Compare and contrast 2 different transportation modes and 2 different terminals - Essay Example

It is also important to put into consideration the peak and off-peak periods of travel. There are a lot of similarities between air transport and the high-speed rail, more than even the similarity that is there between either the conventional rail. High speed rails tend to compete with airplanes to a large success. As such, the line normally tends to attract a premium class of travelers who give priority to high-value traveling (Hensher, 2004). High speed rail, unlike airports will however require less space.

On the other hand, there is a dire need for vast spaces in the case of an airport, and the associated low-density expansion. When major stations have been directly located at the heart of a city, their economic benefit tends to be concentrated from the system. A good example is the San Francisco owned S. F. Airport. A lot of the economic advantage that accrues from this airport is normally to the benefit of the car-rentals, hotels, and restaurants that are located within the San Mateo County, as opposed to the revenue that is collected by the city.

Since it is not possible for an airport to be located in San Francisco, the city can however make use of the high-speed rail. . In addition, they can also act as an important part of a good system of transport. There are also capable of connecting rail stations in a city center to a multitude of other rail stations in other city center, in a record loading and unloading time for passengers of between 3 and 8 minutes (Dempsey, 1999). Conversely, the air transport tends to connect airports that are located in different city centers, and the average interconnectivity of the passengers ranges from 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Nevertheless, if the two modes of transportation are properly designed and maintained, they normally tend to complement one another (Song et al, 2006). Usually, journeys that takes between two to three hours are best suited for high speed rail, as in such an average distance of 200 miles, the high speed rails tends to be faster than even air transport. Normally when one is traveling for a distance that is below 400 miles, air transport is slowed down by such processes as security checks, as well as the distance one has to cover to and fro the airport.

In the long-run the time spent on an air journey becomes almost similar to that by a high speed rail (Rodriquez et al, 2006).Airport vs. rail terminusThe early airport terminal bore the origin of their architectural designs from the then union stations of railroad. The term terminal also bears its origin from the railroad industry.Both the rail and airport terminus bears some similarities. In a case whereby the inter-modal facilities of a terminus are properly designed, it is possible for a passenger to board and exit an aircraft and a train (Dempsey, 1999).

In a way, the terminus normally found in an airport tends to differ a bit from the railways terminus