THE COMPARISON OF TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGIES

LITERATURE REVIEWS AND RESEARCH WERE CONDUCTED TO DEVELOP A FRAMEWORK OF QUANTITIVE MEASURES AND RELATIONSHIPS TO PERMIT THE DIRECT COMPARISON OF THE PROPERTIES OF DIVERSE TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGIES. INTEREST FOR COMPARATIVE PURPOSES FOCUSED ON TWO AREAS: (1) THE COST PROPERTIES, AND (2) THE PROPERTIES OF THE TRANSPORT SERVICE PROVIDED. RESEARCH IS CONCERNED WITH THE IDENTIFICATION AND QUANTIFICATION OF MEASURES OF OUTPUT CAPABILITY AND THE RELATION OF THESE TO TECHNOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF THE SYSTEM. THE MEASURES DEVELOPED DRAW HEAVILY UPON ABSTRACT NOTIONS OF GRAPH THEORY, AS WELL AS CONCRETE CONCEPTS OF LOCATION, TIME, AND QUANTITY. THESE DIMENSIONS FORM TRANSPORT SYSTEM OUTPUT SPACE. A GENERALIZED TRANSPORT COST MODEL WAS DEVELOPED IN WHICH FIXED AND MARGINAL COSTS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH EACH OF THE FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF VEHICULAR TRANSPORT SYSTEM. A GENERAL COST-OUTPUT SPACE WAS DEVELOPED WITHIN WHICH VARIOUS TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGIES CAN BE COMPARED, AND WITHIN WHICH THE REGION OF OUTPUT SPACE FOR WHICH EACH TECHNOLOGY IS INHERENTLY SUITED CAN BE IDENTIFIED. THE EFFICIENCY OF THIS THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT WAS TESTED BY COMPARISON WITH THREE TECHNOLOGIES: VERTICAL TAKE-OFF AND LANDING AIRCRAFT (VTOL), HIGH-SPEED RAIL, AND BUS. THE COSTS AND VALUES OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE OUTPUT VECTOR CORRESPONDING TO EACH OF THE TECHNOLOGIES WERE COMPARED. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT FOR THE NORTHEAST CORRIDOR SITUATIONS EXAMINED, BUS SYSTEM COSTS TEND TO BE LOWER THAN RAIL OR AIR SYSTEM COSTS FOR REASONABLE LEVELS OF OUPTUT. HOWEVER, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE VALUES OF MANY VARIABLES OF THE OUTPUT SPACE MAKES THE BUS MODE INFERIOR WITH RESPECT TO SOME LEVEL OF SERVICE PROPERTIES. THE FEASIBLE OUTPUT SPACE FOR RAIL AND VTOL AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS INTERSECT, EXCEPT FOR THE SPEED DIMENSION (WHERE VTOL IS SUPERIOR), SO THAT THESE TECHNOLOGIES ARE VERY CLOSE SUBSTITUTES IN SOME REGIONS OF OUTPUT SPACE. IN THIS OUTPUT REGION THAT IS FEASIBLE FOR BOTH TECHNOLOGIES (IGNORING SPEED), THE COST SURFACES ALSO INTERSECT.