Bwcabus - Benefits and Advantages of a Rural Logistics - Case Study Example

Globalization CW2 Name Course Lecture Date Part 1 Bwcabus is a local public transport system that is demand flexible and it helps individuals living in the rural parts of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire to get access to education, go to work, access health facilities and receive training. The operations of the service are tailored in such a way that it meets the needs of those travelling by travelling based on pre-booked journeys (Bwcabus Official Website 2016). This shows that Bwcabus is not a classically or traditional managed road transport systems that tends to run based on planned and controlled timetable, but it is an evolving and adaptive transport system where the timetables of travel is determined by the passengers on a daily basis. Based on these view, Bwcabus can be viewed as a complex adaptive system. The service operates between Mondays and Saturdays starting from 0700 to 1900 hours. Bwcabus came into existence in August 2009 and it was funded jointly by the Welsh government, the Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire county councils and the European convergence fund, the main aim of the project was to improve public transport as well as accessibility to essential services for West Wale’s rural communities (University of South Wales 2016). At first the service covered the areas surrounding Drefach, Llandtsul, Henlan, Emlyn, New Castle and Cenarth. In December 2011, the project received more funding and it was expanded to other areas such as in Llangeithio, Aberaeron and Llanybydder (South West Wales 2012). This service have over time proved that by offering the rural communities with an integrated transport network the rural community increases their public transport use improves people’s access to public transport services, a reduction in car use and it also lifts the rural communities from deprivation. The transportation system adopted by Bwcabus in a way illustrates how responsive and adaptive approach to transportation contributes and at the same time offer CSR and sustainability issues for the company and the key stakeholders operating in its immediate environment. Bwcabus offers the key customers with what they need and want they do so by helping the people in south Wales get greater access to retail services employment and other essential services that may prove to be unachieved without the services provided by Bwcabus (South West Wales 2012). Bwcabus is just a part of the traditional transport and logistics network in the region. If linked with a number of the other modal options such as sea, airports and road Bwcabus will certainly offer more of a value proposition which is made up of the FDI and the regional social and economic growth. When the transport system is viewed using porters 5 forces model and mostly the low barriers of entry into the region the buses seems to be offering this service and thus making it easier for the key stakeholders to access the place (University of South Wales 2016). At the same time organization operating in other areas are in need of some of the factor such as capital, land and labor that are available in Wales, but they can achieve this if the was easier for them to access the factor conditions through the use of road coupled with the other transport modes since they work make it easier for the people to work in the organizations and in the MNEs. This paper therefore sets out to critically evaluates the key impact and benefits that a rural logistics and transport approach could have when it operates within an overall integrated transport system in Wales and for that regions organizations and other key stakeholders. Part 2 Benefits and advantages of a rural logistics and transport approach when it operates within an overall integrated transport system in Wales Over the coming years Bwcabus wants to grow and sustain its business and at the same time offer more value to their stakeholders. This will be achieved by contributing to the improved FDI as well as other investments in Wales due to the good transport links as well as making it easier for passenger to access services and work that will arise as a result of the various investments (Starkey 2001). A major benefit of a rural logistics and transport approach such as Bwcabus when it operates within an overall integrated transport system in Wales is that it enhances access to various services as well as enhances accessibility of the population and this advantage is more related to the concept of value. Success in tackling poverty is in rural areas mainly depends on the availability of certain basic services for people living in the rural areas (Farrington 2007). The principle benefit associated with a rural logistics and transport approach and greater mobility of individuals is the access to healthcare, education and at the same time agricultural advice services can also be received seems to becomes more possible and affordable with the rural logistics and transport approach (Lebo & Schelling 2000 and Bryceson et al. 2003). At the same time, a number of income generation projects are opened and resultantly there is better access to markets in that farmers in the rural areas have easier access to seeds, fertilizers and machines and home grown products and mostly the perishable ones such as milk, vegetables and fruits are sold on time. At the same time, the rural logistics and transport approach makes it more possible to commute to jobs in organizations that have located themselves in the rural centers (Jacoby 2000 and Schwanen & Paez 2010). Based on the above discussion, rural logistics and transport approach acts as a channel of social and economic development in the rural areas such as in Wales (Lucas & Jones 2012). In relation to education, education has been found to play an essential role in reducing poverty in countries all over the globe. When Bwcabus transport system is used together with an integrated rural logistics and transport approach children in the Wales will have an easier access to educational facilities for the primary, secondary and college education (Donnges 2003) some of which may be geographically dispersed. In relation to access to health facilities an efficient rural logistics and transport approach will ensure rapid access to medical assistance and those it will play an essential role in the reduction of prenatal and infant mortality which seems to be prevalent in rural areas due to poor road