Sustainable Transport

The beginnings of our infrastructure can be traced back to the Romans, the first great contributor to our road network. They realised that in order for them to develop they needed to be able to have access with and communication with other towns and cities. (link). The Romans obviously had the right idea because the Roman Empire was very successful and long lived. Some argue that they lived more advanced and comfortable lives than people who would live for the next 1000 years, showing that a good infrastructure is integral to the development of society and economy. The Roman infrastructure had little impact on the environment; a win-win situation.

As Britain developed so its demand for an improved infrastructure increased. This lead to developments in roads, canals and railways to this present day.



Transport has benefits for the economy. It means that people can get to work - public transport can be used if people cannot afford private transport. A good city transport system can promote business developments there and around the system. Helsinki has an excellent tram system which is reliable, affordable and means that there are less cars on the road (which is safer and less congested) this all allows for a very economically productive city.

Public transport means that less cars are on the roads and so the remaining road users are able to get to work quicker, resulting in less business time lost to commuting. It also means that people are able to work far from their homes and that businesses can become national and international more easily due to a comprehensive transport system. This greatly improves economic activity.

However, transport systems can also have negative economic impacts. For example the upkeep of roads (e.g. recent potholes) is a constant drain on the national economy.
When public transport fails and people cannot get to work there is an economic loss.


Good public transport systems can reduce the emissions of a city and the congestion, making for a cleaner environment. Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) can be used as a fuel and has huge advantages over Diesel (link). Biofuel vehicles are also being researched and improved. This would make for a transport system that would nave little negative impact on the environment.

Unfortunately the transition into a transport infrastructure is slow. We have the knowledge that we need to build vehicles and transport networks that would be kind to the environment but there is not enough money available or other issues are taking priority. This means that currently our transport infrastructure is not at its full potential.

The Transport Statistics of Great Britain (link >International Comparisons) show that between 1997 and 2007 CO2 emissions in each sector of transport (road transport, rail, civil aviation and navigation) have gone up. Suggesting that there is definitely room for improvement.

This study (link) suggests that UK diesel trains are outdated and that they are less fuel efficient than a car. This heavily undermines the campaigns to persuade people to use public transport. This website (link) suggests that the government are spending less on trains. However it also says that car journeys of less than 2 miles are the most polluting, so perhaps a change in attitudes or a change in local transport such as buses should be improved.


No-one can argue that a transport system doesn't benefit people on a social level. It is a part of human development, we now have the ability to visit other places and go on holiday with ease. The social benefits of transport are endless.
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The Transport Statistics of Great Britain (link above) shows that road deaths have decresed between 1997 and 2007 in the UK and that they are also lower than much of Europe. This statistic shows how the UK transport system is improving on a social level, safer roads are a definate social benefit!!

There are also a few things that I would consider disadvantages of transport; it causes a lot of stress! Congestion on our roads and the unreliability of public transport. I take the bus, the train and then the bus to university and quite regularly it doesn't work out. There is also a lot of waiting around which, if we had an improved system, would not exist. The fact that many roads are still unsafe is also a social disadvantage of transport.

Japan's bullet train is an excellent example of a good transport system - it is very reliable (good for the social aspects of travel), it is very fast which means that there is more time for other things, so the economy benefits, and it is much more fuel efficient than other forms of transport. It's a win-win situation! The only downside is that it did cost quite a lot to build it, so we might have to wait until we're out of the recession...


Summing up all of the evidence above I would have to say that the benefits of our transport infrastructure definitely outweigh the costs. That is not to say that our system comes without costs, there are too many for my liking. As long as we work on improving it and don't let the situation get worse (Government spending cuts and rising CO2 emissions) then we are on the right track, changes CAN be made, we have the technology and knowledge, we just need the money and the ambition to improve it now. We need to move to a more safe, environmentally friendly, reliable, faster and cheaper transport system. Not much to ask.