Transportation
Modified: 2024-02-21 10:18 PM
Humans move, always have. Humans for nearly all of their existence could only use their own two feet to traverse distance. More recently (6,000 ybp), humans domesticated horses. In the 19th century humans invented technologies that allowed them to move incredibly more efficiently than in the past. This page is divided into three parts. The first will cover land transportation and the remaining two will cover transportation in water and in air. In all those sections the pros and cons of each will be discussed.
Paul Revere's ride
One: If by land
- Bipedalism
- All hominins walked upright and have specific adaptations for walking and running
- Video on human running
- Persistence hunting
- Chasing prey animals until they overheat or stop and then killing them
- Glaub and Hall (2017, Abstract) analyzed modern !Kung hunters and demonstrated that they gain more energy from the animal than they expend in the chase. Be sure to expand the abstract.
- The article argues that human persistence hunters obtain a net energy return on investment sufficient to sustain the hunter's family for many days
- What is the furthest you have ever walked?
- Human Migration
- Out of Africa
- Map
- Migrations by Homo species began around 2M ybp
- Migrations by Homo sapiens began about 300,000 ybp
- North and South America
- Map
- Migrations by Homo sapiens began following the rise of the Beringia land bridge (between Siberia and Alaska) around 14,000 ybp
- Pacific Islands
- Map
- This migration had several stages and took place starting about 45,000 ybp and ended about 1,000 ybp
- Note: the migrations above were nearly exclusively made by walking (e.g., shank's mare) but the migrations in the Pacific were made by canoe
- Domestication of Animals
- Definition:
- "Domestication is defined in terms of a coevolutionary mutualism between domesticator and domesticate and is distinguished from related but ultimately different processes of management and agriculture. Domestication results in a range of genotypic, phenotypic, plastic, and contextual impacts that can be used as markers of evolving domesticatory relationships. A consideration of causal scenarios finds greater empirical support for explanatory frameworks grounded in niche-construction theory over those derived from optimal foraging theory."
- How domestic animals and plants changed the course of human history. (video)
- Note the lack of intentionality or foresight in domestication
- Note the tremendous implications that domestication had for humans
- Animal Domestication Timeline
-
| Animal |
Years Before Present |
Location |
| Dog |
15k |
Asia/Elsewhere |
| Sheep |
10k |
Middle East |
| Cat |
9k |
Eastern Mediterranean |
| Pig |
8k |
Middle East/China? |
| Cattle |
8k |
Middle East |
| Zebu Cattle |
6k |
Pakistan |
| Horse |
6k |
Central Asia/Elsewhere? |
| Llama |
4.5k |
Peru |
| |
|
|
- Cats as Outliers
- 9,500 years (at least) of domestication (Video)
- Physically and genetically the same as wild cats
- Cats are sedentary, humans carried them around the world
- Video: How cats came to be domesticated
- Cats and Human Migration (link may be slow)
- Cats are usually carried from place to place by humans
- Cats tend to have small home ranges
- Human population movements can be analyzed by examing cat populations
- Even today, the cats of New York City are genetically different from those of Boston. Why?
- Hint: Who settled New York and Boston?
- Taming is different that domestication
- Wild, Feral, Tamed, Domesticated
- Wild: do not rely on people for any aspect of their lives
- Feral: previously domesticated animal that has returned to an existence without humans--pigs, dogs, cats, "strays"
- Tamed: wild animal used to some interactions with people.
- Horses
- Do you have any pets? If yes, what do you think they are thinking of?
- The Wheel
- Wheeled Vehicles (video)
- Bicycles (LONG but interesting page, covers wheels, bicyles, and motorcycles)
- Victorian London
Note: nearly all of the conveyances below were drawn by animals
- Omnibuses
- Carts
- Noise
- Seasonal
- Note: the advent of the automobile was seen as a solution to the end of the solid waste problem in London and elsewhere
- I assume you can see why automobiles were seen as a solution to pollution in cities.
- Do all Americans need an automobile or light truck?
- How many vehicles should a person own?
- Have you ever visited an automotive junk yard?
