BY: Aman Milwani

All data content provided By Aman Milwani

Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one location to another. Transport is performed by various modes, such as air, rail, road and water.

Transportation

Infrastructure

Vehicles

Operations

Roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals pipelines and Airports, railway stations, bus stations seaports.

Automobiles , bicycles, buses, trains, people and aircraft.

Operations deal with the way the vehicles are operated, and the procedures set for this purpose including the financing, legalities and policies.

Transport services are indispensible for the smooth functioning of an economy.

RAIL TRANSPORT

These include the followingRAIL TRANSPORT ROAD TRANSPORT WATER TRANSPORT

ROAD TRANSPORT

system helps to expand the market for goods. Producers are able to sell their goods all over the country. And by doing so it makes large scale production through division of labour. Defence: Good transport system is not only necessary for internal security but also for its defence against any external threat. A good transport system can transfer war goods and soldiers from one place to another faster. Development of Civilization:Means of transport are very helpful in bringing out social changes in a country. When the people of developed regions or countries come into contact of the people of less developed countries, they come to know many things.

Large Market for goods: The transport

Indias transport sector is large and diverse; it caters to the needs of 1.1 billion people. In 1997, the sector contributed 4.4 percent to the nations GDP, with road transportation contributing the lions share. Good physical connectivity in the urban and rural areas is essential for economic growth. Since the early 1990s, India's growing economy has witnessed a rise in demand for transport infrastructure and services by around 10 percent a year. However, the sector has not been able to keep pace with rising demand and is proving to be a drag on the economy. Major improvements in the sector are therefore required to support the country's continued economic growth and to reduce poverty.

Roads are the dominant mode of transportation in India today. They carry almost 90 percent of the countrys passenger traffic and 65 percent of its freight. The density of Indias highway network -- at 0.66 km of highway per square kilometer of land is similar to that of the United States (0.65) and much greater than China's (0.16) or Brazil's (0.20). However, most highways in India are narrow and congested with poor surface quality, and 40 percent of Indias villages do not have access to all-weather roads.

India has 12 major and 185 minor and intermediate ports along its vast coastline. These ports serve the countrys growing foreign trade in petroleum products, iron ore, and coal, as well as the increasing movement of containers. Inland water transportation remains largely undeveloped despite India's 14,000 kilometers of navigable rivers and canals.

India has 60 airports, including 11 international airports. The dramatic increase in air traffic for both passengers and cargo in recent years has placed a heavy strain on the country's four major airports. Transport infrastructure in India is better developed in the southern and southwestern parts of the country.

The major challenges facing the sector are: Indias roads are congested and of poor quality. Lane capacity is low - most national highways are two lanes or less. A quarter of all India's highways are congested, reducing truck and bus speeds to 30-40 kmph. Most roads are of poor quality. Road maintenance remains significantly under-funded - only around onethird of maintenance needs are met. This leads to the deterioration of roads and high transport costs for users

Rural areas have poor access. Roads are significant for the development of the rural areas - home to almost 70 percent of India's population. Although the rural road network is extensive, some 40 percent of Indias villages do not have access to all-weather roads and remain cut off during the monsoon season. The problem is more acute in India's northern and northeastern states which are poorly linked to the countrys major economic centers.

The railways are facing severe capacity constraints. All the countrys high-density rail corridors face severe capacity constraints. Also, freight transportation costs by rail are much higher than in most countries as freight tariffs in India have been kept high to subsidize passenger traffic.

Urban centres are severely congested. In Mumbai and other metropolitan centers, roads are often severly congested during the rush hours. The dramatic growth in vehicle ownership at some 15 percent a year during the past decade - has reduced rush hour speeds to 5-10 km an hour in the central areas of major cities.

Ports are congested and inefficient. Port traffic has more than doubled during the 1990s, touching 521 million tons in 200405. This is expected to grow further to about 900 million tons by 2011-12. India's ports need to significantly ramp up their capacity and efficiency to meet this surging demand. Airport infrastructure is strained. Air traffic has been growing at over 15 percent a year leading to severe strain on infrastructure at major airports, especially in the Delhi and Mumbai airports which account for around 50 percent of nations air traffic.

ports

Helicopter

Key Government Strategies

According to Indias Tenth Five Year Plan, the Government aims to modernize, expand, and integrate the country's transport services. It also seeks to mobilize resources for this purpose and to gradually shift the role of government from that of a producer to an enabler. In recent years, the Government has made substantial efforts to tackle the sectors shortcomings and to reform its transport institutions. These include: Increasing public funding for transportation in its Five Year Plans. Launching the ambitious National Highway Development Program with improved connectivity between Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, popularly called the Golden Quadrilateral, in the first phase, and now followed by a seven phase program ending in 2015 Financing the development and maintenance of roads by creating a Central Road Fund (CRF) through an earmarked tax on diesel and petrol.

