The Quality of the Urban Road Transportation System in Port Harcourt

Bachelor Thesis , 2021 , 95 Pages , Grade: B

Urban and Regional Planning

This research work critically assesses the quality of urban road transportation system in Port Harcourt Metropolis. It does so by defining transportation as the means of conveying, conveyance or been conveyed from one place to another and it involves humans, animals and objects. It also addresses all necessary infrastructures that must be functional to make the transport system in the study area efficient. Excessive traffic demand is choking the study area even when car ownership is moderate due to poor city structure and narrow roads. Further, increased traffic demand is expected in the study area by the year 2030. The study in achieving its goal employed the mixed method design and the case study method, whereby both qualitative and quantitative research components were used in the data analysis and the central point of the findings is that the quality of road transport service in the study area is declining despite the recent development in the transportation sector. Hence, this study, advocates for more relevant and vital transportation infrastructures that will aid the efficiency of urban road transport services in Port Harcourt Metropolis and also the culture of maintenance should be inculcated to ensure its durability. The study concludes that quality of urban road transportation system in Port Harcourt Metropolis City will increase to a very high level and will in turn increase the economic state of the city if all relevant transport infrastructures and policies are put in place both by the state and federal government in Nigeria.

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF PLATES

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1.3. AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.3.1. AIM OF THE STUDY
1.3.2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.6. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
1.6.1. Geographical Scope
1.6.2. Context
1.7. STUDY AREA
1.7.1 Location and Size
1.8. LIMITATION OF STUDY

CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL, CONCEPTUAL AND LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1.1. Multiple Nuclei Model
2.1.2. The Modal Choice
2.2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
2.2.1. Transportation Infrastructure Situation in Nigeria: An Overview
2.2.2 Way forward for Improving Transport Infrastructure
2.2.3. Transportation and Economic Impact
2.2.4. Local Urban Road Classification in India
2.2.5. Benefits of Road Transport Infrastructure
2.2.6. Bus mass rapid transit (BRT)
2.3. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.3.1. M.K. Agarwal in his book ‘Urban Transportation in India’
2.4. RESEARCH GAP

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Research Design
3.3. Population and Sampling Size
3.4. Method of Data Collection
3.4.1 Sample Procedure
3.6. Validity of the Instrument
3.7 Data Analytical Techniques

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF RESULTS AND FINDINGS
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 PERSONAL INFORMATION OF RESPONDENTS
4.2.1: Distribution of respondents by sex
4.2.2: Age of respondents
4.2.3: Educational Status
4.2.4: Occupation of Respondents
4.3: GENERAL INFORMATION
4.3.1: General Information
4.3.2: Employment Status of Respondent
4.3.3: Frequently Used Means of Transportation
4.3.4: Do you own any means of Transportation
4.3.5: How often do you frequently use
4.3.6: How do you get to your nearest Bus Stop
4.3.7: Walking Distance to the Bus Stop
4.3.8: Road Users waiting time at Bus Stop
4.3.9: Challenges faced when using the Road
4.3.10: Most preferred means of road transportation
4.3.11: Heavy traffic congestion occurrence
4.3.13: Reasons for heavy traffic congestion
4.3.14: Quality of road transport service
4.4: KEY INFORMANT: NATIONAL UNION OF ROAD TRANSPORT WORKERS (NURTW)
4.4.1: Major causes of traffic congestion in Passenger Bus Service
4.4.2: How did you tackle the traffic challenge as a union
4.4.3: Personal opinion of heavy trucks on the traffic congestion
4.4.4: Rate the performance of road transport service
4.4.5: State government measures to tackle road transport challenge
4.4.6: Incorporation of the light truck (pickup trucks/delivery vans, etc) in the traffic management system.
4.5: KEY INFORMANT: NIGERIA RAILWAY CORPORATION RIVERS CHAPTER
4.5.1: Challenges of the railway corporation in modern times
4.5.2: How have the corporation tried to tackle this challenge
4.5.3: Rate the performance of Railway transport service
4.5.4: Role of state government in tackling the railway transport service in the state
4.6: KEY INFORMANT: MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION
4.6.1: Challenges of the road transport system in recent times
4.6.2: How have the ministry tried to tackle the challenges
4.6.3: Rate the performance of the road transport services
4.6.4: Government plans of keeping the heavy trucks off the primary distributors of the city especially during peak hours
4.6.5: Government plan on empowering light trucks to take charge of delivery of road services especially during peak hours
4.6.6: Government plan on building ring roads for the city
4.7: KEY INFORMANT: TRUCK DRIVERS UNION NPA
4.7.1: Challenges of truck operation in recent times
4.7.2: How has the union tried to tackle this issue
4.7.3: Rate the performance of the truck operation
4.7.4: How have the union control the movement of trucks during the day especially during peak hours

