What are the 7 means of transport?

The following are the 7 means of transport through which transport can be categorized:

Transportation is the act of moving or transporting people and other things, including commodities, from one place to another. The following are the common mode of transport for moving from one place to another for short and even long distances. These are road, rail, air, water, cable, space, pipes and others while the minor means of transport include cars, trucks, buses, ships, boats, helicopters, planes, trains, submarines and others. It would be helpful to delve into each of these in a bit more detail.

Road Transport

Road transport involves the movement of people and goods through roads using objects such as bicycles, cars, buses, trucks, etc This is one of the most widely used means of transport due to its affordability. They can be as smooth as major city roads or bumpy with occasional off-road, especially in rural areas of India, and can link almost all parts of a region.

Given information retrieved from the internet, road transport is considered as the most preferred means of transport in handling 80% of inland freight business and 70% of passengers’ traffic in most parts of the world. As for infrastructure, roads require considerably less capital investment to construct in comparison to rail and air infrastructure. Transport by buses, and especially trucks, is door-to-door even where there are no rails or airlines to transport goods. But they are a bit slow on the long distance as compared to other means of transport.

Rail Transport

Rail transport can be defined as the transport by means of a wheeled vehicle on metal rails or track. The rails/tracks offer a slippery and rigid base on which the wheels can roll and hence allow abundant carriage of freights and passengers for long distances. Today there exists high-speed rail that links up urban centers effectively and subways and trams provide urban mass transit.

This is mostly appropriate in the transportation of large volumes of goods over a long distance. Trains are more efficient in terms of fuel usage and they pollute less as compared to road transport. But rail transport involves high capital costs in constructing railways and only covers land area, which cannot change routes. But rail transport still carries more than 40% of inland freight traffic in some countries.

Air Transport

Air transport has to do with the transport of passengers and goods through aircraft like the airplanes and the helicopters. Road transport over a long distance was made easier by air transport since it reduced the time taken considerably. Unlike the old means of transport through which it would take months on ships or weeks on rail/road, it only took a few hours to cross continents. Aviation is one of the fastest and most efficient modes of transport over long distances whereas rail transport cannot be efficient.

With the advancement in technology, air travel has become one of the most popular means of transport for long distances. Compared to other modes, air transport is relatively less affected by disruptions in weather conditions. However, social costs associated with airports and air traffic control are relatively higher. The cost of setup and management for companies operating airlines with trained pilots and crew members is also high. It also has increased carbon emission rates, which is evident in air travel. However, people will still be able to use air transport for conducting business and for traveling on leisure.

Water Transport

Road transport on the other hand can be defined as the carriage of people and goods on roads using different means of transport such as cars, buses, trucks, etc. In the yester years, it was the most used way to connect regions across the globe or continents. In the present day, large vessels and sophisticated intermodal barge shipments still transport cargoes through rivers, coasts, and the open seas.

It is possible to say that water transport can be a reliable means of transporting cargo in several countries. There are other advantages including the fact that it is cheaper than road or rail transport for long distances. However, the speed is relatively low, averaging approximately 20 km/h on sea, which causes a longer transit time. Some of the disadvantages of sea transport include Expensive infrastructure costs regarding ports and channel maintenance. Consumption is influenced by climate changes affecting oceans and lakes. However, sea shipping still dominates taking more than 95% of world trade, a figure that itself shows its importance.

Cable Transport

Cable transport involves the use of cable, ropes, or wires to transport vehicles or trains in a track or system. They are specifically designed for use in areas where it is impossible to build a normal road like mountains, mines, and steep hills. Examples of these cable operated transports include; aerial tramways, elevators, funiculars, cable cars etc.

Cable systems are convenient and require little maintenance in areas that are steep and rugged. Newer commercial varieties facilitate urban public transport via ropeways and cable liners. The disadvantages include; that they have relatively low carrying capacity and speed compared to the major modes of transport. Safety requirements also add to infrastructure costs since they translate to added expenditures in putting up infrastructures. But modern cabling serves the need of connectivity and lifting, which cannot be ignored.

Space Transport

Space transport therefore means technology used in reaching the outer space from the earth surface. This includes spaceships that enable the transfer of satellites, people, and other products such as space stations beyond the earth’s atmosphere. Rockets are used to take astronauts while spaceships are used to transport satellites as well as probes within solar systems.

Astronautics have created dramatic breakthroughs in science, technology, and telecommunication through satellite systems. It has offered more chances to discover space and make stay for human beings beyond the earth. But first of all, unique infrastructure investments are needed to design and create space vehicles and rockets. Carnage of humans is also a big factor and longevity beyond low orbit has not yet been fully refined.

Pipeline Transport

Pipeline transportation means the movement of substances in liquid, gaseous or slurries form through pipes from production centers to the consumer points. Products that are transported through pipelines including water, natural gas, petroleum, chemicals, and the like are transported through pipeline systems stretching from one point to another within a region. Recent developments include capsule pipelines that transport solid capsules through closed pipes without any form of leakages.

Pipelines are another transportation technique that is cheap and efficient in transporting fluids, gases and even solids over long distances. They do not require complex engineering and infrastructure to be developed like the transport modes such as rail or road transport. It is an operating system that automates the process to some extent and therefore needs less manpower. However, pipelines entail certain disadvantages in terms of flexibility of both the routes and terminals once implemented. It also requires a large capital investment at the early stage of the project to get it up and running. There is also leakage, cost of restoration, and the like that are associated with the use of the product. However pipeline infrastructure still remains important for national energy security and distribution networks.

Conclusion

That is why transport plays an important role in the functioning of society because it is a significant factor in the formation of people's lives. According to classification, there are 7 modes of transport which include road, rail, air, water, cable, space, and pipeline. All of the above have their strengths and drawbacks when compared to one another. Many destinations have adopted a mix of transport types depending on the passengers and freight demand for the technology and cost of the transport mode. Transportation is the framework for globalization as it provides the connection between people and products across the globe. The extension of the transport modes and the energy supplies are the keys to human development in the twenty-first century. Therefore, the idea of sustainable and multi-modal transportation systems with the application of digital networks should be the future strategy.