Transportation

Transportation has existed since the beginning of human history. It has evolved greatly over the course of history, along with the development of available technologies and infrastructure.

Until the 19^th century, transportation depended mainly on the muscle power of humans or animals, or on wood, wind or water-powered mechanical force. Transportation changed radically in the middle of the 19^th century when major discoveries and improved techniques led to a boom in transportation.

In addition to being tied to technical innovations, the boom in transportation was also driven by industrialization. Raw materials, mainly coal, were in high demand. Reliable transportation networks had to be built to ensure the delivery of raw materials, goods and processed products.

Many developments occurred in major transportation sectors. Travel efficiency increased with the arrival of steam machines in land and sea transportation. The steam machine led to the expansion of a global economy with regions developing at the same time as industries, consumer markets and the supply of raw materials.

In addition, new drilling techniques made it possible to open up new routes, bypassing natural barriers. Canals, including the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal, were built at this time, facilitating maritime transport. The construction of tunnels also made it possible for roads and railroads to cross mountains, thus opening up new territories.

After having explored possibilities of travel in land, sea and air, people began to dream of space travel. Space exploration paved the way for satellites, expeditions to the Moon and research on Mars.

New means of transportation and their expanding routes caused significant changes in territorial development. Industrialization led to mass migrations of populations towards cities. This intense urbanization created new urban transportation needs that led to the development of the first modes of public transit: buses, streetcars and trolleybuses.

As means of transportation diversified and developed, cities increasingly expanded. At the end of the 19^th century, the development of the electric engine for locomotives facilitated urban and suburban travel. Urban agglomerations expanded thanks to increased means of transportation, which in return facilitated urbanization and the development of urban territory. This became even more significant with the appearance of cars and the development of highways.

The 20^th century was marked by increased mobility of the population. People no longer necessarily had to live close to their workplace. Transportation and urban sprawl are closely tied and influence each other.

Transportation still has a major impact on regional development and land-use planning since development of infrastructure (roads, highways, railroads, subways, streetcars) changes the economic and social development of territories.

When designing a new transportation project, leaders must consider its profitability and utility along with its impact on the regional, national and international economy. Since the different means of transportation are in intense competition with each other, care must be taken to coordinate them.

Today, environmental matters play a key role in decisions related to transportation. Efficient means of transportation which consume less energy are favoured.

Car traffic was limited at the beginning of the 20^th century. At that time, only very rich people owned cars, while most of the population got around on foot, by bicycle, on horse or by streetcar. But several technical innovations promoted the development of the car during the 20^th century, the first one being the steam machine. Beginning in 1770, the first trials in building a land vehicle running on steam were attempted. In 1891, inflatable tires were invented. In 1895, these tires were installed on cars. Because of this innovation, cars became a more stable and safer mode of transportation, and the development of the internal combustion engine allowed cars to be driven faster and more efficiently. The first models of cars with internal combustion engines arrived on the market in 1891. The labour theories of Taylor and Ford truly increased access to cars as they outlined greater worker productivity through mass production.

Cars played a major role in society between the two world wars. As well as becoming more stable and more affordable, road networks were also expanded.

After World War II, car manufacturing increased radically. There were both technical and aesthetic innovations. Vehicle bodywork was improved in order to increase protection, while the interior was redesigned in order to improve the comfort of the driver and passengers.

However, the end of the 20^th century was marked by controversies about the impact of cars on the environment. Several cities worked to reduce the space devoted to cars, in favour of public transportation.

In 1815, John Loudon Macadam started experimenting with new methods for paving streets. Paving stones used at that time were neither suited to the new realities of city life nor to the development of cars and urban transportation.

Macadam wanted to create a paving that could carry heavier and faster traffic. His new roads were no longer made with large, flat rocks, but rather with fine, packed rock, bound by sand and water. This paving quickly proved to be stronger and more impermeable.