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
5.1: DIFFERENT MEANS/MODES OF TRANSPORTATION IN USE AND THE MOST PREFERRED
5.2: PROXIMITY TO BUS STOP AND TIME SPENT BEFORE BOARDING A BUS
5.3: TRAFFIC CHALLENGE IN THE STUDY AREA
5.4: OCCURRENCE OF HEAVY TRAFFIC CONGESTION AND CAUSES OF HEAVY TRAFFIC CONGESTION
5.5: SATISFACTION TO QUALITY OF TRANSPORT SERVICE

CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
6.1 Conclusion
6.2 Recommendations

REFERENCES

Appendix

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1 Age of respondents

Table 4.2 Educational Status

Table 4.3 Occupation of respondents

Table 4.4: Marital Status of respondents

Table 4.5: Employment Status of Respondent

Table 4.6: Frequently Used Means of Transportation

Table 4.7: Do you own any means of Transportation

Table 4.8: How do you get to your nearest Bus Stop

Table 4.9: Walking Distance to the Bus Stop

Table 4.10: Road Users waiting time at Bus Stop

Table 4.11: Most preferred means of road transportation

Table 4.12: Heavy traffic congestion occurrence

Table 4.13: Causes of heavy traffic congestion

Table 4.14: Quality of road transport service

LIST OF FIGURES

Fig 4.1 Distribution of respondents by sex

LIST OF PLATES

Fig 1.1 Map of Rivers State Showing Port Harcourt Metropolis

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Transportation according to Hornby (2010) is conveying, or being conveyed or a means of conveyance from one place to another. It is the movement or displacement of persons, good and other movable possessions in time and space for a particular purpose. In human societies, this is not chaotically done because recognized paths marked out by individuals or the societies are usually followed (Sube, 2012).

Transportation is the easiest way of movement of humans, animals and goods from one location to another. This movement is done through the following modes, air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline and space. Transportation is the engine room of any society and hence provides room for effective socio-economic development and societal improvement (Ashenfelter and Card, 2015). According to Aweto (2015), transportation plays key role in urban development and nations building.

Road Transportation is a necessary end right from early history. The mobility of people and materials especially in the present days become one of the greatest needs that have to be adequately satisfied on our society and economy at large (Barke and Hare, 2014). Transportation is referred to as the engine of the economy. This means that without transportation management system, the entire economy will suffer stagnation (Adefolalu, 2007). Transportation helps to bridge the gap between producers, suppliers and industrial users as well as individual commuters. Transport has been likened to the human blood circulatory system whose healthy functioning is a necessary condition for the sustenance of human life (Adeniji, 2010). Transport systems provide a key to the understanding and operation of many other systems at any different scales (Bearse, 2016). At one extreme, inter-continental transport provides essential communication between the advanced and developing worlds, while local transport to rural markets in many parts of the third world is a vital component in changing dynamic socio-economic structures (Barke and Hare, 2014).

According to Clarke (2016), transportation is no doubt an indispensible catalyst for activating and stimulating the tempo of economic, social, political and strategic development in any society. Thus, effective and efficient functioning of urban centres depends on the provision of basic infrastructures one of the most important being transport.

The role of government in providing quality urban transport services in Nigeria has not been encouraging (Bearse, 2016). Government tends to neglect transportation sectors and focus on other sectors of the economy without knowing that quality urban transport services provided in any modern society could enhance effective delivery in economic growth and societal development (Bearse, 2016). As further observed by Bearse (2016), the provision of urban transport services in most Nigerian cities has been seriously affected by lack of adequate fund have resulted to poor road network, poor transportation facilities and lack of community and environmental facilities.

