In this blog post, we will look at how the development of transportation has affected the way people live, as well as their culture, economy, and environment.
The English word “transport” means “transportation,” and is a compound word of “trans” (across, over) and “porte” (carry). It means “carry across.” In German, it is “Verkehr,” which means “what is done in one place is also done in another place.” In Korean, transportation is defined as “the act of carrying people or cargo by car, train, ship, plane, etc.” The reason why the words “transportation” and “transportation” have subtle differences is because the concept is very abstract and broad. In this article, we will look at the meaning of “transportation” or “transportation,” which is closely related to our lives but difficult to simply define, through its origin and development process.
Historical facts show that round wheels were used around 5,000 BC, and that carriages began to be used as transportation tools around 2,000 BC, indicating that transportation has evolved along with human history. The first wheeled vehicles appeared in Mesopotamia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia around 3,500 BC. At the time, the wheels were made of logs or two or three wooden boards connected together, making them very heavy and inconvenient to use. However, around 2,000 BC, the technique of hollowing out the center of a wheel by inserting spokes into a wooden rim was developed, making wheels lighter, and the carts, which were powered by horses or donkeys, could move quickly, greatly expanding the range of people’s activities.
In addition to the purpose of transporting daily necessities, the need for transportation also emerged as a means of commemorating the ruler’s achievements or preventing enemy invasions. The pyramids of Egypt in the 27th century BC, the Great Wall of China in the 2nd century BC, and the roads and aqueducts of Rome required the transportation of stone and wood from far away because it was impossible to procure the materials locally. These examples show that the development of civilization is closely related to the development of transportation.
The development of transportation is closely linked to the development of transportation means and roads. The Roman Empire’s road network is an example of the innovative transportation system that was built at the time. The vast road network that connected Rome to all parts of Europe was about 90,000 km long, and about 300,000 km if the minor roads were included. Some of it is still in use today, which gives us an idea of the technical excellence of the roads at the time. In the 19th century, T. Telford and J.L. Macadam of the United Kingdom developed a new road surface construction method, making it easy to build roads suitable for carriage traffic. In particular, Macadam’s stone-crushing method spread to Europe and the United States and was widely used.
The Industrial Revolution brought about a major change in transportation. The three major aspects of transportation development during the Industrial Revolution were road improvement, canal construction, and railway construction. Road improvement began in the mid-18th century, and new paving methods and toll road systems were introduced. Canals were built for the passage of ships, and a lot of capital and engineers were required. Railways were first used inside coal mines, and then they became the main means of transportation, connecting mines and industrial areas. With the development of steam locomotives powered by steam, railways gradually replaced carriages and canals and emerged as the dominant means of transportation, which enabled the unification of the domestic market and led to the integration of regional economies into the national economy.
During the Industrial Revolution, the development of transportation brought about major changes in social and economic structures by increasing the speed of raw material supply and boosting productivity. This resulted in the weakening of aristocrats’ landholding rights and social status by making it possible to be independent of the distance between production and consumption areas. The impact of the development of transportation on society as a whole was enormous.
The advent of air traffic subsequently expanded the plane’s transportation from a planar scope to a spatial scope. Since the Wright brothers succeeded in the world’s first powered flight of 36 meters in 1903, airplane performance improved rapidly through the First World War. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh succeeded in the nonstop transatlantic flight, and now it has made such a leap that it is possible to reach New York from Paris in seven hours. This has made the concept of a “global village” a reality, and thanks to airplanes, cultures, products, and information from various countries are rapidly being exchanged.
As such, the development of transportation has arisen from human efforts to overcome the constraints of time and space, and as a result, new cultures have been created and have developed by influencing and being influenced by each other. The recent rise of Korean singer Psy in the United States is also made possible by the development of transportation. Psy’s example of entering the United States shows that transportation plays a major role not only in the creation of culture but also in cultural exchange.
However, the development of modern transportation has also brought about negative impacts such as pollution, noise, environmental contamination, the greenhouse effect, and the depletion of energy resources. In particular, the amount of energy consumed by transportation is increasing worldwide, requiring energy conservation in public transportation and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from internal combustion engines. When these efforts are accompanied, modern transportation will continue to play an important role in improving the standard of living of humanity and in the exchange of culture, technology, goods, and information between various countries and regions.
