Comparison of Public Transport System between the UK and the US - Case Study Example

Comparison of Public Transport System between UK and US Student’s Name Institution Affiliation Introduction Public transport systems play an important role in developing the economy of any nation. It is important to note that a country that has got good transport system will always have an upper hand in terms of development. The speed at which the economy develops largely depends on the kind of public transport system that a given country will have at any particular moment. Environment of carrying out business in any particular country will be improved by having an efficient public transport system. Where there is efficient Public transportation system then freedom and personal mobility of the people will be increased in a country. Public transport avails different options that will assist the citizens reach various destinations with easy. In some situation public transport provides job opportunities to citizens. Public transport leads to reduction of congestion on the public means of transport due to reduced minimization of private means of transport. Public transport to some expense reduces costs and also emission of carbon due to the reduction of usage of fuels by the private means of transport. Therefore any government need to invest a lot of resources in the public transport systems in a bid to spur economic growth. In these paper we are going to compare public transport system in United Kingdom and that of United States of America (Taplin, 2013). Comparison of the public transport system United Kingdom and United States of America are two most developed countries in the world and we expect that both countries must have invested to a greater extent in there public transport systems. The public transport system has played a great role in seeing the economic growth of these two countries. Railways, Roads, Air and water transport has been well developed in these countries. The governments of these two countries are giving a close interest in checking how the public transport system is developing and recognize its role in economic development. The importance of public transport system in developing of the economy of these two countries has made them to invest most of the available resources invested in such infrastructure. The industrial sector has been spurred due to massive investment that has been undertaken to see that a smooth public transport system. In fact goods are easily moved from one point to the other using the public transport system easily making the business environment conducive and cheaper compared to those less developed countries. Regardless of the development there exists differences in the public transport systems in the two countries. These may be the reason as to why the countries have a difference in the economic growth and industrialization (Eddington, 2006). Similarities in the public transport system In these two countries the common mode of transport is road (land). It is important to note that most of the people in these two countries use cars and taxes as the means of transport. You will find that most of the people travel to their destinations using cars. Those who get to the destinations using buses are few. The modes of public transport available in these countries include; air, rail, water and roads. The usage of air in these countries is of less percentage compared to the roads. Both countries have underground means of transport where tunnels have been developed to move goods from one place to the other. The major cities are the once that have highly developed public transport system that ensure that goods are moved on time from one place to the other. The roads network in the two countries is highly developed as it is the commonly used means of transport. Private cars are the majority in the major roads in the cities. Most of the industrialization activities that are undertaken in these countries mostly depend on road transport to move goods and services to their required destinations. Both the American and the UK governments are always in constant research on how to improve their public transport system due to the roles that it plays in developing there economy (Buehler et al, 2011). Differences in the public transport system Due to the size of the two countries, it is important to note that there are differences that exist in the level of development in the different types of modes of transport. For example the air public transport system in the United States is highly developed compared to that is found in the UK. This can be attributed to the fact that most of the major cities in the Unites States are far apart and air transport makes it for movement of people and commodities from one destination to the other. The usage of air transport in the United States is higher compared to that in the United Kingdom. It is said the percentage usage of air transport in the UK is 1% while that in the United State is 12%. When we come to the Usage of Railway as means of transport in both the UK and US then you will also realize that there exists great difference. This can be associated to the number of years that has been undertaken to develop railway lines in the two countries. The Railway lines in the UK are highly developed compared to those in the US. In fact, usage of railway transport is estimated to be 10% compared to that in the US that is estimated to be 1%. The difference is an indication of level of development of this mode of development in the two countries. Development of railway lines that can connect the 52 states that are found in America can be tedious. In the UK there are some areas that have electric railway lines making them to have most efficient trains in the world. This give the reason as to why this areas are better developed than the United States. The amount of resources that have been used to develop rail transport system in the United Kingdom is higher compared to that used in the United States of America (ITF, 2011). The number of tunnels that have been developed in these two countries differs in distance. It is estimated that for example in London and New York which are said to be the biggest cities in these two countries the tunnel coverage is 250 and 236 miles respectively. This is an indication that the coverage in the public transport in London using the tunnels is higher compared to that in the New York (Mees, 2010). The road network in United Kingdom is said to be highly developed compared to that of United States of America. This is due to the number of years that UK has taken in developing it road network system. Also, the amount of resources invested in the creation of the road network in the UK is higher compared to that of the US. This leads to the difference that is seen in the developments on the UK roads. Considering the development of water transport system in the US we can realize that United States has got a well-developed compared to that in the United Kingdom. Both the inland water transport system and the offshore water transport systems are well developed. The American shoreline is long compared to that of the United Kingdom. This has America to have many ports that are used to transport exports and imports via water to be many compared to that that is in the UK. Therefore this makes the American water transport system to efficiently handle more goods compared to UK. The inland water transport system is also well developed in America compared to UK. In fact the seven lakes have given America to have the longest inland water transport system in the world (Miron, 2003). This make American public water transport system to be more efficient compared to that in the UK. Generally, the UK transport system is more efficient compared to that in the USA due to the time and resources that have been used in developing the railway line and road network. Most of the people in both countries tend to use roads as the common means of transport. Therefore, with the fact that the roads and railways lines are well developed in the UK then it means that its public transport in must convenient when handling people compared to that in the US. However, when we deal with industrialization however, the water and air transport has been a major booster in making industries since the cost of transportation of exports and imports. Conclusion For any country to be classified as a developed country then it is important to invest the in the public transport system. Bothe in the USA and the UK, public transport has played an important in developing the country’s economy. Countries must input several resources to see the public transport system being improved frequently. Roads being used by many of the citizen of these countries should continually improve to ensure that efficiency is attained in the transport of goods and also movement of people from one area to the other. Transport is the backbone of any country hence any government should invest heavily in it. The two countries have improved there economy due to a well-developed public transport system. References Buehler, R., Pucher, R., Merom, D., & Bauman, A. (2011). Active travel in Germany and the USA: Contributions of daily walking and cycling to physical activity. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Department for Transport. (2010). National travel survey. London: Author. Department for Transport. (2011). National travel statistics. London: Author. ITF. (2011). Transport for society: International demand for public transport. Paris: OECD/International Transportation Forum. Rod Eddington (2006). "The Eddington Transport Study". UK Treasury. Michael Taplin (2013). "Home – World Systems List index – World List U-Z – United Kingdom (GB)". Light Rail Transit Association (LRTA). Mees, P. (2010). Transport for Suburbia: Beyond the automobile age. New York City, NY: Earthscan. Miron, J. (2003). Urban sprawl in Canada and America: Just how dissimilar? Toronto: Department of Geography, University of Toronto. "Transport Statistics Great Britain: 2007 Edition". UK Department for Transport. "Statistical data set PORT01 – UK ports and traffic". Department for Transport. Read More