transportation in the United States
Transportation in the United States is facilitated by well-developed road, air, rail, and water networks.
Passenger transportation is dominated by a network of over 4.1 million kilometers of paved roads (almost entirely constructed and maintained by state and local governments) which is pervasive and highly developed by global standards. 97% of passenger trips in the U.S. are by personal automobile.[citation needed] By contrast, the transportation of freight is performed over a larger variety of networks, with the highest percentage (roughly 40%) transported by rail, much larger than the global average. [1] [2]
Overview
Air Transport
An advanced air transportation network utilizes includes 5,000 paved runways. Public airports
are usually operated by local governments. There are over 200 domestic passenger and cargo airlines and a number of international carriers. Private aircraft are also used for medical emergencies,
government agencies, large businesses, and individuals. (See general aviation.) Air
travel is the mode of choice for the majority of trips over 300 miles. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty
busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield – Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). In terms of
cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest,
Memphis International Airport, a superhub of Federal Express. The airlines are privately owned, but most airports are owned by local governments.
Rail Lines
The intercity rail network is smaller than its historical peak, and has shifted emphasis toward cargo as faster air transport has
come to dominate long-distance passenger travel. Intercity passenger rail is sparser than in other developed countries, and has
been taken over by the quasi-governmental National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak).
Mass Transit
Most medium-cities have some sort of local public transportation. Larger cities tend to have mass-transit systems, usually including subways or
light rail. New York City is the country's largest
metropolis and operates one of the world's most heavily used rapid transit systems. The
regional rail and bus networks that extend into the suburbs are also among the most
heavily used in the world. (See Transportation in New York City.)
Water Transportation
Water transport is largely used for freight. Fishing and pleasure boats are numerous, and
passenger service connects many of the nation's islands and remote coastal areas, crosses lakes, rivers, and harbors, and
provides alternative access to Alaska which bypasses Canada.
Several major seaports in the United States include New York to the east, Houston and New Orleans
on the gulf coast, Los Angeles to the west.[1] The interior
of the U.S. also has major shipping channels, via the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Mississippi River. The first water link between the Great Lakes and
the Atlantic, the Erie Canal, allowed the rapid expansion of agriculture and industry in the
Midwest and made New York City the economic center of the country.
Military
The federal military has a dedicated system of bases with runways,
aircraft, watercraft, conventional cars and trucks, and armored and special-purpose vehicles. During times of war, it may
commandeer private infrastructure and vehicles as authorized by Congress and the
President.
General
Most cargo transportation in the United States is by water, road, rail and pipeline;
planes are commonly used only for perishables and premium express shipments. Usually cargo, apart from petroleum and other bulk
commodities, is imported in containers through seaports, then distributed by road and
rail. The quasi-governmental United States Postal Service has a monopoly on
letter delivery (except for express services) but several large private companies such as FedEx
and UPS compete in the package and cargo delivery market.
History
Because the automobile industry took off earlier in the United States than elsewhere and the majority of US cities were still in their developmental infancy, many U.S. urban areas developed in ways that reflect the use of private transportation.
To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system. These highways were first commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn system. There is also a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the forty-eight contiguous states.
Urban sprawl and widespread ownership of private transport vehicles have led to light use of the types of public transportation that are more common in Japan and Europe.
Rail
Passenger trains were formerly a dominant mode of transportation, up until the mid-twentieth century. The introduction of jet airplanes on major U.S. routes and the completion of the Interstate Highway system accelerated a decline in intercity rail passenger demand during the 1960s, resulting in the sharp curtailment of passenger service by private railroads. This led to the creation of Amtrak by the Federal Government in 1971 to maintain limited intercity rail passenger service in most parts of the country. Amtrak serves most major cities but, especially in parts of the west, often by only one or two trains per day. (It does not, however, send any trains to Las Vegas, Nevada or Phoenix, Arizona.) More frequent service is available in regional corridors between major cities, particularly the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston, between New York City and Albany, around Chicago, and in parts of California and the Pacific Northwest. About one in every three users of mass transit in the United States and two-thirds of the nation's rail riders live in New York.
