Paper Example on Geography of Transport Systems

The movement of people, information, and commodities is important when it comes to social and political issues. The issues, in this case, include manufacturing, supplying goods and services and also energy, and commuting. Irrespective of the type of movement, every movement contains the origin, a goal, in-between locations and the respective destinations (Moore, 2004). Transport systems are made up of infrastructures support and enhance mobility. The system allows the development of the socio-economic lives of individuals and institutions (Moore, 2004). The analysis puts into view the geography of transport systems with respect to the city of New York. According to the article, A Stronger More Resilient New York (2017), In recent years, the City has expanded its transportation network by promoting a range of alternatives to driving, thus increasing the flexibility and efficiency of the system (A Stronger More Resilient New York, Chapter 10, 2017). The geography of New Yorks transport system is quite complex concerning its transit systems, ferries, roads and expressways, airports, tramways, and seaports.

The geography of transport is associated with factors such as time, distance, location, and space. Generally, the transport system in New York is quite diversified whereby there are plenty of alternatives when one wants to move from one location to another (Cresswell & Merriman, 2011). The city contains transit systems, ferries, roads and expressways, airports, tramways, and seaports. The transport network in New York is described as complex due to the multiple transport systems. The city is viewed to have the highest population when compared to other cities in the U.S. and contains one of the most extensive subway systems from a global perspective. It also has an aerial tramway and the first automatic and ventilated vehicular tunnel. Its airport system is also viewed to be the largest in the whole world. Its bus system is also extensive in its boroughs in addition to having a large number of taxis which are found in every part of the city (Cresswell & Merriman, 2011).

On the transit systems, the most popular means of transport is the rail. The New York City Subway is viewed the most extensive system from a global perspective with respect to the number of stations (Rodrigue et.al, 2016). The subway transports millions of passengers on a daily basis whereby people prefer using the subway than their cars to save on costs. The system passes across all its boroughs a part of the Staten Island borough. The Staten Island Railway serves Staten Island. The MetroCard is used by the subway riders to meet their transport costs. The other system is the Port Authority Trans-Hudson which is a transit system that connects Manhattan to Harrison, Hoboken, Newark, and Jersey City. The point of connection is in New Jersey. On a weekday basis, the PATH carries about two hundred and forty thousand passengers on a daily basis on four of its lines. Its stations are also adjacent to the subways present in Newark and New York City (Rodrigue et.al, 2016).

On space, the city has the largest airport systems from a global perspective (Rodrigue et.al, 2016). The intermodal rail networks accommodate the Newark Liberty and the J.F. Kennedy airports. The transit system, the JFKs AirTrain, is about thirteen kilometers that operate on a twenty-four-hour basis; connecting with the subway in New York and Queens rail network. It also allows free transit from one airport terminal to the next. Newarks AirTrain is about three kilometers and consists of three terminals that serve both intercity and commuter trains that operate on the Northeast Corridor railway system. The citys commuter rail is also viewed to be the most extensive system in America and consists of about twenty railway lines and two hundred and fifty stations. The MTA and the New Jersey Transit control the commuter system in New York. The MTA oversees the commuter rails in Long Island, Connecticut, and Hudson Valley. The New Jersey Transit controls the system at New Jersey particularly at the Hudson River (Rodrigue et.al, 2016).

On buses, the transport system on buses is quite extensive with about two hundred and thirty-eight local routes and sixty-two express routes with an estimate of about eight hundred million trips per annum. Each route is denoted by a prefix and a number to guide the passengers on the stops being made by the buses. For example, the routes in Manhattan are denoted as M whole those in the Bronx are denoted as Bx (Chen at.al, 2010).

On ferries, the Staten Island Ferry is viewed as the busiest terminal that accommodates more than nineteen million passengers on an annual basis. The ferry runs for about eight kilometers from the South Ferry to the St. George Ferry Terminal. The ride is mostly used by tourists to have a clear view of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline by which each ride takes about twenty-five minutes (Chen at.al, 2010).

Roads make part of the most common means of transport used by the citys residents. The roads connect various avenues and streets such as Wall Street, Broadway and Madison Avenue (Chen at.al, 2010). Manhattan has about twelve avenues which are numbered that move across the Hudson River. It also contains two hundred and twenty streets that are perpendicular to the Hudson River. The city uses timers to control traffic and ensure that bridges, tunnels and the roadways and safe for the motorists and the pedestrians (Chen at.al, 2010).

New York also has tunnels and bridges that link various towns. One of its landmarks is the Brooklyn Bridge and is one of the longest bridges in the world (Chen at.al, 2010). The busiest bridge in New York is the George Washington Bridge which connects New Jersey and the New York City and passes across the Hudson River. Its busy nature is associated with daily congestion of traffic of vehicles (Chen at.al, 2010). The tunnels mostly serve the rail way lines. However, four tunnels serve vehicles, and they include; the Lincoln Tunnel that links Manhattan and New Jersey through the Hudson River, the Holland Tunnel also going through the Hudson River, the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, and the Queens Midtown Tunnel. The Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and the Queens Midtown Tunnel connect other places to Manhattan (Chen at.al, 2010).

As stated earlier, the geography of New Yorks transport system is quite complex concerning its transit systems, ferries, roads and expressways, airports, tramways, and seaports. It consists of some of the worlds largest transport networks. The city is viewed to have the highest population when compared to other cities in the U.S. and contains one of the most extensive subway systems from a global perspective. The transports networks connect with each other whereby its railway networks serve the airport systems while the road networks serve the water ways. Its transport system is the most extensive whereby the subway systems connect various towns and serve millions of people on a weekly basis. In synopsis, the geography associated with the transport network in the city of New York is mobile as it includes various means of transport. It factors in road transport, air transport, water transport, rail transport, underground transport and so forth.

References

A Stronger More Resilient New York. (2017). A Stronger more Resilient New York. Retrieved 16 July 2017, from http://www.nyc.gov/html/sirr/downloads/pdf/final_report/Ch_10_Transportation_FINAL_singles.pdf

Chen, C., Gong, H., Lawson, C., & Bialostozky, E. (2010). Evaluating the feasibility of a passive travel survey collection in a complex urban environment: Lessons learned from the New York City case study. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 44(10), 830-840.

Cresswell, T., & Merriman, P. (Eds.). (2011). Geographies of Mobilities: Practices, spaces, subjects. New York: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Muller, P. O. (2004). Transportation and urban form-stages in the spatial evolution of the American metropolis. New York: Routledge.

Rodrigue, J. P., Comtois, C., & Slack, B. (2016). The geography of transport systems. New York: Taylor & Francis.