Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Berkeley

The main tasks for this overview of transportation development are the provision and interpretation of information on the unfolding of the transportation systems. What have been the processes at work? What explains the similarities and differences from here to there and among systems? Big questions! But they are eased by ways systems are products of experiences, as will be seen when the paragraphs immediately following summarize early experiences. Life support systems, sustainability, and social development topics will be mentioned. After examining their immediate precursors, the discussions in the sections to follow will treat roads, airports, trains, trucks, buses, ports, automobiles, firms and agencies, and other features of modern transport infrastructure. Although the cost, quality, and mix of services vary from here to there, services are available most everywhere. Indeed, nation to nation and big city or isolated rural area the services available have many similarities.