The US makes extensive use of its rail system for freight, according to the American Association of Railroads: "U.S. freight railroads are the world's busiest, moving more freight than any rail system in any other country. In fact, U.S. railroads move more than four times as much freight as do all of Western Europe's freight railroads combined."[3]
Nearly all railroad corridors (not including local transit rail systems) are owned by private companies, which provide freight service. Amtrak pays these companies for the rights to use the tracks for passenger service. There are approximately 240,000 km (150,000 mi.) of mainline rail routes in the United States - the world's longest national railroad network (although not its densest, a position belonging to Central European countries). See List of United States railroads
Many cities use metro rail systems (also known as heavy rail in the U.S.) and/or light rail systems for high-capacity passenger service within the urban area. These include:
- Atlanta, Georgia (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) - heavy rail
- Baltimore, Maryland (Maryland Transit Administration) - heavy and light rail
- Boston, Massachusetts ("MBTA subway" or Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority or just "the T") - heavy and light rail
- Buffalo, New York (Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Metro Rail) - light rail
- Camden - Trenton, New Jersey (New Jersey Transit River Line) - light rail
- Charlotte, North Carolina (LYNX, operated by CATS) - light rail (under construction opening 2007)
- Chicago, Illinois (The CTA Subway or the L-train; Metra Commuter Rail) - heavy rail
- Cleveland, Ohio (Cleveland Rapid Transit or "The Rapid") - heavy and light rail
- Dallas, Texas (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) - light rail
- Denver, Colorado (Light rail operated by the Regional Transportation District) See also T-REX - light rail
- Houston, Texas (METRORail, operated by METRO) - light rail
- Jersey City, New Jersey - New Jersey Gold Coast area (Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, New Jersey Transit) - light rail
- Los Angeles, California (Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority) - heavy and light rail
- Miami, Florida (Miami-Dade Transit) - heavy and light rail
- Minneapolis, Minnesota (Hiawatha Line, operated by the Metropolitan Council/Metro Transit) - light rail
- New Orleans, Louisiana (Regional Transit Authority) - light rail
- Newark, New Jersey (Newark City Subway, New Jersey Transit) - light rail
- New York City (the New York City Subway and Staten Island Railway operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)) - heavy rail
- New York City - Newark, New Jersey (Port Authority Trans-Hudson or PATH) - heavy rail
- Phoenix, Arizona - (Valley Metro Rail) operated by Valley Metro (under construction opening 2008)
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority or SEPTA and the PATCO Speedline) - heavy and light rail
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Port Authority of Allegheny County or "the T") - light rail
- Portland, Oregon (MAX Light Rail, operated by TriMet) - light rail
- Sacramento, California (Sacramento Regional Transit District) - light rail
- St. Louis, Missouri (Metrolink) - light rail
- Salt Lake City, Utah (TRAX operated by the Utah Transit Authority) - light rail
- San Diego, California (San Diego Trolley operated by the Metropolitan Transit System [4]) - light rail
- San Francisco Bay Area ("BART" or Bay Area Rapid Transit and "MUNI" or
San Francisco Municipal Railway ) - heavy and light rail - San Jose, California (Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority or VTA) - light rail
- Washington, D.C. (Washington Metro, operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority) - heavy rail
Some railroads, such as the Long Island Rail Road in earlier times, maintained a separate fleet of specially configured electric railway cars to provide a rapid transit service on designated routes that was distinct from its regular passenger operations.[citation needed]
Railway links with adjacent countries
- Canada - Yes. Amtrak connections run daily
between New York City and
Montreal , New York City and Toronto, and Seattle and Vancouver. Alaska is currently only rail-accessible by train ferry from Seattle. A proposed link to the Continental United States would link Alaska and Canada via the Yukon and British Columbia.[2] - Mexico - Yes. Several private firms run touristic trains from near El Paso, Texas through Chihuahua, Chihuahua and the Copper Canyon to El Fuerte, Sinaloa. Such trains also run from Nogales, Sonora, but no US passenger trains run near Nogales, Arizona, on the other side of the border. Another touristic train runs occasional trains between Campo, California and Tecate, Baja California.
- Cuba - No. Since the American embargo against Cuba, train ferry service from Florida and New Orleans to Havana has ceased.
- Russia - No. But proposed tunnel or bridge under or over Bering Straits to connect with Trans-Siberian Railway[citation needed].
The rail gauge is standard gauge 4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm), except for Russia, which is broad gauge 1520 mm (4 ft 115⁄6 in). Another exception is the 3 ft 0 in (914 mm) gauge White Pass and Yukon Route from Skagway, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon by way of Bennett, British Columbia.
Road transport
Greyhound Lines is the largest intercity bus company in the United States, with routes in all parts of the continental U.S.. There are also many smaller regional bus companies, many of which use the terminal and booking facilities provided by Greyhound. The bus is, in most cases, the least expensive way to travel long distances in the United States.
total: 6,430,366 km
paved: 4,165,110 km (including 75,009 km of expressways)
unpaved: 2,265,256 km (2005 est.)
