Modern living conditions dictate the need for the rapid development of the global transport system. The economy and social sphere of any state directly depend on the rational organization of transport systems, including both passenger and cargo transportation.
It should also be noted the personal dependence of each person on transport. The transport system, one way or another, is involved in our daily activities. Not only the mood of the population and the effectiveness of labor activity, but sometimes health, and even human life, depends on the degree of its smoothness (good roads, no traffic jams, trouble-free traffic).
Terminology
The transport system is an interconnected association of vehicles, equipment, components of the transport infrastructure and transportation entities (including controls), as well as workers in this industry. The goal of any transport system is to organize and implement efficient transportation of both goods and passengers.
The components of the transport system are the transport network, the complex, products, infrastructure, rolling stock and other technical facilities related to the production, repair and operation of vehicles, as well as various methods and systems for organizing the transportation process. In addition, the system includes organizations and enterprises that are engaged in activities aimed at improving and developing the transport system: industrial engineering, construction, fuel and energy systems, scientific and educational centers.
Infrastructure is a complex of material components of a transport system, fixedly fixed in space, which form a transport network.
Such a network is a set of connections (segments of highways and railways, pipelines, waterways, etc.) and nodes (road junctions, terminals), which are used in the implementation of transportation. The movement of vehicles on networks causes the formation of traffic flows.
When designing networks, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the vehicles for which the infrastructure is being created, since its geometric and technical parameters depend on the dimensions, mass, power and some other parameters of the vehicle for which the network is being designed.
Ensuring the capacity of the transport infrastructure that meets the requirements of passenger and cargo flows passing through them is an important task in the work of transport complex specialists.
Management Features
Consider these systems as a control object. Monitoring the operation of transport systems is a complex that includes two subsystems: traffic management and vehicle management.
The traffic control system carries out activities to regulate traffic through light signals (traffic lights), road markings and signs in accordance with a system of rules adopted at the national or international level.
The transport management system depends on the technology of a particular vehicle and is usually a component of the infrastructure. The driver directly performing the target tasks is considered the subject of this system. The subjects of the system for monitoring the functioning of vehicles can also include dispatchers (for example, in passenger air or rail traffic).
The participation of a person in the process of managing a transport system makes it possible to define it as an organizational, or man-machine, system, and in addition, determines the need for taking into account the human factor. The active component of the transport system is a lot of people who have the ability to adapt to rapidly changing conditions, whose behavior is aimed at achieving their own goals. The presence of the human factor as an active element of the system is the reason for the formation of stable (stationary) modes of functioning of transport systems, since any external influence on an individual object is compensated by the decision of the active subject (in particular, the driver).
Tasks of the transport system
The main tasks include ensuring the mobility of the population, as well as meeting the economic requirements for transportation processes, consisting in the most efficient movement of goods. Therefore, determining the effectiveness of the transport system is to establish a balance between diametrically opposite points: the needs of society and obtaining economic benefits. As an obvious example of the contradictions between the requirements of society and the economy, we can cite the public transport system: the passenger wants to save time and get to their destination in comfort, therefore, from his point of view, there should be as many vehicles on the route, and they should drive as often as possible.
However, it is more profitable for the carrier to completely fill as few vehicles as possible in order to maximize income, while the convenience and waiting time of the passenger fade into the background. In this case, a compromise is necessary - the establishment of a not too long interval of movement, as well as ensuring at least minimal comfort for passengers. It follows that for the effective organization and development of the transport system, one should study not only the theory of transport systems and technical sciences, but also economics, geography, sociology, psychology, and urban planning sciences.
Global transportation system
Transport infrastructures of all countries of the world are united at a higher level into a global system. The global transport network is distributed unevenly across continents and states. So, the transport system of Europe (in particular, Western), as well as North America is most dense. The least developed transport network is characterized by the poorest countries in Africa and Asia. The structure of the global transport system is dominated by road transport (86%).
The total length of the global transport network, which includes all modes of transport (except maritime), exceeds 31 million km, of which approximately 25 million km fall on land lines (excluding overhead lines).
Railway transport
The global railway network is approximately 1.2 million km long. The length of Russian railway lines is only about 7% of this number, however, they account for 35% of world cargo turnover and about 18% of passenger traffic.
Obviously, for many countries (including European ones) that have a developed transport system, rail transport is leading in terms of cargo transportation. The first place for the use of rail transport is Ukraine, where 75% of the freight turnover is carried out by rail.
Car
Motor transport is used to carry out 85% of the total volume of cargo transportation in Russia, as well as more than 50% of domestic passenger traffic. Road transport is the main component of the transport system of many European countries.
The development of road transport depends on three key factors: population growth, intensive urbanization and an increase in the number of individual cars. Researchers note the most likely occurrence of problems with ensuring the capacity of transport infrastructure in those countries and regions where there is an intensive growth rate of all three of the above criteria.
Pipeline
The dependence of the modern economy on oil and gas production leads to the rapid development of the pipeline system around the world. So, the length of the Russian pipeline system is 65 thousand km, and in the USA - more than 340 thousand km.
Air
The vast territory of Russia, as well as the low level of development of transport networks in some areas in the east and north of the country contribute to the development of the air transport system. The length of the air lines of the Russian Federation is about 800 thousand kilometers, of which 200 thousand km are on international routes. The largest Russian air hub is considered to be Moscow. Every year it sends more than fifteen million passengers.
Transport system of Russia
The transport network is an integral part of the economy of the Russian Federation. The modern transport system of the Russian Federation includes automobile, railway, air, river, sea and pipeline transport networks. The transport complex also includes types of industrial and urban passenger transport.
The communications listed above link together all the regions of the country, forming a single transport system, which is an important condition for ensuring the territorial integrity of the state and the unity of its economic space. In addition, the state infrastructure is part of the global transport system, as a means of integrating Russia into the global economic space.
Due to its favorable geographical location, Russia receives substantial income from the provision of transport services, in particular, the implementation of transit freight traffic through its communications. The specific weight of various elements and characteristics of the transport complex in such aggregate economic indicators as basic state production assets (approximately one third), gross domestic product (approximately 8%), investments received for the development of industries (more than 20%), and others, reflect the significance and relevance of the development of the transport system in Russia.
What type of transport is the most popular? In the transport system of the Russian Federation, cars are such. Our country’s car fleet comprises more than 32 million passenger and 5 million cargo units, as well as approximately 900 thousand buses.
Preconditions for the formation of the transport system
The development of transport networks (water, land or air) depends on the following factors:
- climate features;
- geographical position;
- the size and standard of living of the population in the region;
- turnover rate;
- population mobility;
- the existence of natural routes of communication (for example, a river network) and others.
The formation of a single transport system in Russia is based on several premises, the main of which are:
- vast area;
- high population (large population);
- uneven demographic levels in the Federal Districts;
- the intensity of industrial development by industry;
- uneven distribution of raw materials and energy resources;
- geographical location of production centers;
- the amount of gross output in the state;
- historically established system of means of communication.