During the industrial revolution, commercial transportation underwent significant growth and roads had to be adapted to this new reality. The transport of merchandise required wider and less winding roads, yet the technologies of the time could not meet these requirements. This is why railroads were preferred for long distance shipments. Since trains moved faster than cars, roads were secondary to the railroad network. Starting in 1859, road conditions improved due to the use of the steamroller. This changed the technique developed by Macadam. The development of the road network was closely tied to that of the car, and came about at the beginning of the 20^th century. New paving techniques, the internal combustion engine, the use of tires and the serial manufacturing of cars helped expand the road network.

The need to travel in a faster and safer way led to the creation of highways. The idea of an expressway, designed with separate lanes, without traffic lights and without crossings emerged in Germany in 1909. Highways experienced significant growth after the First World War with the first modern highway opening in Italy in 1924. After that, all countries started building highways.

During the last third of the 20^th century, the competition between roads and railways increased significantly. Higher quality roads could better handle traffic and tonnage, and the new roads also made it possible to drive faster. The road network expanded and became more flexible than trains since cars do not depend on either rails nor train stations.

The transportation of merchandise developed significantly thanks to the improvements in roads and the dawn of trucks and semi-trailers. The way transportation systems function also favoured roads over railways. While the railroad company is responsible for its network (investing in building and maintaining railways and purchasing and maintaining rolling stock), trucking companies benefit from roads and highways financed and maintained by the government.

Two significant inventions aided the widespread use of the railroad: the rail and the locomotive. The concept of the rail has its roots in antiquity, when ruts in roadways guided the wheels of chariots. In the Middle Ages, wooden rails were also used in mines.

By the 18^th century, rails were no longer made of wood, but of metal. They were used to transport heavy materials, such as coal. Traction was provided by horses. Even though we usually associate railroads with steam locomotives, the first steam engines were not intended for rails. The first locomotive to roll on rails was designed at the end of the 18^th century.

In 1804, a locomotive could travel 15 kilometres, at a speed of 8 km/h. This may seem like a laughable speed today, but at the time, it was an innovation, especially since this locomotive could pull 5 wagons carrying coal and 70 men.

The first railways were used to transport ore since they connected mines, waterways, ports and factories. The principal advantage of rails was the ability to transport very heavy loads. Gradually, the railroads improved, and there was growing interest in the transportation of people. In 1821, the first line reserved for travellers was commissioned.

Technical innovations quickly made locomotives more efficient. By 1829, the Rocket was capable of pulling 40 tonnes, while maintaining a speed of 20 km/h, hitting top speeds of 46 km/h. Gradually, railroads extended throughout Europe, mainly to transport raw materials.

The United States caught up quickly by adding a number of innovations to its locomotives, including cowcatchers, cabins for conductors, bells and whistles. The concept of designing electric locomotives emerged in 1873. Beginning in 1900, many tracks were electrified and even today, 70% of French railroad traffic is electric. The first diesel locomotive was designed in Germany in 1912: an invention that truly propelled the railroad to a position of prominence in transportation.

Diesel locomotives travelled faster, reaching a speed of 100 km/h. Diesel gradually replaced steam locomotives and improved transmissions meant they were more reliable and required less maintenance. Units could be added to diesel locomotives (in order to increase traction power), without having to add employees.

Passenger transportation improved thanks to technical improvements. Faster trains made it possible for railroad companies to compete with airline companies. The first HST (high-speed train) experiments took place in France between 1970 and 1972. At the time, these trains travelled up to 300 km/h. In France, these trains became fully electrified in 1978.

More recently, the record speed of HSTs was set in April 2007 with a speed of 574.8 km/h.

The start of the 20^th century brought urbanization and with it, the need to provide transportation for city-dwellers. The first type of urban transportation commissioned was the bus. Pulled by a horse, it made it possible to transport several passengers at one time. Starting in 1828, 10 bus lines were in operation in Paris.

