Transportation and the City of the Future Options Menu: Forum
In Module 7, we examined the concept of Space-Time Convergence the idea that as transportation and communications technology improve, places become closer together in terms of the time/cost of traveling between then. Towards the end of Module 7, we start to think about how transportation might look on the future.
Watch the following video, which looks at how new transportation technologies might impact future travel between and within cities.
Venture City. 2019. Elon Musk: The City of the Future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L054Xd97_rk&feature=youtu.be.
If you experience problems accessing the above link, go to YouTube.com and type Elon Musk: The City of the Future into the search engine and click on the following video:
What is your reaction to this video? What do you think the major benefits of these new transportation technologies might be? Can you think of any downsides/negatives? If these new transportation technologies came into existence, say 10 years from now, how do you think they might impact you and how you might live your life?
Module 7
Basic Geographic Concepts
Space-Time Convergence
1
Space-Time Convergence
Space-time convergence refers to the decrease in travel time between two
locations
It implies that two locations can be reached in a lesser amount of time,
which is usually the outcome of innovations in transportation and
communications technology
It is because of improvements in transportation and communications
technology that the value of the distance exponent (e) in the Gravity Model
tends to decrease over time
In this Module, we will examine some of these improvements in
transportation and communications technology
2
Measuring Distance
Distance can be measured in different ways
Geographic Distance
There are two ways we can measure geographic distance
Euclidian Distance
Sometimes referred to as as the crow flies.
It is the straight line distance between two points
Manhattan metric
The distance you travel when you use the road
network to get from one place to another
By road, it is 18 miles from the UT to Maumee Bay
State PARK
University
of Toledo
Maumee Bay
State Park
3
Measuring Distance
Distance can also be measures by:
Time (how long it takes to travel between two places)
It takes 27 minutes to drive from UT to Maumee Bay
State Park
Money (how much it costs to travel between two places)
It costs $1.80 in gasoline to drive from UT to Maumee
Bay State Park
4
Distance as Time
Under what conditions would it take longer
than 27 minutes to drive from UT to
Maumee Bay State Park?
Bad weather (e.g. snow)
Heavy traffic (e.g. during rush hour)
Note traffic is light when the map on
the right was generated
Road construction
5
Distance as Time
Any of the factors noted on the previous slide would
cause the value of e to increase
Remember, in the Gravity Model, the value e
decreases when you can travel between two
places more quickly
Conversely, the value e increases when if it
takes more time to travel between two places
Bad weather, heavy traffic, or road
construction would cause a temporary
increase in the value of e for the journey
between UT and Maumee Bay State Park
6
Distance as Cost ($)
Distance can also be measured in terms
of how much it costs to travel between
two places
In terms of gasoline, it costs $1.80 to
travel between the UT and Maumee
Bay State Park
7
Distance as a Cost ($)
An increase in the price of gasoline would
increase the cost of traveling between UT and
Maumee Bay State Park
It is such a short distance, however, an increase
in gas prices is unlikely to reduce the number of
people who make the trip
However, an increase in the price of gasoline or
an air ticket might reduce the number of
people traveling over larger geographic
distances
8
Cost of travel
The cost of travel varies geographically
For example, the average cost of
gasoline varies from place to place
The map on the rights shows how
gasoline prices varied among different
regions of the US in 2017
9
Read Hymas, Lisa. 2012. How high do gas prices
have to get to trigger behavior change?
Grist.org. https://grist.org/oil/5-is-the-
new-4-how-high-do-gas-prices-have-to-go-
to-change-behavior/
Read the following:
https://grist.org/oil/5-is-the-new-4-how-high-do-gas-prices-have-to-go-to-change-behavior/
Transportation and
Communications
Technology
In the next set of slides, we will look at how transportation and
communications technology have improved over time
Transportation improvements make it possible for people to travel
between places faster and more cheaply
Communications improvements made it possible for people to
communicate with people in other places faster and more cheaply
All these improvements reduced the friction of distance and
contributed to a decrease in the value of e in the Gravity Model
11
Lansing to Detroit, 1840-Today
1840 and 1960
In the next slide you will see how
travel time between Lansing and
Detroit, MI (a distance of 90 miles)
changed between 1840 and 1960
1840
In 1840 it took 20 hours to travel from
Lansing to Detroit by stagecoach
19th century
Throughout the 19th century, two
improvements reduce the travel time
between Lansing and Detroit
Introduction of wooden plank roads
Introduction of the railroad
1880
By 1880, you could travel from Lansing
to Detroit in 3 hours
Today
By car, it takes about 90 minutes to
travel between Lansing and Detroit
12
Travel Time from Lansing to Detroit, MI, 1840-1960
0
5
10
15
20
25
1840 1860 1880 1990 1920 1940 1960
H
o
u
rs
Year
Stagecoach
Stagecoach
& Wooden
Plank Road
Railroad
Automobile
13
Read Longfellow, Rickie. 2017. Back in time:
Plank roads. Fhwa.dot.gov.