structures in Wales(Babinard & Roberts 2006). The rural logistics and transport approach would also be beneficial in Wales when integrated with the an overall integrated transport system since through it people and visitors visiting the island would have an ease of access to all the areas in the island and also at fair prices since with goods road infrastructure the transport companies are likely to charge less as compared to when they are operating in a place that have poor road infrastructure (Booth, Hanmer & Lovell 2000). This is based on the fact that the associated supply chain costs will be low and thus beneficial to the end use of the products. The rural logistics and transport approach will link the areas and ferry visitors from the ports and airports since Wales relies greatly on rail network some which are diesel powered and others are electrified. Through the rural logistics and transport approach the visitors to the island will not experience any kind of hurdles and they will enjoy their stay and visit to the island (Wenner 2001). Additionally, organization in the area are also likely to benefit in that they will receive more visitors over time and they will also receive raw materials and other foodstuff that they need to keep up with the high number of tourists visiting the area due to their culture and other tourists attraction sites (Banister & Hickman 2012 and Windle & Cramb 1996). With economic development the area is likely to develop in other aspects and attract other investors from various areas of the globe to make additional investments in the area and this will also be of great benefit as more jobs will be created and it will also lead to enhanced delivery of products and services as there is likely to be stiff completion to the various providers with each trying to prove to be the best (Katz 2004 and Mu & Van de Walle 2011). When a rural logistics and transport approach operates within an integrated transport system it tends to affect both the household consumption as well as their income levels in Wales. At first, the population are likely to experience reduced transport and transaction costs which are triggered by a rural logistics and transport approach may over time increase supply of various products and services in Wales or the price paid to the farmers and to the service providers both of which is likely to lead to increase in income from all parties involved (De Janvry & Sadoulet 2001). At the same time there may be an increase on income generation opportunities as other people who were idle may venture into the transportation business. For instance, people living in the Wales can augment their participation in both the non-agricultural and in the agricultural sectors. Above and beyond, based on the fact that rural logistics and transport approach may lead to introduction of other substitute products and services and through this substitution the income sources may become even greater for the locals and thus an improvement in their ways of lives (Labinjo et al. 2009). Another benefit associated with the rural logistics and transport approach is that it will enhance the rural-urban linkages in Wales. For the first time since history, the United Nations estimated that the people living in the urban areas are more likely to exceed those living in the rural areas (Davis et al. 2010). Based on the UN by 2025 about 70% of the globes population will be living in the urban areas. Urbanization therefore seems to be increasing and Wales and other cities have not been left behind and thus the existence of a far reaching consequence for the mutual relationships that exists between the rural areas and the urban areas. Through the rural logistics and transport approach there will be steady exchange of growth in terms of capital, information, work, education, values and medical care between the rural and the urban areas. People are also likely to spend a considerable amount of their time travelling to and from their workplaces or in search for education and other services and may seem to be of great hurdle when transport was an issue (Hettige 2006). Regional and rural employment opportunities seem to be an essential objective of every government and also in the Wales. The major impacts of operation, construction and maintenance of a road logistics and transport approach on employment which includes but are not limited to created as well as to relocated jobs (Rheindt 2003). At the same time organizations operating in Wales also benefit in regard to the costs savings, time and the gains in reliability and accessibility that mainly arises from transport infrastructure which allows and increases the productivity gains that are achieved through improved distribution and production which leads to greater level of profitability for the organizations operating in the areas. The markets are usually redistributed and it tends to be of advantage to the organizations that are able to adapt themselves to the new and emerging markets. The same process can at the same time occur in regard to the labor market (Booth, Hanmer & Lovell2000). As a result, rural roads logistics and transport approach can be said to have an effect on the labor productivity and on private capital, and for this reason there is overall economic growth. When areas such as Wales suffers from social or economic problems, the roads logistics and transport approach could in a way result to further exclusion or at the same time result to addressing the issues of social exclusion by increasing the mobility and accessibility of the areas. For instance, people in the Wales are likely to attend to engage in more social events when a rural logistics and transport approach is in places in collaboration with an integrated transport system (Urry 2012 and World Bank 2008). With good transport system the people who live far from the island are likely to travel to the island for any social gathering such as sports and other cultural events. Negative impacts of a rural logistics and transport approach Despite the wide range of benefits rural logistics and transport approach also tend to have some negative impacts. Despite the fact that rural logistics and transport approach opens up the remote ecosystems it has a negative effect in that it facilitates clearance of forests which at most times is done illegally. A lot of clearance in forests is mainly facilitated by the construction of rural logistics and transport systems. Other additional effects on rural logistics and transport systems