All highways are maintained by state governments, although they receive federal aid to build and maintain freeways signed as part of the 46,000 mile (75,000 km) nationwide Interstate highway network. A large number of expressways are actually government-operated toll roads in most East Coast and Midwest states. West Coast freeways are generally free to users (no toll charged per use), although since the 1990s there have been some small experiments with toll roads operated by private companies.
- Further information: numbered highways in the United States
Roadway links with adjacent countries and non-contiguous parts of the US
- Canada - Yes.
- Mexico - Yes.
- Alaska - Yes, via Canada
- Russia - No, but proposed.
- Cuba - No. Since the American embargo against Cuba, car ferry service from Florida and New Orleans to Havana has ceased.
Water
Waterways
The United States has 41,009 km of navigable inland channels (rivers and canals), exclusive of the Great Lakes.
Ports and harbors
United States ports and harbors include: Anacortes, Washington, Anchorage, Alaska, Baltimore, Maryland, Boston, Massachusetts, Charleston, South Carolina, Chicago, Illinois, Duluth, Minnesota, Hampton Roads, Honolulu, Hawaii, Houston, Texas, Jacksonville, Florida, Long Beach, California, Los Angeles, California, Miami, Florida, Mobile, Alabama, New Orleans, Louisiana, New York City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,Port Canaveral, Florida, Portland, Oregon, Oakland, California, San Diego, California, Savannah, Georgia, Seattle, Washington, Tacoma, Washington, Tampa, Florida, Toledo, Ohio, Valdez, Alaska
Merchant marine
-
For more details on this topic, see United States Merchant Marine.
Most US exports and imports are on foreign ships. The Jones Act bars foreign ships from US internal trade, thus creating this "Jones Act fleet".
Ferry service is available in many parts of the country, including the Great Lakes region, Washington state, and the New York City area. Alaska is served by long-distance ferry routes that connect it to the rest of the country, and connect remote areas not connected by roads.
Air
There is no single national flag airline; aviation in the United States is completely privatized. There is currently no direct government regulation of ticket pricing, although the federal government retains jurisdiction over aircraft safety, pilot training, and accident investigations (through the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board). Airports are usually constructed and operated by local governments (the main exceptions are federal military bases).
- Further information: List of airlines#United_States
In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. In terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport.
Airports: 14,893 (2005 est.) According to CIA
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 5,174
over 3,047 m: 180
2,438 to 3,047 m: 221
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1,310
914 to 1,523 m: 2,448
under 914 m: 1,015 (1999 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 9,398
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 155
914 to 1,523 m: 1,661
under 914 m: 7,574 (1999 est.)
Heliports: 118 (1999 est.)
Other
Pipelines:
petroleum products 276,000 km;
natural gas 331,000 km (1991)
Ownership
Roads accessible to the public are generally government owned and maintained, though there are some private highways. There are both public and private owners of the country's many passenger and freight rail systems, water ferries, and bus systems. Civilian airlines are all privately owned and financed. (With some exceptions, such as after the September 11, 2001 attacks.) Many airports are owned and operated by local governments, but all are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration and subject to federal law. Transportation Security Administration provides security at airports.
Funding
Most roads are free to drive on in a privately purchased or rented automobile or in a hired taxicab, but there are also some toll roads and toll bridges. Most other forms of transportation charge a fee for use.
Government funding of transportation exists at many levels.
Federal funding for highway, rail, bus, water, air, and other forms of transportation is allocated by Congress for several years at a time. Though earmarks are often made for specific projects, the allocation of most federal dollars is controlled by Metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and state governments. Usually "matching" funds are required from local sources. All projects have a sponsoring agency that will receive the funding from the various federal and local sources, and be responsible for implementing the project directly or through contracts. Large projects require a Major Investment Study and a both a Draft and a Final Environmental Impact Review. A patchwork of federal laws and accounts govern the allocation of federal transportation dollars, most of which is reserved for capital projects, not operating expenses. Some roads are federally designated as part of the National Highway System and get preferential funding as a result, but outside of Washington D.C., are not owned by the federal government.
State governments are sovereign entities which use their powers of taxation both to match federal grants, and provide for local transportation needs. Different states have different systems for dividing responsibility for funding and maintaining road and transit networks between the state department of transportation, counties, municipalities, and other entities. Typically large cities are responsible for local roads, finances with block grants and local property taxes, and the state is responsible for major roads that receive state and federally designations. Many mass transit agencies are quasi-independent and subsidized branches of a state, county, or city government.
See also
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