Source

Introduction

Human beings have the basic need to move from one place to another. They use various means in order to achieve this. For example, school children move from home to school to learn from Monday to Friday and adults move from your house to your places of work from Monday to Friday.

Meaning of Transportation

Transportation is the process of carrying people, goods, services or animals from one place to another. Transportation could be movement over a short or long distance. Movement from your house to the school can simply be referred to as transportation. Transportation is as old as human history and a lot of development in transportation has taken place.

The means of transportation are those objects and animals that make carrying of people and services possible; they include bicycle, motorcycle, wheelbarrow, donkey, camel, horses, truck, train, pipeline, helicopter, aeroplane, etc. Without transport, productive activities in any country would not yield results. For example, raw materials must be moved from where they are naturally available to areas where they will be processed or manufactured into finished goods. The finished products too will be further transported to the end-users.

Forms of Transportation

There are two forms of transportation, these are:

◆ Traditional Forms of Transportation: These are as old as human history. They are the means by which the early man engaged in transport. There are two types of traditional transportation, these are:

i. Human porterage: This is when people walked and carried goods over long distances on their heads. Could you imagine the stress people have passed through in the past? This is still being practised nowadays mostly in rural areas. How many kilometres can you trek with load on your head?

ii. Beast of burden: This form of transportation involves the use of domesticated animals such as horses, donkeys, camels, oxen and yaks, for carrying loads or drawing sleighs over a long distance. You must have seen pictures of some of these animals pulling sleigh in recent times.
The use of animals as means of transport started after man had discovered that some animals can travel longer distances without getting tired. Also the backs of those animals are stronger than that of man.

Source Beast of burden at work

◆ Modern Transportation: Due to new discoveries in science and technology efficient means of transport are now in use all over the world. The different types of transport under this form of transportation are:
i. Land Transport: This type of transport includes railway and road transportation.

a. Railway: This involves the use of trains for carrying passengers and goods such as agricultural and manufactured products, petroleum products and livestock. Trains are also used for the haulage of heavy and bulky goods at relatively cheaper rates than road transport

b. Road transport: This includes the use of cars, buses, lorries, trucks, motorcycles and bicycles. It requires good road network for smooth movement. It is faster and allows easy access to villages, towns and other urban centres than railway.

ii. Water Transport: This involves movement of people and goods on water such as rivers, sea and oceans. There are two types of water transport:

a. Inland waterways: This includes creeks, rivers, lakes, canals, estuaries. inlets and lagoons that are nearest to the shores of a nation and subject to its sovereignty. There is inland waterways from Epe in Lagos State to Igbokoda in Ondo State of Nigeria. They are for passengers and goods within coastal, and inland areas. The means of transport on waterways are rafts, canoes and boats and ferries of different sizes.

b. Ocean waterways: These are also called sea routes. These are ways for vessels on oceans and large lakes. It is associated with transport by means of ships. These routes are carefully mapped sea-routes that are known to sailors. They link the seaports of countries and continents. They are used mainly for exportation of goods like cocoa, groundnuts, palm oil and crude oil to Europe, America, Asia and other African countries. Also importation of manufactured goods like agricultural machinery and equipment, radio, cars and machines are made through these routes.

iii. Air Transport: This involves movement of people and goods by aeroplane, helicopter or by the hot-air balloon.

a. Aeroplane: This is the most common means of transportation through the air. Aeroplanes are of different sizes. We have passengers planes and goods planes. Aeroplanes require airports for taking off and landing. This is the fastest means of transportation. It was in 1947 that the first aeroplane landed in Kano state of Nigeria. Air transport started that year and was under the control of the West African Airway Corporation (WAAC) which was later changed to the Nigerian Airways in 1959.

Source Aeroplane as a means of transportation

There are both local and international airports in Nigeria. While local airports operate flights within cities in the country, international air fields accommodate flights from other countries.

b. Helicopter: This is an aircraft without wings, that has one or two sets of large blades known as rotors which rotate very fast on top of it. These rotors help helicopters to take off, stay in the air without moving or land on the ground without taxing or running on a runway.

c. Hot-air balloon: This is an aircraft that consists of a very large bag filled with heated air or other gas with a basket-like cubide hanging under it in which people can ride.

iv. Pipeline: This is very long tube, it is used for the movement of both liquid and gas from one place to another. It is a fast means of transport for liquids and gases. It is used to convey crude oil from the oil wells to the refineries or to areas where they are further conveyed for export.

Another common use of pipelines is in water distribution. Pipelines are used to distribute water from the water corporation to our various homes.

Homework Task

1. What is transportation?
2. Mention and explain two forms of transportation.
3. Mention and explain the different forms of modern Transportation.

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