13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

 Geography Notes

4 Models of
Transport
Development
(Explained With
Diagram)
Article shared by :
ADVERTISEMENTS:

Ad closed by
Report this ad Why this ad?

In the reconstruction of a region or a

nation, transport systems invariably
play a vital role. The growth and
development of transportation
provides a medium, contributing to the
progress of agriculture, industry,
commerce, administration, defence,
education, health or any other
community activity. Many of the
regional characteristics that are
influencing the layout of the existing
transformational system are the

www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 1/19
13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

creation of their antecedent

transformational features.

The present-day transport network has

evolved out of the past framework
because as trail evolves successfully
into the pioneer dirt road, then into the
improved farm road and finally, into
the present day paved highways with
heavy motor traffic. Many factors are
involved in the development of a
transport system. The present-day
transport system of a country or a
region cannot be explained by one
factor alone. In fact, services of
interrelated factors are responsible for
the development of transport system as
depicted in Figure 3.1.

White and Senior (1983), in their book

entitled, Transport Geography
considered five basic factors, which
influence the growth and development
www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 2/19
13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

of transport systems and the ways in

which changes take place.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

These are:

1. The historical factor – this involves

the location and pattern of systems,
technological development, and
institutional development and
settlement, and land-use patterns.

2. The technological factor – the

technological characteristics of each
major transport mode are considered
together with a discussion of the effects
of technological advances.

3. The physical factor – this includes

physiographic controls upon route
selection, and geological and climatic
influences.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

4. The economic factor – the structure

and nature of transport costs are
examined, together with service quality
and methods of pricing and charging.

5. Political and social factors – these

include political motives for transport
facilities; government involvement in
capital, monopolies and competition,
safety, working conditions and
coordination between modes;

www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 3/19
13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

transport as and employer and the

social consequences of transport devel-
opments.

The above mentioned factors affect

transport in different ways, influencing
each other as well as affecting
transport systems directly and
indirectly. Transport systems
themselves, together with the physical
environment within which they are set,
also influence all these different areas
of human activity. Each factor may
operate in a positive, negative or
neutral way; each may affect transport
on different scales, from the local to the
global; and two basic dimensions time
and space are involved.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

The following table indicates

examples of some of these
factors:

In considering the relative importance

of factors affecting transport in a

www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 4/19
13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

particular county or area, geographers

not only use general models but also
emphasise the diversity of place, and
the specific combination of factors,
which help to explain the development
pattern of a transport system.

Models of Transport
Development:

Several conceptual models have been

devised as aids to the understanding of
the development of transport systems
and their counterparts in their
approach. Ekstrom and Williamson
(1971) recognise an initial phase, with
the introduction of a new transport
mode, followed by a spread phase with
spatial diffusion of the network and a
coordinating phase where the new and
existing modes become integrated.
These three may be followed by a
concentration phase, involving an
emphasis upon certain flows along
selected routes. Finally, there is
possibility that certain routes may
decline or demise, termed as the liqui-
dation phase.

Lanchene Model (1965) has been

developed to explain the development
of transport system upon a
hypothetical isotropic plain (Figure
3.2). It is just like Losch’s approach to
the evolution of an economic
www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 5/19
13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

landscape, progressing from an initial

network of paths and trails arranged in
a grid pattern to the selective growth of
towns and villages and culminating in a
smaller number of high-order
settlements connected with high-grade
routes such as railways and highways.

Taaffe, Morrill and Gould (TMG)

Model (1963):

Taaffe, Morrill and Gould, in 1963,

undertook a comparative analysis of
the development of transport in
developing countries and they were
able to show that certain broad
regularities permitted “a descriptive
generalisation of an ideal typical
sequence of transportation
development”.

Their spatial model of transport

network development in developing
countries has proved to be a valuable
help in the understanding of transport
development and has been widely
applied. The model which Taaffe and
his colleagues devised was based upon
Ghanaian and Nigerian experience, but
it has been found to be applicable to
other developing lands, for example, in
Latin America.

www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 6/19
13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

Taaffe et al. identified six stages in

their sequence of transportation
development. Figure 3.3 illustrates the
sequential stages in the evolution of the
transport network. The first stage
consists of scattered settlements and
small ports along a coast, which arose
from colonial occupation. Such coastal
settlements developed trading
functions, though in the beginning
these were of a very limited nature and,
in consequence, their hinterlands were
very restricted.

Furthermore, there was little lateral

inter-connection between the scattered
settlements, except for those effected
by native fishing craft of occasional
trading ships. The second stage evolved
slowly but gradually as lines of inland
penetration developed and some of
these which linked up mining
settlements or centres of population
became more important than the
others.

With the emergence of these major

lines of penetration, often linked to the

www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 7/19
13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

best located of the coastal ports, port

concentration begins to develop and
these commence to grow at the expense
of their neighbours, some of which
eventually disappear as trading centres
or at best linger on as relict ports. This
second stage goes on, hand in hand
with the growth of an efficient
administrative system and, more
particularly, with the expansion of
production for export.