 Operationalising the National Highway Authority to act as an infrastructure procurer and not just provider. Amending the National Highway Act to expedite land acquisition, permit private financing and allow tolling. Improving rural access by launching the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (Prime Ministers Rural Roads Program).

 Reducing the congestion on rail corridors along the highly trafficked Golden Quadrilateral and improving port connectivity by launching the National Rail Vikas Yojana (National Railway Development Program) and more recently the development of dedicated freight corridor.

Upgrading infrastructure and connectivity in the country's twelve major ports by initiating the National Maritime Development Program.

Privatization and expansion of the Mumbai and New Delhi Airports. Enhancing sector capacity and improving efficiencies through clear policy directive for greater private sector participation. Large parts of the NHDP and NMDP are to be executed through public private partnerships (PPP).

In India the water transport is of two types:-

In water-based transport generally, fuel costs are low and environmental pollution is lower than in transport by road, rail, or air. The waterway is naturally available, which has to be trained, maintained, and upgraded. Water-based transport is especially effective when the source and destination are waterfront locations. Transport based on inland waterways (or inland water transport, IWT)rivers, canals, lakes, etc. and also overlapping coastal shipping in tidal riversconstitutes 20% of the transport sector in Germany (WB 2005) and 32% in Bangladesh (Rahman 1994). In India it has a paltry share of 0.15% (Raghuram 2004).

Passenger Movement
IWT-based passenger movement is mainly by ferry across rivers, on short stretches along rivers, and tourism-based passenger traffic (in Goa, Kerala, Sunderbans, and northern regions). Among factors that affect passenger movement are the following: Travel Time. With construction of bridges, travel time by land is generally reducing. Faster ferries and launches can make IWT competitive. Cost. The total cost of ferry plus subsequent mode of transport needs to be taken into account in planning. Interchange Convenience. Waterway transport should be able to move seamlessly to other modes, e.g. bus and train. A study in the Kochi metro area, which suggests that IWT cannot be ignored in the future growth of the city, calls for integrated investments to increase complementarities with other modes, faster vessels, unified pricing, ticketing, and targeted subsidies. Mumbai has experimented with hovercraft (apart from continuing ferry), but a sustainable service mix has not been found. Inland waterways provide a convenient function in related activities, such as carriage of vehicles, tourism, and water sports

Carriage of Vehicles (preferably in roll-on-rolloff mode). West Bengal, Kerala, and Goa have significant number of these ferry services, but a great potential exists, with faster boats, proper landing facilities, and interchange with other modes. Tourism, Including Stay and Entertainment. In Kerala, Alapuzha, and to a smaller extent Kozhikode, are centers of this activity, especially forhouseboats. Boats that provide music and dining are flourishing in Mumbai, Goa, and Kochi. River cruises, scheduled and chartered, are also available Water Sports. This new sector has possibilities in north and east Indian rivers. White water rafting and trekking on iced mountain stretches of rivers are examples (CMYK 2005).

Cargo Movement
Movement of commodities like tea, jute, and spices in the eastern sector, connected to the river port in Kolkata, was among the early commercial drivers of preindependence India. Logistical convenience of river transport, which used to be a determining factor in the location of industrial activity, may be less so today, though access to water for processing and in some cases effluent treatment is still a consideration in location. Growth in this sector has been sluggish, with the outstanding exception of the tidal river-canal system in Goa, where the Mandovi-ZuariCumbarjua system moved some 30 million tons of iron ore in 2003-4 (GMOEA 2004). IWT-based cargo movement becomes viable if technological and physical viability and commercial potential exists and operating policies of carriers and associated agencies are conducive. Some factors that affect operational economics are the availability of right-of-way (waterway); carriers (navigational vessels); terminal facilities (jetties and ports), and managerial and supporting infrastructure systems.

