The Geography of Transport Systems

by Jean-Paul Rodrigue

Mobility is fundamental to economic and social activities, including commuting, manufacturing and supplying energy. Understanding how mobility is linked with geography is key, and the main focus of this important book. Concerned with movements, infrastructures, institutions and the corporations supporting them, this key volume from Rodrigue, Comtois and Slack links spatial constraints and attributes with the origin, destination, extent, nature and purpose of movements. Divided into nine chapters, each covers methodologies linked with transport geography (such as accessibility, spatial interactions, graph theory and GIS), and the topics they address Ideal for an undergraduate audience, this book provides a comprehensive introduction with a broad overview of the concepts, methods and areas of application. Emphasis is placed on the development of didactic material that can be incorporated in lectures (such as PowerPoint slides, exercises, databases and GIS datasets). Although primarily developed for transport geography, the material can also be used in lectures in economic and urban geography, as well as transport planning and engineering.

Genres: Geography, Urban Planning, Transport

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 2006

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for MTM 250 - Transportation and the Environment class at SJSU. Read Ch. 4, 7, 8, 9, and parts of 11 and 12.

Tone of this book was very frustrating—stayed very factual and did not convey much vision for how transportation could be in the future. Conveyed climate change as something that still is in debate. Gave the impression that public transportation systems are failures when they have to be subsidized. Maybe I’m used to reading justice and vision-oriented texts but this ultimate centrist one got me writing all sorts of snarky and critical notes.

On the one positive side, this text made me consider the issue of freight transportation in a more wholistic way.

[Navneet Bhushan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book I found online, while searching for something like future of transport. I found this a useful book in the fact it addresses multi-disciplinary nature of Transport systems and they way they are evolving and may evolve. The key issues in such a book will always be the needed depth in relevant areas - that of course depends upon the authors interests and expertise. Of course matching with readers interests and depths. Nevertheless, it is an interesting and important book for non-expert to contextualize the and understand transport systems.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

SUCH A COOL BOOK! I’m surprised this book doesn’t have higher ratings. This was one of the most interesting and applicable books I have ever read. It really changed the way I view “sustainability”. The emphasis on sustainability in all aspects of design, not just during usage, is not something I have never considered. We are quite “Green Washed” in believing that systems are sustainable purely by viewing their operability stages. But sustainability takes place across all phases of the life cycle. I was not very educated in locomotive transport, and I now feel much more adept. Truly, great read.

[Kristy · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are a lot of flaws in the formulas presented in this book. I would not recommend this text.