Transportation is inherently central to development of nations. It is not only a necessity to life but also have a resultant of nations. It is not only a necessity to life but also have a resultant effect on all aspect of human existence (Oyesiku, 2002). It provides access to goods, services and social activities to maintain a good quality life. It is fundamental in breaking isolation and thus strengthening individual capital base (World Bank Report, 2002; Odufuwa, 2006).

Okpala (2011) noted that transportation has been a major contributor to the economy competitive force in business. It is activity that physical connects the business to its supply chain partners, such as suppliers and passengers, and it is a major influence on the passenger’s satisfactions with the country. Transportation is required in the whole production procedures, from manufacturing to delivery to the final consumers and returns. Only a good co-ordination between each component would bring the benefits to a maximum.

Port Harcourt City as one of the cities in the country have in time past experience some spread and backwash effect in the transportation sector. Transportation situation in the city has reached a crisis point. This is the consequence of several years of neglect by succeeding administrations. Therefore, it is not out of place to state transportation in the city and state (Rivers State) at large is grossly inadequate (Filani, 2002; Oyesiku, 2002; Odufuwa, 2003 and Atubi, 2009).

The impact of this distressed sector on the economy or the ensuring crisis is severe, with the urban poor suffering more than any other group. The growing transport paucity has had a debilitating effect on the lives of the people and it has continued to trap and push its catchment towards poorer livelihoods (Atubi, 2012). The most devastating problem has been the lack of sustainable mobility and frequent deviant driving behaviours as an escape measure (Odufuwa, et al., 2008).

From all indications there is high level of poverty among urban households in the country. The transport infrastructure and services generally requires a complete overhauling or repair in other to make them physically sound. Also worth mentioning, are the land use mix factors that the intra-urban travel. The land use mix factor affects the intra-urban travel behaviour and it has a profound influence on urban transport planning and management in general (Oyesiku, 2002). It is against this background that this study is conducted to carry-out an assessment of the quality of urban transport services in Port Harcourt City, Rivers State.

1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Poor road transportation management is one major problem that is affecting the urban transport quality services and growth of the economy especially in the city of Port Harcourt with millions of residents in it. This has led to the ineffectiveness and collapse of the city’s road system. This in turn has bounced as the road transportation system characterized by heavy duty Lorries overworking the road system and the resultant effect is damages of roads causing accidents and loss of lives and property. Poor management of road transportation systems has led to an unorganized road transport system, bus drivers do not make use of the bus stops again to load and offload passengers and goods, paying little or no attention to the traffic rules anymore, causing unnecessary gridlock in the City giving the city a bad image and most road users are greatly dissatisfied with condition of road transportation in the city.

The absence of technology development to monitor or regulate the speed of vehicles, high overloading of goods and traffic congestion in Port Harcourt has become a “bone in the neck” issue and has turned mobility by road to a nightmare, especially during peak hours; this has increase lateness to work, school and businesses. There are also cases of lowered productivity, chronic fatigue and bad stress.

The government participation in transport delivery through the mass transit has not been effective over the years and the public transport service delivery quality in the city is poor, poor maintenance of fleet and unsafe service. The cumulative effect is a gradually crashing down the local economy of the city. And finally, the urban road transportation system has suffered many setbacks and has resulted to bad roads in both the city centre and other parts of the LGA, the presence of street trading have reduced the efficiency of the quality urban road transport, also the road transport workers have a great contribution to the problems of urban road transport and lastly the unorganized bus system resulting to poor quality service of the urban road transport system. Therefore this research is focused on assessing the existing urban transport structures with a view to proffering/sustainable affordable solution to them.

1.3. AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1.3.1. AIM OF THE STUDY

The aim of this research is to carry-out an assessment of the quality of urban road transport services in Port Harcourt so as to determine the level of improvement needed to ensure an efficient urban road transport service.

1.3.2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

i. To identify the different modes/means of urban road transport in use.
ii. To identify and assess the routes in use.
iii. To identify the performance services of different means/sub modes.
iv. To identify the assess performance and freight infrastructure (terminal & motor park) in the city.
V. To identify the performance of paid and unpaid car/vehicle and truck parks in the state.
Vi. To identify/assess the performance of road transportation mismanagement arising from buses and trucks in Port Harcourt City, Rivers State.