The third stage is marked by the

development of ‘feeder’ routes which
focus more particularly upon the main
ports and the more important centres
in the interior. At the same time, as the
growth in the export trade stimulates
economic expansion generally in the
hinterland, a number of intermediate
centres begin to develop along the
major access routes. In the fourth
stage, these intermediate centres begin
to develop into nodes which become
focal points for feeder networks of their
own.

The beginnings of lateral

interconnection also takes place with
lands between the major ports and the
major inland towns being affected.
Stage five sees the emergence of
complete interconnections as the
various feeder networks grow around

www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 8/19
13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

the ports, major inland centres and

main-line nodes and begin to link up.

Finally, in stage six, as the economy

becomes more developed and
integrated, all the principal centres and
many of the minor centres are linked
together in the transport system, while
a number of high priority trunk routes
develop which link the largest or most
important centres.

Aloba (1983) has applied the Taaffe,

Morrill and Gould model to a rural
www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 9/19
13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

area of West Africa as shown in Figure

3.4.

Gould’s Spatial Exploration

Model (1966):

The behavioural model was proposed

in 1966 as an alternative to the Taaffe,
Morrill and Gould concepts of
transport development. It incorporates
a random approach and is based upon
a simulation of search theory, with the
development of a transport network
within an area, which contains
resources and hazards, or constraints,
indicated by isorithms of environ-
mental quality.

The developer aims to tap the

resources of a previously unexploited
area, depicted as a square, by building
roads from a port on the coast, which
forms one side of this square. As road

www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 10/19
13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

building proceeds so the developer will

encounter the resources and the
constraints, such as mountains or
rivers, within the environment. In
stage one capital is invested in roads,
which diverge from the port in straight
lines.

In stage two, information on the nature

of the resources or of the hazards
encountered by the advancing roads is
fed back to the development who may
react in one of two ways. The resource
already tapped may be exploited by
investing in all-weather roads, or the
search may be continued for other
resources by extending the road
network. Stage three comprises the
construction of further links following
the principles outlined in the first two
stages (Figure 3.5).

The Vance Model (1970):

www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 11/19
13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

Based on his work on the eastern

seaboard of America, Vance (1970)
developed a five-stage ‘mercantile’
model to illustrate the development of
transport links and the growth of the
urban hierarchy in North America
(Figure 3.6). Although primarily
concerned with trade, his model is
important in that it stresses the impact
of exogenous forces on the evolution of
transport networks and their
associated spatial patterns.

In the initial stage, an accumulating of

wealth in Europe prompted overseas
expansion of an exploratory nature.
Stage 2 sees the beginnings of the
transatlantic trade routes based on the
one-way trade in staple products such a
fish, furs and timber. From 1620,
permanent settlement occurs in North
America; this results in Atlantic trade
in both directions as settlers begin to
produce commodities for export and
consume manufactured products from
a rapidly industrialising Europe (stage
3). Internal transport links are limited
but all are externally orientated, a
process that results in linear patterns
both along the coast and stretching
into the interior.

The 4th stage of the model is

characterised by the development of
www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 12/19
13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

internal trade and an internal

manufacturing industry. The final
stage of the model is reached when
internal trade dominates North
America and is matched by a mature
transport and urban system in Europe.
Although North America was
eventually to lead the world in
transport developments, the historical
evolution is still apparent in both its
transport network and its urban
system.

The Rimmer Model (1977):

www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 13/19
13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

Using terminology derived from

Brookfield (1972, 1975), Rimmer
identified four phases in the evolving
interrelationships between
metropolitan and Third World
countries in transport terms (Figure
3.7).

1. A pre-contact phase involved no

links between a Third World country
and a distant power in the advanced
world. Within the Third World
country, a limited network of tracks,
together with navigable waterways,
supported a relatively restricted socio-
economic and political system.

2. An early colonial phase, secondly,

involved the establishment of direct
contacts by sea between advanced and
developing countries but did not
produce radical changes in Third
World societies, Europeans being
largely content to dominate sea
transport routes and to establish
foothold settlements such as trading
posts and garrisons.

3. A third phase of high colonialism

involved more fundamental changes
including the introduction of roads and
railways, port facilities and inland
transport nodes, and the diversification
of economic activity (including
industrialisation and commercial
www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 14/19
13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

agriculture) and settlement patterns

(including rapid urbanisation).

4. A fourth neo-colonial phase involves

a substantial further diversification of
the economic development surface of
the Third World country and
continuing (if modified) trade links
with the former metropolitan power.
The modernisation of the transport
system in the Third World country
involves, at this stage, elements of
rationalisation, adaptation and
selective investment in response to
changing demands. There is, however,
no radical adjustment to the systems
inherited from earlier phases.

www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 15/19
13/08/2019 4 Models of Transport Development (Explained With Diagram)

Home ››

Related Articles:
1. Road Transport Connectivity
Pattern and Economic
Development in Rajasthan

www.geographynotes.com/articles/4-models-of-transport-development-explained-with-diagram/60 16/19