Chapter 1 Introduction
1.3 Methods
According to Rodrigue (2009) “transportation is not a science, but a field of inquiry and application”. Geography is a human science. Transportation geography is both a theoretical and practical field as parts of its academic inquiry. As an applied human science, transport geography is based on empirical data, analytic techniques, specific methods and theories. These academic tools range from simple descriptive measures to more complex modelling structures constituting a conceptual background for transportation systems analyses and practical strategies aimed at improving the efficiency of movement by identifying spatial constraints to transportation. Transport systems can be conceptualised and modelled as sets of relationships between different demands, nodes and networks (Figure 1.7).
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Figure 1.7 Demand, Node and Network: the Transportation System (credit Rodrigue, Comtois and Slack, 2009 p. 719)
According to Rodrigue, Comtois and Slack (2009 n.p.20), “demand for the movement of people, freight and information is a derived function of a variety of socioeconomic activities”. The level of spatial accumulation of socioeconomic activities jointly defines demand and where this demand is taking place (the location of the demand). Nodes are the locations where movements start, finish and are transferred. Node service demand and their accessibility define their capacity. They range from local to global scales. The links between the nodes compose the transportation networks represented by transport infrastructure. The flows of transportation are the amount of traffic over the networks (a function of the demand and the capacity of the linkages to support them). They are subject to the friction of distance (impedance). Distance and nodes accessibility are the most significant factors.
Transportation systems are represented by models of growing complexity according to their characteristics in terms of distances, accessibility, spatial interaction, and transportation modes. In the case of iceberg water transportation from the AAT to WA, nodes, flows and modes can be addressed through transportation analysis. Rodrigue’s work in transportation geography represents a valuable contribution to the theoretical framework which can be applied for practical research. The methodology of this thesis is based on the research
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principles of Rodrigue (2009). Transportation studies are interdisciplinary. They concern geographical, engineering, legal economic and planning issues, (Hoyle and Smith, 1998) and rely on methodologies often developed by other disciplines such as engineering science, planning, history, politics, economics, social and environmental sciences (Figure 1.8).
Figure 1.8 Transportation Conceptual Frameworks (credit Rodrigue, 2009 from Hoyle and Smith, 1998 p. 1721)
Historical transportation geography studies the spatial, natural human long-term evolutions of transportation systems characteristics. This includes the historic changes within an area brought about by transportation technologies and the circumstances and environment from which originate transportation systems, with technical, socio-economic, cultural and political perspectives. Transportation engineering focuses on the physical and mathematical aspects of transport systems and the construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure. Technical engineering studies of transportation systems are based on scientific analyses, such as spatial interaction models, operations research, and optimisation of the distribution and scheduling of transportation resources. According to Rodrigue (2009 p. 5):
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[t]he technological dimension of transportation is not necessarily a field of study but a consideration of technological change on transportation systems. It is mainly concerned about the efficiency of infrastructures, modes and motive forces. Successive innovations have brought forward new distribution systems whereas others have become obsolete and disappeared.
It is possible to assess technological performances in technical and economical terms. Economic transportation geography assesses the transport demand by different sectors of activity and evaluates the features of transportation modes through economic standards.
According to Rodrigue (2009), transport demand is a function of the nature and the importance of economic activities and of modal preferences (Kansky, 1963). Therefore the demand for transport is reflected by transportation systems in terms of transport network structures, and services production. Transportation systems are direct functions of vehicle characteristics (functions, plans, materials, dimensions, operations and life expectancies). Transportation systems are determined by technological development, the locations and uses of the resources they carry, the costs of the infrastructure, the maintenance costs and the distance they are able to cover.
According to Rodrigue, Comtois and Slack (2009 n.p.22), “[E]nergy is the potential that allows movement and/or modification of matter”. Establishing, operating and running transportation activities implies spending energy: the extraction, processing and transportation of resources involve the use of energy (Chapman, 1989). Energy accounts for a large part of transportation costs and causes important variations in the composition of freight transport demand between countries. Transport supply costs account for the majority of the overall costs of a natural resource and are composed of the costs of the infrastructure and of the transportation service which are based on energy costs and maintenance activities costs (Boyle, 2003). According to Rodrigue, Comtois and Slack (200923):
Energy exists in various forms, including mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrical, radiant, and atomic and are all inter-convertible. Forms of energy come from sources defined as renewable and non-renewable, which include chemical reactions (mainly combustion), nuclear reactions (fission), the effect of gravity (mainly hydraulic) and direct (photovoltaic) and indirect (photosynthesis and wind) solar energy conversion.