1.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions will be answered in due course;

i. Are there conflicts between the sub modes in the urban transportation system?
ii. What are the performance criteria of urban transport services of both public and private organization in Port Harcourt City, Rivers State.
iii. How can these establishment help to increase/improve their level of performance?

1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research work has academic significance due to its relevance in the field of educational institution most specifically undergraduates in transportation, marketing and geography and regional planning which is among the educational unit that trains future managers, administrators and planners. Etc. its findings and suggestion(s) are likely to generate academic debate on the matter and interest among scholars.

The study could also help the ministry of transport to better understand the current situation in road transportation management. And accordingly makes changes to address the factors that consequently help to formulate policies aimed at solving the problems of road transportation management on road users and commuters. The study will be of great importance to private and public organization such as transport companies and individuals concerned with the business of transportation; it will serve as a guide on the area of implementing quality assessment of urban transport services, staff training on urban transport system, to address the obstacles encountered by road operators, users and passengers.

Lastly, students and researchers would want to benefit from this study. Also, the study is to immense benefit in the area of recommendation that would help in improving the general performance of the company in question.

1.6. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

1.6.1. Geographical Scope

This study focuses on the assessment of urban transportation system in selected areas of Port Harcourt City. Selected Areas like; Old Port Harcourt Township, Ikwerre Road, Aba Road, Ada George, Woji and NTA Road.

1.6.2. Context

This clearly points out the area of interest on the project topic which is Assessment of urban road transportation system in Port Harcourt City. The urban transportation system is linked to all modes or means of transportation which are; Water, Railway, Road and Air transportation. This study will however focus primarily on the road transport system in the study area.

1.7. STUDY AREA

The study area (Port Harcourt) is located in the Niger Delta Region of the South-South Geo-political zone of Nigeria.

1.7.1 Location and Size

Port Harcourt is situated within latitudes 04°43' and 04°57' North of the equator and between longitude 06°53' and 07°58' East of the Greenwich meridien. It is surrounded by patches of islands and creeks of the Niger Delta, such as the Dockyard creek, Bonny River and Amadi Creek, at a height of about 12m above sea level. It is approximately 60km from the Crest up stream of the Bonny River.

Port Harcourt population and urbanization increases on a daily basis and thereby increasing the day-to-day movement in and out of the city with population of about 1,865,000 inhabitants up from the 2006 census which was about 1,382,592.

Editor's note: the figure was removed due to copyright issues.

Fig. 1.1: Map of Rivers State Showing Port Harcourt Metropolis

1.8. LIMITATION OF STUDY

There were several challenges encountered when carrying out this project work, these challenges were inevitable, there affected this research work at some point the whole research process had to stop and later continued. The following are some of the notable challenges;

Covid-19 Pandemic: This was/is a global pandemic that hit the world in December 2019 and came to Nigeria in February 2020, it was so deadly that all sectors in the country had to stop all its activities for a period of 6 to 7months. And that affected the research process of this project work.

Financial Constrain: This is another vital challenge that affected the smooth flow of the research work. At some point there was no money to take care of the cost of the project.

Availability and Information: This challenge was mainly from some of the key informants, especially in the state secretariat, the directors were hardly available and during the interview sections, some vital information was not given to us for reasons best known to them.

CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL, CONCEPTUAL AND LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2.1.1. Multiple Nuclei Model

In 1945, Harris and Ullman developed the multiple-nuclei model. They asserted that the Central Business District (CBD) was no longer the only center of an urban area or city. In earlier models, the CBD was at the core of the urban land use model and was found at the heart of every older city. The CBD is the commercial and business center of the city and in bigger cities, the CDB is often referred to as the “financial district”. They were the first to consider the complexity of the city and its surrounding areas.

Harris and Ullman claimed that, in newer cities, automobile-based intraurban dispersal was creating a multiple-nuclei structure of urban land use. This mobility allows for regional centers to specialize the businesses. In the multiple-nuclei, the “nuclei” are multiple smaller growth centers that developed around the metropolitan area. These nuclei can be ports, universities, airports, parks, neighborhoods business, and governmental centers. Their goal was to produce a more realistic model, even at the expense of being more complicated. Their aim in this model was to move away from the concentric zones and better show the complex nature of large urban areas.

