Transport objectives

Society especially in this country appears to have lost sight of the fundamental of transport in all the fanfares over big projects.
The function of transport is simple. In the case of passengers its is to enable people to travel from one plaice to another. For goods it is to enabler a person or company to send their goods from one place to another.
The questions on that has to be asked is why do people and goods want to move. People travel to reach a place where they would rather be for reasons of pleasure or business. Goods are transported from one place to another to enable them to be sold for a higher price.
This poses the question of whether people in general enjoy transport. If most people could step into a box in their living room and be instantly transported to their destinations most people would jump at the chance. People use transport to satisfy desires and needs for other things. `This is termed the derived demand for transport. Transp[ort enables people to satisfy desires for other things by taking them or their goods from one place to a place where they would rather be.
What do the consumers of transport services wish to buy? The answer can be defined as a seat, a cabin or freight space. What in reality is the passenger or freight shipper wanting from transport? People use transport because they have little choice.The passenger has to sacrifice both money and time to make a journey. What they want from transport is to arrive sat their destination so that they can satisfy their desire for business, leisure our selling their goods. It is the arrival that the operator is selling. This is not enough. The arrival must be accomplished safely so that passengers arrive uninsured, goods undamaged.
The service mix of speed, reliability, comfort and frequency depends to a large extent on the quality of the service offered for which the consumer is willing to pay. ~The consumers needs become paramount when designing a service.
This is an extract from my book Managing Transport Operations. It is something I think has been lost in all the debate on transport policy over the last decade since I retired.
Edmund J Gubbins. FCILT, retired transport lecturer.