In New York, bus owners set up their vehicles on rails, which increased their stability, while facilitating the work of the horses. These buses were called streetcars. Urban development caused growing cities to extend their boundaries Longer distances could be travelled. This is why most cities installed increasingly dense horse-drawn streetcar networks.

In 1859, the first steam streetcars came into use. However, the smoke they emitted was not ideal in dense urban areas.

In 1862, the first cable-railway came into operation in Lyon. Several trials were conducted with different technologies such as compressed air, cable (for example, the San Francisco cable cars) and electricity in an attempt to resolve the smoke produced by steam machines

By the beginning of the 20^th century, big cities had streetcar networks. New York City also had an elevated train network and London had its underground metro. In 1900, Paris welcomed its Métropolitain.

During the World War I, urban transportation was abandoned. By the end of the war, infrastructure and vehicles were in a state of disrepair while cities experienced a massive influx of cars. Streetcars were now seen as obsolete because they slowed down automobile traffic. As a result, several cities slowly abandoned streetcars in favour of buses and trolleys.

The development of cars reached its peak during the 1950s which pushed urban transportation to focus on the development of subways and suburban trains. However, the 1980s saw a renewed interest in urban transportation as an alternative to cars in some cities. The way new streetcars operated was very different from what it had been at the beginning of the century.

The steam machine played an important role in the history of maritime transportation. Before the use of steam, large ships relied on wind. In canals and waterways, boats were pulled by animals.

In 1736, the first tests to move boats using steam engines were attempted. This innovation brought changes to ships: wooden constructions gave way to metal constructions and self-propelled ships were now powered by engines and propellers.

The emergence of large steamships required the construction of new cargo ports. Steamships became popular with passengers as a way to cross the ocean.
As with most means of transportation, maritime transportation underwent many improvements during the two world wars: increases in the size of ships, aircraft carriers, etc. After World War II, numerous inland waterway projects were planned. Transportation companies planned to dig canals between rivers to make merchandise transportation to the interior of continents possible.

Due to a lack of financing, these large-scale projects were set aside, while the development of road networks, railroads and aviation continued.

For transoceanic transportation however, ships remained the most efficient and least polluting means.

Human beings have always been captivated by the idea of travelling by air. As early as the Renaissance period, Leonardo da Vinci was attempting to create devices that made it possible to fly.

Innovations in engines made it possible to dream of air transportation. The search for devices lighter than air started with the aerostat, invented by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783. The Montgolfier brothers first succeeded in flying by using lighter gases like heated air and different types of gas (including hydrogen). The first successful hot-air balloon flight would take place years later, in 1852.

Research focused on stronger and more motorized constructions simultaneously. At that time, people spoke of “heavier than air” types of devices. The first glider flight took place in 1853. Then, in 1890, the first airplane flight was completed over a 50-metre distance. The device was motorized, but it could not be steered. The Wright brothers perfected motorized flying machines that could be steered. In 1904, they achieved the first guided flight.

The aviation sector also benefited from an increase in manufacturing and training of pilots. After the war, balloons that could be directed (also known as airships) as well as airplanes were used for the first time to transport civilian passengers.

Airships were used for long distance trips, including Atlantic crossings. However, the flammability of hydrogen made it risky. Following a number of accidents, including the Hindenburg fire in 1937 in a zeppelin (metal-framed airship), this type of travel was abandoned.

Aviation developed considerably since planes were less fragile than airships. In 1924, the first trip around the world was achieved and, in 1930, transoceanic lines were used to transport mail, replacing airships.

Throughout the 20^th century, aviation gradually replaced maritime transportation in international connections. Cities had to adapt to this reality by building infrastructure such as airports or platforms for commerce.The first transatlantic flight with passengers took place on June 28, 1939. Technology increased the speed of airplanes and made night flights possible. After World War II, the focus turned to jet planes.

In 1976, the groundbreaking Concorde came into service. This supersonic airplane, capable of flying at twice the speed of sound, could fly from New York and Paris in less than 3 hours.