The model describes the layout of a city, based on Chicago. It says that even though a city may have begun with a central business district, or CBD, other smaller CBDs develop on the outskirts of the city near the more valuable housing areas to allow shorter commutes from the outskirts of the city. This creates nodes or nuclei in other parts of the city besides the CBD thus the name multiple nuclei model.

The main goals in this were to:

Move away from the concentric zone model
To better reflect the complex nature of urban areas, especially those of larger size
The model assumes that land is not flat in all areas. Hence there is need for;
Even Distribution of Resources
Even Distribution of people in Residential areas
Even Transportation Costs

This model has a great impact in the study area, initially Port Harcourt City has just one central business district which undoubtedly led to the city’s congestion, but recently, the city has experience more migrants in other to accommodate them the city created a multi-nuclei structure in other parts of the city.

2.1.1.1. Reasons for the model

Harris and Ullman argued that cities do not grow around a single nucleus but several separate nuclei. Each nucleus acts like a growth point.

The theory was formed based on the idea that people have greater movement due to increased car ownership. This increase of movement allows for the specialization of regional centers (e.g. heavy industry, business parks, retail areas). The model is suitable for large, expanding cities. The number of nuclei around which the city expands depends upon situational as well as historical factors. Multiple nuclei develop because:

Certain industrial activities require transportation facilities e.g. ports, railway stations, etc. to lower transportation costs.

Various combinations of activities tend to be kept apart e.g. residential areas and airports, factories and parks, etc.

Other activities are found together for their mutual advantage e.g. universities, bookstores and coffee shops, etc.

Some facilities need to be set in specific areas in a city - for example, the CBD requires convenient traffic systems, and many factories need an abundant source of resources.

2.1.1.2. Effects of multiple nuclei on Industry

As the multiple nuclei develop, transportation hubs such as airports are constructed which allow industries to be established with reduced transportation costs. These transportation hubs have negative externality such as noise pollution and lower land values, making land around the hub cheaper. Hotels are also constructed near airports because people who travel tend to want to stay near the source of travel. Housing develops in wedges and gets more expensive the farther it is from the CBD.

2.1.2. The Modal Choice

The Modal choice is another crucial theoretical aspect of transportation planning and its represents a crucial household’s travel characteristics in transportation research. There are many theories available within the literature to elucidate transportation planning. These include travel demand model, gravity model, residential location model, traffic assignment model and modal split model. The idea that we consider very appropriate to elucidate transport services during this context is that the modal split model. consistent with the model, different modes of urban transport are available to urban commuters; these include cars, buses, walking, motorcycles, taxis, ships or trains. The selection of a specific mode would depend upon such factors because the trip type, trip purpose, and therefore the level of satisfaction of transport services, transport fare / cost related to the available modes, comfort and income of the commuters (Adetunji, 2010; Ogunsanya, 1986; Okonko, 2000).

Furthermore, the buyer choice behavior theory, consumers’ preference is influenced by consumers’ satisfaction to available transport modes and their importance to the consumers. It’s obvious that individual perception and aptitude to different transport modes differ thanks to their different socioeconomic status and different intrinsic characteristics of transport modes, which can't be directly observed or measured. In other words, transport mode choice behavior is influenced not only by measurable factors (travel time, fare, gender, age, occupation, income, etc.), but also by immeasurable factors (service quality, convenience, safety, etc.).

2.2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

2.2.1. Transportation Infrastructure Situation in Nigeria: An Overview

The major problems of Nigerian transportation among many others are; bad roads network; inadequate fleets of buses and trucks; irregular, insufficient and overcrowded trains and airplanes and congested ports. Besides, there exists scarcity of suitably-trained transport managers and planners, capital investment difficulty, problems of institutional reforms and ineffective traffic regulations. This situation has never helped the pursuant of accelerated economic development in emerging Nigeria economy and has created abnormal defects in resources distribution and rendered many of us deformed and a few deaths thanks to road accidents and plan crash. Undoubtedly, the government of Nigeria has in various ways played unqualified roles to reposition transport infrastructure in Nigeria. This intention has been incorporated within the various National developmental and rolling plans. Every government that has piloted the affairs of the country has in a method or the opposite attempted to enhance on transportation infrastructure.

