1. - Describe a basic transportation system - Explain how GPS works - Describe time and place utility - List several positive and negative impacts of transportation systems

2.  Transport means to carry from one place to another.  A transportation system is an organized way of moving goods and people.  Transportation systems are some of the largest systems in the world.  Like all systems, they have inputs, processes, outputs and feedback.  People involved in transportation are either providers or users.  Someone riding a bus is a user, while the bus driver, operational engineers, dock workers and truck drivers are all examples of providers.

3. The above graphic outlines the various inputs, processes, outputs, and feedback in a Transportation System

4.  Transportation usually brings vehicles to mind, but it involves a lot more.  Ways and Routes are two examples:  A way is a specific area set aside for use by transportation. This could be a highway or a certain altitude.  A route is a planned pathway from one place to another that can span several ways.  Most transportation systems are operated on ways that are owned or controlled and maintained by local, state, or federal governments.  The exception is railway and pipeline ways, which are usually controlled by private enterprises.

5.  GPS was first developed for ships and planes.  It consists of about 27 satellites orbiting the Earth at about 11,000 miles.  Three of them are on standby in case some fail.  They are spaced around their orbits such that there are always at least 4 above the horizon at all times anywhere on the Earth.  3 are required to pinpoint a location from a signal-generating vehicle (or phone), and the 4 th is used to confirm and reduce the variance.  Using GPS has several advantages:  It is safer as planes and ships can travel closer together without the added risk of collisions.  It is more efficient because vehicles are much less likely to stray off route and waste fuel.  It can be faster because modern software can incorporate traffic data to give real-time adjustments to routes.

6.  Transportation systems include the facilities required to support the vehicles and other parts.  They include terminals and warehouses, rail yards and landing strips, ports and docks, repair shops and hangers.  You local gas station is also a support facility.  In every mode of transportation, it’s the support facilities that take up the majority of resources: they make up most of the cost of a transportation system, and employ more people.

7.  What is transported can be divided into two categories: passengers and cargo.  Cargo (or freight) can be anything from luggage to zoo animals and itself comes in two varieties: bulk cargo and break bulk cargo.  Bulk cargo is loose and not packaged. A gas tanker or truck hauling one type of fruit is carrying bulk cargo.  Break bulk cargo consists of single units or containers of freight. These are packaged and can be mixed together. A set of packaged bicycles might be in the same shipment as a set of computers for a local store.  It generally costs more to transport something as break bulk cargo because of the added packaging and handling costs.  However, cost is not the only factor when determining how to transport something, how it is distributed to the final user must also be considered:  For example, a school could charge less for milk if the students simply lined up at a milk tanker and filled up their glasses there…  In cases like these, it just makes more sense to transport the product (milk) in break bulk (individualized packages) even though it costs a bit more.

8.  Transportation obviously affects the value of goods that are produced.  The more it costs to transport, the more it will cost the consumer.  Lumber piled up at a sawmill in the forest has less value and is thus cheaper than lumber that has been transported to your local lumber yard.  The services of a person will be more expensive if that person has to travel to another location to complete a task (someone coming to you instead of you going to them).  Transportation must also happen at the right time for value to be increased. An electrician going to a disaster area to help rebuild has added no value if they get there after all the rebuilding has been done.

9.  3500 BCE: The first vehicles were boats made from animal skins over frames of wood or bone. The Egyptians had even built boats that had sails and oars by this time.  2000 BCE: The first carts were made by putting wheels on sledges. Spoked wheels were created around this time and were a major innovation that led to lightweight, fast horse-drawn carriages.  1700’s: Smaller, more powerful steam engines enabled powered transportation. The first automobile was a steam-powered, three-wheeled cart built in 1769 to transport artillery.  1800’s: Steam engines increased in power and were used to power ships, trains, and road carriages.  Late 1800’s: The first gasoline powered internal combustion engines were used to power automobiles. By 1898 there were more than 50 automobile companies.  1903: The Wright brothers made the first sustained, powered, and controlled flight in an airplane… it lasted 12 seconds.  1969: Space travel began when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite into orbit Sputnik 1. By 1969, humans had landed on the moon.  2000+: Economic and environmental issues spurred research into alternative fuel vehicles. Development continues on hybrid, electric, and fuel cell-powered vehicles.

10.  Like any other technology, transportation technology has both negative and positive impacts.  Improvements in transportation technology have had profound impacts on our society.  Developments in transportation have supported growth in many countries.  Travel between distant parts of the world has brought business and trade and created a global marketplace.  Transportation itself has spurred businesses to grow and be created. Tire businesses and the businesses that dispose of used tires are just one of many examples.  To this day, we use transportation to explore the depths of the ocean and send spacecraft to Mars and beyond.

11.  Just as transportation can increase the value of an item, it can also cause value to decrease.  If too much of the same product is available, the price will go down.  Because so many people rely on cars for transportation, most major cities experience large traffic jams which cost many hours of lost time and money.  Because most ways are maintained by the government, taxes are used to repair and replace them. As more people use them, the need for that repair goes up and so do the taxes to pay for it.  And though the recent collapse of oil prices (2015-2016) has reduced transportation costs considerably, being a limited resource means that the general trend of the price will always be up.  Other costs cannot be measured as easily:  Homes and land must be given up for new highways and other roads.  Thousands of injuries and deaths occur each year due to transportation accidents.  Transportation also creates pollution. Discarded cars and tires need to be properly disposed of and vehicle exhaust contains several air pollutants.  One of the biggest engineering challenges in the field of transportation is to create vehicles that keep it economical, but also reduce these negative impacts.