Technological and Physical Viability

Water Flow. In the main waterways, water flow may have decreased over the years because of increased drawing on water arising from habitation and industrial and agricultural needs. Damming may also have brought down the extent of regular flow River Training, Dredging, and Navigation. To consistently provide a sufficient depth for plying draft may require maintenance of banks and periodic riverbed dredging. Cost estimates of river training on the Sabarmati are about Rs 1011 crore/km (SRFDCL 1998). In rural areas the figure could be lower at say Rs 89 crore/km. Navigation requirements are channel markings, night navigational aidsincluding the possible deployment of global positioning system (GPS)and river maps and charts. The National Inland Navigation Institute (NINI) at Patna has been assigned the task of developing the use of appropriate technology. Locks. Where the physical drop of the river channel is excessive locks have to be provided to manage the height differential.

Access of Cargo. The cargo has to be accessible to the waterway at both ends, to ensure door-to-door movement. Availability of Vessels and Associated Infrastructure. Private operators have a substantial fleet but have of late been scrapping vessels. Governmental help may be required to encourage them to invest in fleet maintenance and growth. The role of government-owned shipyards is important in this domain, including the Rajabagan Dock Yard in Kolkata owned and operated by the Central Inland Water Transport Corporation (CIWTC). CIWTC can provide repair facilities for other operators in the area as well. There is also a well-established industry of manufacture, maintenance, and repair of barges in Goa, some of which are operated by mining companies.

Operational Viability
Cost. IWT is a capital-intensive industry. Significant investment isrequired in vessels. Providing and maintaining the waterway and terminalsrequires even higher investment. Operating costs can involve vehiclecosts, fuel costs, crew costs, maintenance costs, and loading/unloading costs. Contingency costs include running aground and damage to vessels. Systems Perspective. Rangaraj and Raghuram (2005b), emphasizing the systems perspective, draws on illustrative examples from Goa and NW-1. It proposes a model for identifying the range of viable operations from the point of view of (i) the competitive fare provided by othermodes, (ii) the size of barge and therefore the operating cost, (iii) the desired throughput, and (iv) the total cost to the customer. Fleet Planning. Barge operations rely on economies of scale. Largerbarges require larger water depth, have lower operating costs but higherinventory staging costs. They may also have operating restrictions. Small barges, on the other hand, may congest traffic. A range of sizes offer a better choice. Scheduling. Scheduled runs have the systemic advantage of more certainty for customers, routine vehicle deployment, and control of operational costs. Chartering provides for more responsiveness and can reduce no remunerative runs.

Environmental Impact
The increased drawing of water for drinking, irrigation, construction, and other activity reduces the overall flow of water in downstream regions and makes transport operations difficult. Dams also hamper smooth transport. But where IWT is physically possible and commercially viable as part of a supply chain for a shipper, it is usually the most appealing environmentally, with its low fuel consumption and ability to carry in bulk, thereby reducing handling-related pollution and congestion.

Shipping is an important mode of transport in india because India has a long coastline of 7516 kms and large overseas trade. Due to well developed water system in india, a lot of freight taxes are saved. Oceans are free gift of nature therefore no cost is involved in their construction.

Demerits of Shipping o It has high operating cost. o Indian ships have to face hard competition with foreign shipping companies.

oLow productivity of dock labour and equipments

oInadequate tonnage capacity.

Given a sector turnover of about Rs 110 crore annually, the sectorinvestment of Rs 308 crore (Rs 1701 crore proposed) in the Ninth Plan, and in the Tenth Plan of Rs 5665 crore (proposed) does not make commercial or economic sense. Existence of a driving cargo stream of sufficient volume is required to justify large investments. Natural draft of at least 2 m should be available for operations of craft of viable size. Passenger movements are possible at low cost, but would need faster vessels and good interchange facilities. Launches carrying road vehicles may be a viable and cost-effective proposition in some parts of the country. Tourism and related activities offer good potential with appropriate local investments and operational control, wherever relevant. Technical capability and vessel supply are available in the country and a unified and liberalized policy with regard to IWT and coastal shipping will benefit the sector. Government should invest in a measured manner, given the considerations of a possible primary driving cargo and specific geographic potential. A tie-up with the industrial location policy to drive demand would be essential.

 NW-1: Investment based on integrated water use for irrigation, drinking and industry, and for controlled flow.

NW-2: Investment due to strategic importance as an alternate route for bulk movements
NW-3: Tourism-related investment New canal systems (e.g. Narmada canal)