However, the world remains far away from the specified level of development capable of speedy acceleration of economic development of the country. FRN (Federal Republic of Nigeria) 2000 points out that Nigeria had about 195,500 km road network everywhere the country. Out of the entire, a proportion of about 32,000km are federal roads while 31,000km are state roads. an outsized proportion of those roads are so poor thanks to insufficient investment and lack of adequate maintenance. The four classifications of Nigerian roads are: the federal trunk ‘A’ roads, owned, managed and controlled by the federal. Trunk ‘F’ was initially under the management of the state, but was appropriated by the federal with the intention to make sure its upgrading to federal highway standard and adequate maintenance. Trunk ‘B’ roads are owned by the state who develop and maintain it while trunk ‘C’ roads are under the government ownership and control. Each of the amounts of state shared the responsibility of designing, construction and maintenance of roads in each respective domain. This arrangement is to make sure even development of the whole country (Ighodaro, 2009; CBN 2003). Disgustingly, lack of adequate investment has made these roads very poor, and intrinsically has retarded the extent of resources mobility over the years, which is related to economic backwardness effects, in terms of inefficient mobility of inputs of production and low income generation.

The country’s present infrastructure situation has been pointed by Sanusi (2012) together of the most factor debilitating the achievement of the aspired nation’s vision of being one among the most important economies within the year 2020.Besides, the road network of the country is very poor as about 70% of 193,000 kilometers of roads are during a deplorable condition. However, he also notes that Nigeria is currently allocating 7% of her gross domestic product on infrastructure, which is relative above average in Sub-Saharan Africa, but this is often not capable propel the economy to the specified level of development.

2.2.2 Way forward for Improving Transport Infrastructure

Restructuring transport infrastructure are often said to be positively associated with poverty alleviation considering the multiplier effect of its establishment employed creation, productivity increase and income generation. The positive effect of the investment within the sector tends to scale back the amount of individuals who don't earn income thanks to the available ones that are during a deplorable state and lack maintenance. Really, the study has shown that the chain effects of improved transport infrastructure have an excellent power to make different development opportunities that are seemed to enhance efficient and effective resources mobilization and utilization, which benefits economic agents in sorts of ways and thereby reposition employment, income generation and alter the poverty trend.

This have contributed to knowledge because it has exposed severe shortfall in transport infrastructure in Nigeria, and reaffirmed the very fact that pursuant of development intention and poverty alleviation necessitates adequate investment in transport infrastructure, especially within the rural areas.

2.2.3. Transportation and Economic Impact

According to the Authors Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue and Dr. Theo Notteboom, The development of transportation systems happens during a socio-economic context. While development policies and methods tend to specialize in physical capital, recent years have seen a much better balance by including human capital issues. No matter the relative importance of physical versus human capital, development cannot occur without both interacting as infrastructures cannot remain effective without proper operations and maintenance. At the same time, economic activities cannot happen without an infrastructure base. The highly transactional and service-oriented functions of the various transport activities underline the complex relationship between its physical and human capital needs. as an example, effective logistics believe infrastructures and managerial expertise. Because of its intensive use of infrastructures, the transport sector may be a crucial component of the economy and a typical tool used for development. This is often even more so during a worldwide economy where economic opportunities are increasingly related to the mobility of people and freight, including information and communication technologies.

A relationship between the amount and quality of transport infrastructure and thus the extent of economic development is obvious. High-density transport infrastructure and highly connected networks are commonly associated with high levels of development. When transport systems are efficient, they provide economic and social opportunities and benefits that end in positive multiplier effects prefer accessibility to markets, employment, and additional investments. When transport systems are deficient in terms of capacity or reliability, they're going to have an economic cost such as reduced or missed opportunities and lower quality of life. At the mixture level, efficient transportation reduces costs in many economic sectors, while inefficient transportation increases these costs. Additionally, the impacts of transportation aren't always intended and should have unforeseen or unintended consequences. As an example, congestion is typically an unintended consequence within the supply of free or low-cost transport infrastructure to the users. However, congestion is additionally a symbol of a growing economy where capacity and infrastructure have difficulties maintaining with the rising mobility demands.