- Roads
- Vehicles need roads be they rail, dirt, gravel, or paved
- Transcontinental Railroad (USA) 1869
- The Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroad companies worked seven years to complete the first transcontinental railroad in the USA
- That railroad cut travel time between the two coasts tremendously
- The "Champagne Photo"
- Roads
- US Interstate system
- Eisenhower Interstate System
- 1956 to 1992
- 48,756 miles (2020)
- Odd numbered run North-South, numbered low to high from West to East
- Even numbered run East-West, tnumbered low to high from South to North
- Must be:
- Controlled access
- Medians
- Breakdown lanes
- No at-grade intersections
- No traffic lights
- I-40
- US Highway System
- United States Numbered Highway System
- 1926 to 1956
- 157,724 miles (1989)
- Odd numbered run North-South, numbered low to high from East to West
- Even numbered run East-West, tnumbered low to high from North to South
- US 70
- Magnolia to Little Rock (below))
- Notice the US 79/US 167 route is shorter and takes a few more minutes, on average
- That route has several traffic lights and goes through Fordyce, AR
- But, that route has very little truck traffic and is four lanes from Camden to Little Rock
- I had to take I-30 recently and it was less than 30 seconds before an 18-wheel truck pulled in front of me to pass another 18-wheeler. Pet peeve of mine.
- German Autobahn
- Pros
- Much more rapid travel
- 75 mph in Arkansas on some Interstates
- Convenience
- Freedom of movement
- Drivers able to move from place to place without restrictions
- Cons
- Death
- Higher death rates at intersections
- Pollution
- Vehicles are a major source of air pollution and particle pollution
- Maintenance and Disposal
- Roads must be maintained
- Roads taken out of service contribute to solid waste
- What is the fastest you have ever driven?
- Have you ever engaged your vehicle's speed limiter or governor?
Two: If by sea
- History of Maritime Transport
- Advantages of maritime transport
- Storage is greater than the capacity of other means of transport.
- Freight rates are very cheap and competitive.
- They are more stable and secure.
- They have less ecological impact.
- They make large shipments over long distances.
- They are ideal for large loads.
- Disadvantages of maritime transport
- Customs services processes are complicated and require a large number of requirements.
- The delivery of the products takes more time.
- They’re slow.
- They are affected by the weather and could alter their itineraries.
- Passenger Ship History
- Cargo first/passengers later
- First pleasure cruise: 1844
- Pure passenger liners
- Later, immigrants in steerage
- Superliners
- World War II
- Airlines put end to transatlantic travel (see below), starting in 1958
- Cruiseliners returned in late 20th Century and continue to do a good business
- World's Largest Passenger Ships
- From sail to modern cruisers
- Conde Nast: Worlds Best Cruise Ships (2024)
- If you are looking to cruise soon
- 23 Things Cruisers Like to Complain About
- The Terrible Toll of the Cruise Ship Industry
- Gives fictional but representative cruise from Seattle to Alaska
- Points out pollution from ship
- Climate Pollution from Global Shipping
- Merchant ships, together, would be the sixth largest source of pollution in world
- Hybrid ships using windpower are appearing
- What Are Container Ships
- Carry 90% of world's non-bulk cargo
- Intermodal Shipping
- Use same container on truck, railroad, or ship
- Container Boom and Bust
- TEUs (20 foot Equivalent Units or containers) undergo boom and bust cycles according to swings in the worldwide economy
- Covid led to a shortage of TEUs, now there is a surplus
- Geographic Space of Maritime Shipping (map)
- Map shows geography of maritime shipping
- Global Maritime Shipping Choke Points
- Article discusses the eight primary global choke points
- Panama Canal
- Straits of Gibraltar
- Cape of Good Hope
- Bosphorus Strait
- Suez Canal
- Bab-el-Mandeb (Red Sea)
- Strait of Hormuz
- Straits of Malacca (South China Sea)
- Collisions Between Ship and Animals
- Collisions take place between ships against whales, dolphins, and sea turtles
- Amasia is Forming
- Get ready for the loss of the Pacific Ocean and the forming of the new supercontinent: Amasia
- It's 200 to 300 million years away
- Naval Warfare
- Has a long history
- Boarding vs. Line of Battle tactics
- Incorporation of cannons
- Modern naval warfare incorporates anti-ship missiles
- Have you ever been to sea?
- Would you like to visit the Titanic?
- Canals
- History
- Corinth Canal
- First used as way to slide ships across, canal dug in 19rh Century
- C&O Canal
- History
- 1821-1934
- Map
- My brother lives near the towpath and runs along it routinely
- Ohio and Erie Canal
- Suez Canal
- Panama Canal
Three: If by air
Globalization
- Discuss any of the transportation methods. Compare their benefits to their costs.
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