11
Transportation and Information Technology
Summary
This chapter has reviewed some of the empirical work on the
impact of ICT on transportation, based on a research project undertaken
by Transport Canada in 1998.
In summary, the possible impact of ICT on passenger transportation
may be to further augment the use of the automobile as the principal
means of surface passenger transportation. The congruent effects
of increasing urban sprawl and a declining peak daily flow; increased
road capacity through ITS; and ICT-induced rising incomes, may
in combination overwhelm the slight potential substitution effect
from telecommuting.
In air travel, the impact of video-conferencing may generate
some stagnation in the business air market.
With freight transport, conclusions are more difficult to draw,
as the economy may be on a new and different growth path in the
1990s relative to the previous 20 years. Certainly freight transportation
growth has been strong since the end of the 1992 recession, with
particularly strong growth in trucking and rail, corresponding
to growth in the goods-producing and trade sectors. Lack of data
makes it more difficult to discern the impact of ICT-based supply-chain
management and JIT production processes. There is, however, some
evidence that companies are increasingly contracting out commercial
transport rather than handling it themselves.
In terms of freight supply, all modes should experience increased
efficiency and lower costs due to ICT investment, which should
result in lower freight prices and gradual implementation of electronic
freight markets that will in turn generate heightened price competition.
Modal shifts are harder to discern, due to the lack of data
on relative ICT diffusion and related productivity gains by mode.
Summary
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