GRMD 3305 Transport Geography

Lecture 7
Inter-city and Regional
Transport
Prepared by Scarlett Jin
02/28/2024
 Today’s Plan

01 Transport modes & 02 Modal competition,

modal choices complementarity,
and shift
03 Case study on
intercity transport  Knowledge
energy consumption  Research skills: How to design and

in China
conduct research, how to analyze
results
Transport Modes: Passengers

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

 Transport Modes: Freight

Lecture 11
Inter-modal transport
and global logistics

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/20
21/12/16/mapping-world-oil-gas-
pipelines-interactive
 Oil Reserves

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/oil-proved-reserves?time=2020
Natural Gas Reserves

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/natural-gas-proved-reserves
 Atomization vs. Massification

Atomization:
The smallest load Massification: The
unit that can be growing capacity to
effectively move load units in a
transported single trip.

Economies of scale

Convenience &
flexibility

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

 Modal Comparison
Reality is more complicated:
o Modal options are NOT
Cost functions
interchangeable. For many
origins and destinations, modal
options such as rail or
maritime may not be present
and cannot be considered an
option. Therefore, a modal
option with a higher cost will be
used.
o Since rail and maritime
transportation are discrete
networks only accessible
through terminals, most
500 ~ 750 km ~1,500 km locations will involve a road
transportation segment, which
Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

changes the cost structure.

 Modal Split: Freight
Modal Split of Freight Transportation Selected Countries 2020

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

Modal Competition, Complementarity, and Shift

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

Modal Competition, Complementarity, and Shift
 Modal competition
o When one mode is directly competing with another mode or with
different firms on the same mode, which is often a zero-sum game.
o Competition can take place over cost, time, reliability, and niche
markets.

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

Modal Competition, Complementarity, and Shift
 Modal competition
 Modal complementarity
o When two or more modes are exploiting their respective advantages.

Intermodal-transportation

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

Modal Competition, Complementarity, and Shift
 Modal competition
 Modal complementarity
 Modal shift
o When a transport mode becomes more advantageous than another
over the same route or market, a modal shift is likely to take place.
o A modal shift involves the growth in the demand of a transport mode
at the expense of another, although a modal shift can involve an
absolute growth in both concerned modes.
o Comparative advantages: costs, convenience, speed, or reliability

Source: Textbook (Rodrigue, 2020)

 Case study: Germany’s D-Ticket
 Watch this DW video:
https://youtu.be/hzuAohOSLi4?si=ecTnKCmjvjeSnCxB
 Find answers:
o The D-Tickets are valid for what modes of transportation?
o Why did the German government offer the D-Tickets?
o What are the benefits of the D-Tickets?
o What are the potential problems of the D-Tickets?
o Think: How will the D-Tickets generate modal competition or modal shift?
o Think: Is it appropriate to apply this approach to the Greater Bay Area?
Case study: Germany’s D-Ticket

https://www.statista.com/chart/28
115/9-euro-ticket-rail-trips-taken/
End of Lecture