Road transportation and associated infrastructures play a vital role in defining the economic development of any country. The efficiency and flexibility that come with road transportation make it suitable to provide convenient door-to-door mobility in both the urban and rural areas of any economy. Road transport provides the necessary intermodal transport solution that links other modes of transport including railways, air, and water. Roads act as feeders to these more advanced transport modes (Bragdon 100). Consequently, road transportation increases economic productivity through increased accessibility to raw materials and other factors of production including human capital. The transportation and distribution of finished products are primarily undertaken through roads or other modes of transport that rely on roads. Road transport also opens up new markets while also improving the accessibility of existing markets and creating employment opportunities (Dowell n.p; IRU n.p). These factors are vital indicators of economic health and growth for any country.
Road transportation is a vital cog in the overall growth of any state. The role road transportation plays in defining the health of any nation should not be discussed within the confines of economics. This is because it also affects the social, cultural, and political spheres of life. These factors, directly and indirectly, influence the economic health and progress of any nation.
There is a need to develop energy-efficient and economical road transport systems that will reduce the comparative cost of constructing and managing road transport systems. While road transport is efficient and flexible for door-to-door services, the mainstream road transport systems are not customer-centric but industry-centric. There is a need to develop customer-focused road transport systems in the public sector that incorporate modern technologies mainly used in the private sector. Additionally, the system should be upgraded with the view of enhancement of capacity to reduce congestion, which is common in the sector (Steyn et al n.p). Finally, I would also recommend that the road transport systems should adopt environmentally friendly technologies to reduce the pollution associated with them.
Works Cited
Bragdon, Clifford. Transportation Security. Oxford, United Kingdom: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2011.
Dowell, Paula. The Top Five Ways Transportation Impacts Economic Development. Civil+ Structural Engineer, 2017 April 5. Available at: https://csengineermag.com/article/top-five-ways-transportation-impacts-economic-development/
IRU. Road Transport: A Global Economic Driver. International Road Transport Union, nd. Available at: https://www.iru.org/what-we-do/advocacy/economy
Steyn, Wynand et al. Challenges Confronting Road Freight Transport and the Use of Vehicle-Pavement Interaction Analysis in Addressing These Challenges. Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering, 54.1(2012), 14-21. Available at: http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1021-20192012000100002