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/
back0508.cfm
Read the following:
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/back0508.cfm
US Railroad Network, 1860-
1890
In the following slide you will see maps of the U.S. railroad
network in 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890
As you look at these maps, consider the implications of the
expansion of the railroad network for
The movement of people
The movement of goods (trade between cities and
regions)
The everyday life of Americans
15
16
1860 1870
1880 1890
Australia to the United
Kingdom (UK)
The distance from Australia to the UK is
approximately 9,455 miles
Think about flying from Australia to the UK
How long do you think it would take you to get
from Australia to the UK?
How many layovers would you have?
How much do you think it would cost?
Now think about the same trip in 1935, and think
about the answers to the same two questions
17
Australia to UK
Measure 1935 1947 2018
Time 12 day 4 days 17 hours
Number of stops 31 6 Non-stop
Cost (in $2018) $15,000 $29,000 $1,000
The table below shows the time, number of stops, and
cost (expressed in $2018) to fly between Australia and
the UK in 1935, 1947, and 2018
18
Read
Leadbeater, Chris. 2018. 31 stops, fares from
10,834 and sandwiches courtesy of the co-pilot
the first flight from Britain to Australia. The
Telegraph.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/o
ceania/australia/articles/history-of-kangaroo-route-
flights-from-uk-to-
australia/?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_fb_tmg
Read the following:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/oceania/australia/articles/history-of-kangaroo-route-flights-from-uk-to-australia/?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_fb_tmg
How far can you travel from NYC in 24 hours?
This map shows how far you
can travel from New York City
in 24 hours for various years
20
Read
Yanofsky, David. 2013. How far you could get from
New York in one dayback in the day. qz.com.
https://qz.com/162061/how-far-you-could-get-
from-new-york-in-one-day-back-in-the-day/
Read the following:
https://qz.com/162061/how-far-you-could-get-from-new-york-in-one-day-back-in-the-day/
Cost of a 3-minute
phone call
between New York
and London in
2020 dollars,
1930-2000
In this chart you can see how the cost of transferring information across
space has decreased over time
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
C
o
st
(
$
2
0
2
0
)
Year
22
Read ODell, Cary. No date. First official transatlantic phone call.
https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-
recording-preservation-
board/documents/FIRST%20TRANSATLANTIC%20C
ALL.pdf
Read the following:
https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/FIRST%20TRANSATLANTIC%20CALL.pdf
Instantaneous
Communication
Today you can communicate with someone in
a distant country at no or little cost using a
variety of technologies such as e-mail,
FaceTime, Zoom etc.
This has reduced the cost of communicating
with other people to almost zero (although you
do have to have access to a computer, iPad,
Smart Phone, etc.)
24
Space-Time
Convergence
This graphic captures the essence of time-
space convergence by showing the world
shrinking as transportation technology
improves
Between 1500 and 1840, horse drawn
carriages and sailing ships travelled at an
average speed of 10mph.
By the 1960s, we had jet passenger aircraft
that could travel at between 500mph and
700mph
25
The Future of Travel
Have you thought about the future of travel?
What types of transportation technologies will be
using?
How will these new and/or improved technologies
change the speed and cost of travel?
In the next three slides, you can see and read about
one possible future transportation technology the
hyperloop.
26
Watch
The B1M. No Date. Hyperloop Explained.
If you experience problems loading the above
video, simply go to YouTube.com and type
Hyperlook Explained in the search engine, and
you can watch using the link shown below:
Watch the following:
Read
Boffey, Daniel. 2020. Amsterdam to Paris in 90
minutes? Dutch tout hyperloop as future of travel.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/a
pr/10/amsterdam-to-paris-in-90-minutes-dutch-
tout-hyperloop-as-future-of-travel
Read the following:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/apr/10/amsterdam-to-paris-in-90-minutes-dutch-tout-hyperloop-as-future-of-travel
Read
Brown, Mike. No Date. Here are the 11 Proposed
Hyperloop Routes in The United States.
https://www.inverse.com/article/30029-hyperloop-
one-11-routes-across-the-united-states
Read the following:
https://www.inverse.com/article/30029-hyperloop-one-11-routes-across-the-united-states
Summary
In this Module, we have examined the
concept of Space-Time Convergence
Space-Time Convergence is simply the idea
that, as transportation and communication
technologies improve, places become closer
together in terms of time, cost, and
convenience
30
End
In the next Module, we will examine
the concept of Spatial (Geographic)
Diffusion
31