is that it leads to air pollution, noise nuisance and high number of accidents which leads to a reduction of the rural population (Francis, Ortega & Cruz 2009 and Lamont 2011). The young and disabled people in the rural areas tend to be at greater risks since the area that one’s live in seems to be a key determinant of accident risk. The great number of accidents in the rural areas is mainly as a result of drivers over estimating their skills and thus they usually drive excessively fast. Besides the facilitation of illegal logging, the rural logistics and transport systems ensures increased accessibility and reduction in the time taken and cost at the same time the indigenous people are mainly at risks, there is more land speculation, poachers are also provided with ease of access, there is also the construction of illegal settlements and unrestrained exploitation of natural resources and minerals (Geist, Lambin 2001). Illegal mining activities are also prevalent and they tend to destroy the farmlands and at the same time they create some form of disorder in the rural areas by causing disruption to the social and physical fabric of the communities living in the rural areas. Another negative effect of rural logistics and transport approach is that it leads to greater number of accidents and spread of diseases such as HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (Duchene 2011). Rural logistics and transport approach that tends to connect countries and other corridors act as an accelerator of spread of diseases. A particular disease that have been noted is the spread of HIV since the disease can be exchanged between the drivers ferrying goods with the local people who at times seems to spend long period of time away from their families. The rural dwellers who may extremely poor may term to prostitution as their main source of income and livelihood for them to feed their families (Sianipar & Dowaki 2014 and Forman 2000). A negative aspect that is closely linked to this aspect is the loss of life of people suffering from such diseases. This may take a toll on individuals living in the area as some old people are left caring for young children left behind by their parents. The other negative impacts relates to pollution. Transport approach also seems to be a conduit for the pollutants of the environment (Leinbach 2000). Pollution from the transport systems extends just the chemical pollution since heir is also noise and light pollution and they can also be detrimental. Noise from the cars and vehicles may disrupt the acoustic communication and interfere with the warning signs which would lead to a decline in number of birds and animals that have close proximity to the roads (Forman & Alexander 1998). Also through the opening up of rural areas organizations may shift their operations to these areas and they are more likely to cause soil and air pollution since they seem to be far from the regulating bodies. Based on the above stated negative effects, Wales need to consider it and put policies in places to deal with the effects since if left unresolved they are likely to affect the tourism sector which plays an essential role in their economy (Kwan 2006). Trade-off to be made so as to address the Key impacts A number of trade-off needs to be made with the aim of addressing some of the key impacts and mostly the negative effects. A major trade relates to the aspect of clearing up some forests to pave way for an integrated transport system. Some of the transport systems that need to be linked to the Bwcabus road system already in place need to pass through forests and at the same time some natural resources will be destroyed in the process (Primack 2004). This is a major trade off that need to be taken into consideration when developing the integrated transport system in South Wales. This trade-off needs to be made to ensure a more holistic and effective transport systems for the current and future generation. Another trade off relates to the sustainability issue. Road networks are termed as being among the large proportion of the environment that is built and they are essential to our daily lives and the same applies to the people living in Wales. The trade-off in this case relates to sustainability and it seems very hard to balance the pillars of sustainability such as the economic, environment, cultural and social influences in the construction of road structures (Banister & Hickman 2012). The trade-off that people need to make so as to keep address some of the key impacts and mostly the negative ones is the reduction of the use of private vehicles. Despite their high level of convenience people need to ensure that they play a role in sustainability of the environment by ensuring that they recue their emissions to the environment. This will be achieved through the use of Bwcabus transport system coupled with the integrated transport system. Through the system will also emit gases to the environment they will be minimal as compared to when each individual uses their own cars (Liu 2000). Conclusion Based on the above discussion, there seems to be a wide range of effects of rural logistics and transport approach in an integrated transport system in Wales and for that regions organizations and other key stakeholders. Wales need to focus more on positive impacts such as economic and social development, ease of access to essential facilities such as schools, markets social gathering and hospitals. Another benefit noted is the creation of employment opportunities, efficiency in organizations and social inclusions (Donnges 2003). In addition to the benefits, the rural logistics and transport approach the negative impacts such as pollution, accidents and diseases and clearance of forests. Based on the negative effects that have been pointed out, the negative effects ought to be considered on the onset and planning of the rural logistics and transport approach. Rural logistics and transport approach seems to be integral part of an overall integrated transport system in Wales (Forman & Alexander 1998). Due to its nature of offering access to the globe, transport development tends to have a substantial positive and negative impact on the rural community. Its development consequently ought to be guided by the various social needs in the community that it serves or seeks to serve and this will likely lead to other development that will be beneficial to the entire population and the region as well. 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