Transport carries an important social and environmental load, which cannot be neglected. Assessing the economic importance of transportation requires the categorization of the sorts of impacts it conveys. These involve core (the physical characteristics of transportation), operational and geographical dimensions:

Core: The foremost fundamental impacts of transportation-related to the physical capacity to convey passengers and goods and thus the associated costs to support this mobility. This involves the setting of routes enabling new or existing interactions between economic entities.

Operational: Improvement within the time performance, notably in terms of reliability, also as reduced loss or damage. This means a much better utilization level of existing transportation assets benefiting its users as passengers and freight are conveyed sooner and with fewer delays.

Geographical: Access to a broader market base where economies of scale in production, distribution, and consumption are often improved. Increases in productivity from the access to a much bigger and more diverse base of inputs (raw materials, parts, energy or labor) and broader markets for diverse outputs (intermediate and finished goods). Another important geographical impact concerns the influence of transport on things of activities and its impacts ashore values.

The economic importance of the transportation industry can thus be assessed from a macroeconomic and microeconomic perspective: At the macroeconomic level (the importance of transportation for a whole economy), transportation and thus the mobility it confers are linked to A level of output, employment, and income within a economy. In many developed countries, transportation accounts between 6% and 12% of the GDP. Further, logistics costs can account for between 6% and 25% of the GDP.

Further, the price of all transportation assets, including infrastructures and vehicles, can easily account for half the GDP of a sophisticated economy. At the microeconomic level (the importance of transportation for specific parts of the economy), transportation is linked to producer, consumer, and distribution costs. The importance of specific transport activities and infrastructure can thus be assessed for each sector of the economy. Usually, higher income levels are associated with a greater share of transportation in consumption expenses. Transportation accounts, on the typical, between 10% and 15% of household expenditures, while it accounts for around 4% of the costs of each unit of output in manufacturing, but this figure varies greatly according to sub-sectors.

The added value and employment effects of transport services usually extend beyond those generated by that activity; indirect effects are salient. As an example, transportation companies purchase an area of their inputs (fuel, supplies, maintenance) from local suppliers. The assembly of these inputs generates additional value-added and employment within the local economy. In turn, the suppliers purchase goods and services from other local firms. There are further rounds of local re-spending, which generate additional value-added and employment. Similarly, households that receive income from employment in transport activities spend variety of their income on local goods and services. These purchases end in additional local jobs and added value. Variety of the household income from these additional jobs is spent on local goods and services, thereby creating further jobs and income for local households. As results of those successive rounds of re-spending within the framework of local purchases, the overall impact on the economy exceeds the initial round of output, income, and employment generated by passenger and freight transport activities. Thus, from a general standpoint, the economic impacts of transportation can be direct, indirect, and induced:

Direct impacts: The outcome of improved capacity and efficiency where transport provides employment, added value, larger markets, also as time and costs improvements. The overall demand of an economy is increasing.

Indirect impacts: The outcome of improved accessibility and economies of scale. Indirect value-added and jobs are the results of local purchases by companies directly dependent upon transport activity. Transport activities are responsible for an honest range of indirect value-added and employment effects, through the linkages of transport with other economic sectors (e.g. office supply firms, equipment, and parts suppliers, maintenance and repair services, insurance companies, consulting and other business services).

Induced impacts: The outcome of the economic multiplier effects where the price of commodities, goods, or services drops and their variety increases. As an example, the industry requires the cost-efficient import of ore and coal for the blast furnaces and export activities for finished products like steel booms and coils. Manufacturers and shops and distribution centers handling imported containerized cargo believe efficient transport and seaport operations. Transportation links together the factors of production during a posh web of relationships between producers and consumers. The result's usually a more efficient division of production by the exploitation of comparative geographical advantages, also because the means to develop economies of scale and scope. The productivity of space, capital, and labor are thus enhanced with the efficiency of distribution and personal mobility. Process is increasingly linked with transport developments, namely infrastructures, but also with managerial expertise, which is crucial for logistics. Thus, although transportation is an infrastructure intensive activity, hard assets must be supported by an array of sentimental assets, namely labor, management, and knowledge systems. Decisions must be made about the thanks to use and operate transportation systems during a fashion that optimizes benefits and minimize costs and inconvenience.

