was in 2002. 

Rail

Union Pacific was the first intercontinental railroad connecting the Eastern United States to the new frontier of the West.  The railroad was built in the mid-19th century by hand with a workforce of about 20,000 men, many of whom were immigrants.  While England is credited with creating the first modern railroad in the 1820s, many saw the expansion of the U.S. railway as the key to growing the nation.  As a result, traveling by train became the primary way to travel distances and transport goods during the late 19th century. 

Rail also became a viable option for local and regional transportation with the advent of subways, rapid systems, monorails, commuter and light rail.  The London Underground or the Tube was the first to begin this method of local travel in 1863.  Since then it has transported over one billion people.  The attraction of mass transit rail systems is that they can quickly transport large numbers of people within metropolitan areas which can take some of the stress off of roads and highways.

Aviation

Ever since the Wright Brothers flew onto the scene with the success of the first flight, we have looked to aviation as another viable type of transportation.  Air travel is used for military, commercial and pleasure travel.  However, like other modes of transportation, air travel is highly susceptible to changes in the economy and oil prices.  Recent increases in oil prices have left airline travelers to pay additional fees and surcharges that help airline companies compensate for their increasing overhead costs.   Also, the tragedy of the 9/11 terrorist plots caused a worldwide restructure of airline and airport safety measures that permanently changed air travel.

Yet, there are advances being made in the technology of aviation.  Aircraft builders are coming up with newer, lighter, more fuel efficient air crafts that could deliver another change in the way we travel by air in the future.

Water

Travel by boats and ships date back to Biblical times and are still useful today as a mode of transportation that is used in daily commerce worldwide.  In fact, many cities were established along river and seaports because of their access to waterways that were a main hub of transportation of goods.  Similar to freight transportation, shipping is another primary way goods are transported from one point to another.  And, because waterways link cities, regions and countries, cargo shipping is essential to transporting goods internationally.  The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System is an example.  It stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Superior in Minnesota and incorporates waterways in the U.S. and Canada.