Transport network

From Supply Chain Management Encyclopedia

Revision as of 08:31, 14 December 2012

Russian: Транспортная сеть

Transport Network (TN) - is one of the elements of the transport system: namely

• ways of communication:
  • railways,
  • roads,
  • pipelines,
  • waterways
  • airways
• "point" structures
  • passenger, cargo and other railway stations,
  • bus stations,
  • sea and river ports,
  • airports
  • other facilities.

Transport network is a set of transport routes (lines, roads) of a certain area, connecting transportation nodes with each other and population centres.

Transport Network is characterized by special parameters:

• density,
• length,
• capacity

Capacity is the maximum possible number of cargoes passing through a given area over time.

Transport network includes highways - the main transport routes of great importance of the development of industrial and revitable territory.

The development of the transport network is determined by presence of transport nodes - points where the routes of several modes of transport meet each other (river port with attached railways and highways).

Means of communication differs in function, size, capacity and intensity of moving traffic. Means of communication are classified depending on the amount of performed work and are divided into:

• Local - secondary,
• Feeder
• Highways, that are the main for the transport network and the territory.

The transport network is a part of transportation-geographical system and includes a network of nodes, points of origin and centres of traffic and transport network passenger flows.

Transport and geographical relationships are essential for the transport network: transport development of the territory, the spreading of industrial sites and human settlements, transport accessibility. Geographical characteristics of the transport network are:

• the geometric shape on the map,
• the topological structure (the relative positions of network elements),
• density (the degree of "rarefaction" and "dense" of the territory),
• the length,
• the capacity of units and lines.

The configuration and network topology is determined from geographical position of elements, peculiarities of the historical development of the network and the country it serves, development of network of cities and settlements, net of natural barriers and rivers, especially the territorial economy.

The difference in securing lines of communication between countries and regions characterized by the density of the network ds (km/1000 km2), the measured by ratio of the length of the operational network Lek to the square of surface area S:

ds = 1000 * Lek / S ,

To consider public transport provision the following formula can be used:

ds = 1000 * Lek / H  ,

where H - population, pers.

For the generalized characteristics of the transportation security area German statistician E. Engel proposed formula for determining the single indicator density of the network in the given area and with known number of inhabitans in the area:

du = Lek / squared(S0H)

Subsequently, Y. Uspenskiy also proposed to take into account the structure, scope and conditions of the location of production:

du = Lek / squared(S0HQ)

where SO - the area of habitable area, km2; Q - volume requirements for the carriage of cargo tons, th.tons.