Boopen (2006), analyzed the contribution of transport capital to growth for a sample of Sub Saharan African (SSA) and a sample of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), using both cross sectional and panel data analysis. In both cases, the analysis concluded that transport capital has been a contributor to the economic progress of those countries. Analysis further revealed that in SSA case, the productivity of transport capital stock is superior as compared thereto of over all capital while such isn't the case for the SIDS where transport capital is seen to possess the typical productivity level of over all capital stock. For research of transport investment and growth in developing economies, Demurger, 2001 cited Zou, 2008) examines data of 24 provinces of China in 1985-1998 and points out that the inequality of transport infrastructure is one among the most factors resulting in growth inequality across provinces. Using a statistic analysis for the investment into road infrastructure and economic process in South Africa, Fedderke et al (2006 cited Moctezuma 2008) find that road infrastructure does indeed cause economic process in South Africa both by boosting GDP directly and by raising the marginal products of other production factors.

In Nigeria, Imobighe and Awogbemi (2006) regressed private capital stock, non-military, net investment, time to capture the consequences of the technical changes in economic process, one year lag GDP and electricity supplied against Gross Domestic Product to assess the impact of capital stock in Nigeria’s economic process from 1980-1998. They found gross domestic product to be positively associated with private capital stock by one year lag GDPt-1 and electricity supply was negatively associated with recurrent and cost, except expenditure on defense and technical change. They further found that while lagged value of gross domestic product significantly increases output in Nigeria, other explanatory variables were, individually insignificant in explaining output in Nigeria. Loto (2006) also found that infrastructure, when measured in physical sense; impacts positively on economic growth. Some researchers explored the impact of public capital on the expansion rate of output. Canning et al (2004 cited Zhu, 2009) used physical measures like kilometers of paved road to research “the end of the day consequences of infrastructure provision on per capital income during a panel of countries” covering the amount between 1950 and 1992. His estimate results suggested that for paved road the sign of the impact of a rise in provision on GDP per capital varies across countries. Some studies also show that public capital can cause economic process by raising total factor productivity of all inputs. Aschauer, (1989 cited Rosik 2006) find evidence that a 1 percent increase publicly capital stock because a 0.39 percent increase of total factor productivity. Yamaguchi, (2008) conducted a multivariate analysis on panel data of 5 nations between 1992 and 2004 to identified road investment impact on macro-economic multi factor productivity growth (MFP) and reported that physical improvement of the road capital stock has positive effect. He obtained a coefficient of 0.1782. Other studies reported that the importance of infrastructure on economic development has been over emphasized. as an example, Neuser (1993) using public data from Ford and Poret (1991) for the GT countries over the amount 1970-1987, applied total factors productivity growth and co-integration techniques to the sample. He reported insignificant and unstable results. Tatom (1991) also confirmed that public sector capital investment has no significant effect on output of the private sector and investment. Duranton and Turner (2008) estimated the consequences on major cities of major roads and transportation system on the expansion of major cities within the US between 1980 and 2000 and located that a ten percent increase in city’s stock of roads causes a few 2 percent increase in its population and employment and a little decrease in its share of poor households. Zou, et al (2008) in their own study of transport infrastructure, growth, and poverty alleviation in East and central China with panel data of 1994 to 2002 and a statistic data of 1978-2002 reported a better growth level from better transportation. Since increase in road safety is said to increasing socio-economic development, Garg and Hyder (2006) studied the trends in injury and death rates in India and analyzed these trends in reference to economic and increase. Using rectilinear regression models to check ‘a priori’ hypothesis of a positive relationship between net domestic product (NDP) and death rates from road crashes, they reported an inverted U-shaped relationship between injury, death rates and NDP authenticating Kuznets phenomenon for within-country level comparisons. He therefore recommended a state investment in road safety additionally to any overall national efforts. It is observed that the majority studies particularly in Nigeria addressed the estimation of the output effect from public capital generally. The novelty of this study is that it attempts to research the contribution of 1 component of public capital (which is transport capital) to economic process.

[...]

• Grade: B
• Author: Chukwuebuka Okafor (Author)
• Publication Year: 2021
• Pages: 95
• Catalog Number: V1289722
• ISBN (PDF): 9783346752376
• ISBN (Book): 9783346752383
• Language: English
• Tags: quality, urban, road, transportation, system, port, harcourt