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Fossil fuels can be based on petroleum, natural gas coal, or wood products. Renewable energies comprise power derived from solar radiation, wind, water, geothermic, animal and human power. According to Rodrigue, Comtois and Slack (2009 n.p.24), “[M]any of these reserves cannot be exploited at reasonable costs ... or are unevenly distributed around the world”. The world’s power consumption is about 18 terawatts/year and 86% is obtained from fossil fuels (15.5 TW) (Lenzen, Dey and Hamilton, 2003; Rodrigue, Comtois and Slack, 2009).
Transportation now accounts for around 20% of all the energy being consumed (3.6 TW). The increase of petroleum fuel demands is correlated with the increase of transportation demand (Figure 1.9).
Figure 1.9 World Energy Production (creditEnergy Information Agency, 2006 in Rodrigue,
Comtois and Slack 2009n.p.25)
In the case of water transportation, the nature of the good determines the specificity of operating conditions: water is a liquid substance which flows, evaporates, seeps and freezes and which is difficult to measure and identify under all possible physical states. According to the transportation costs method, the accessibility and availability of water determines its cost. The water transportation cost for particular uses depends on its location, quality and timing (McCalla, 1994). The water state and its location determine its accessibility. There are important inequalities over its accessibility. As noted by the Food and Agriculture
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http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch8en/conc8en/ch8c2en.html 25
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Organisation (FAO), the duration of the accessibility of water governs its renewability (FAO, 1995). The offer depends on natural aspect. The energy cost in water economy is generally conditioned by access to the resource, the nature of the resource operation and the distance of transportation. For water movement, the transfer costs are related to operation and maintenance costs.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), only 1% of the Earth’s fresh water is of such a quality and in accessible locations to be acceptable for human consumption (EPA, 1997). Increasing demand for freshwater resulting from an increased global population makes available water supplies inadequate. Therefore new demands require new allocation systems. Two conditions are necessary for the optimal transfer of water:
1. the transfer is the least cost alternative, which can exceed its value because of socio- economic inequalities;
2. the benefits exceed the losses, a condition that is exaggerated in emergency situations.
Cost benefits analyses are therefore an efficient method to evaluate water transportation systems.
Practitioners within the environmental sciences examine the environmental impacts of transportation systems and the interactions between transport operations and environmental conditions, such as topography, climate and ecosystems. Of particular relevance for this thesis are studies that examine the externalities (for example, the use of natural resources and pollution) that various modes of transportation impose on the environment.
A political science approach to transportation is concerned with examining relations between political power (whether governmental or corporations) and transportation. Studies may include inquiries into governmental control over the transportation process, the allocation of transportation resources and historical studies of transportation system planning, within corporations and governments and their intervention strategies.
Sociological studies within transportation geography analyse transit networks social interactions on and around, modal and spatial social choices affecting transportation distance. Sociological analyses of transportation are interested in exploring issues
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provided by transport suppliers, the demographic attributes of users, the social costs of transportation systems and issues of safety and risk associated with transportation.
Interdisciplinary research is theoretically and conceptually complicated, with multiple obstacles in practice (Haggett and Chorley, 1969). The field of transportation geography is at the intersection of several concepts and methods initially developed outside the discipline that have been adapted to its particular interests and concerns (Haggett, 2001).
A multidisciplinary approach, such as is provided by transportation geography, is required to study iceberg transportation as the movement of massive chunks of ice touches on many different areas of expertise and scholarship. Iceberg transport involves many facets of knowledge including interfaces of geography, physics, environmental science, water and marine transportation technical engineering, social sciences, economy and law (Figure 1.10).
Figure 1.10 Geography Multiple Approaches: A Modern Synthesis (credit Rodrigue, 2009 from Haggett, 2001 n.p.26)
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