International Transport System - Admission/Application Essay Example

 The deregulation of the transport industry has both advantages and disadvantages to the users. The essay will be mention that unfair competition is one of the demerits of this process, with Pan American World Airways and Eastern Airlines being given as examples to prove how deregulation can drive businesses out of operation. Consumer protection has also been identified as lacking in the industry after deregulation due to the fact that investors tend to charge exorbitant prices for their services. It will also be mentioned that this process may have negative effects on the environment as a result of the reluctance of vehicle and airline owners to service and maintain them in order to cover the reduction in profit margins caused by competition. On the other hand, the essay will outline some of the advantages to the consumers such as proximity to transport services as well as short term reduction of travelling expenses. The essay will go on to discuss the impacts of transport on the environment as well as providing a detailed discussion on sustainable transport systems as well as how they can be developed. Introduction Transportation is a major contributor to the growth and development of various economies around the world. This is due to the fact that it allows for the delivery of goods as well as manpower from one place to the other thereby economizing on the time which may be required to access such destinations (Cox, 2010). There are mainly four medium of transport which include; road, railway, water and air transport. These have promoted international business by offering connectivity such that one is able to travel from one country to the other, which would not be possible without these transportation media. This essay is a critical evaluation of deregulation as well as the effects of transport on the environment. Benefits and Risks for the Users of Transport Services of a De-Regulated Transport Industry Deregulation in the transport industry has been going on in several countries such as the US, with the purpose of reducing pressure imposed on the players in the industry thereby improving competition among them (Smith, 2003). However, this process can be noted as having both positive and negative impacts due to various reasons that will be discussed herein. To begin with, it is important to know that the transport industry mainly serves two purposes i.e. transportation of human beings and the transportation of cargo. Regulation of the industry is important because it enhances the provision of high quality services based on the laws but not on the economic gains. For example, deregulation of the truck and public transport industry leads to negligence on the part of the vehicle owners, who become reluctant to service and maintain them thereby making it possible to find vehicles that are not road worthy ferrying passengers and goods on our roads. Consequently, this endangers the lives of passengers and other road users translating into road carnage. These vehicles also produce a lot of smoke containing carbon dioxide as well as unnecessary loud noises, which according to environmentalists, is a major cause for environmental degradation and consequently, global warming (Shaw, 2009). In the areas, which have high population of commuters, it is possible to find a public service vehicle carrying excessive passengers, which is poses a potential danger to their lives. As such, the intervention of the government in this sector is paramount in order to restore and maintain sanity and also to save road users from accidental death as well as to relieve the government extra costs suffered while treating casualties. Statistics conducted in Britain for the year 2007 showed that approximately 3000 road users died as a result of road accidents alone (Shaw, 2009). It therefore implies that if the operators are allowed to do as they please this number would possibly go up drastically thereby interfering with the government’s development as a result of the death of able and skilled man power. Commercial aviation has been one of the transport sectors, which has undergone deregulation especially in the United States. Before this, an independent board known as the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was mandated with the responsibility of leveling the ground for competition, by regulating charges on travel tickets, routes as well as flight schedules (US Centennial of Flight Commission, 2010). This ensured that every airline company did not have a chance of creating monotony thereby allowing for exorbitant charging of air tickets as a result of low competition. To ensure the realization of equal returns between airlines which were assigned to high profitable routes and those in the low profitable routes, the board provided subsidies to airlines operating in routes with low profits so as to enable them to maintain their operational costs. However, 1978 saw the passing of Airline Deregulation Act, which ushered in free competition that significantly changed the airline business (US Centennial of Flight Commission, 2010). This is because of the fact that it created room for numerous airlines to join the industry as opposed to the era of regulation whereby the board restricted the entry of new airlines into the business thereby maintaining a constant trend. For example, it is estimated that the number of airlines operating in the US doubled from approximately 42 to 90. As a result, some of the operators such as the Pan American World Airways and Eastern Airlines among others collapsed due to bankruptcy (Bernstain, 2001). The bankruptcy was due to unfair competition whereby some of the airlines lowered their prices inconsiderably with the intention of acquiring a wider market, which in turn meant that the amount of revenue earned could not sustain some of them such as the under mentioned airlines. It is observed that those airlines which survived the competition resulted to lowering their costs of maintenance for their aircrafts so as to cover the shortage of revenue. As it may be understood, every machine especially automotives require frequent servicing for them to be considered as being safe for use by human beings. Therefore, lowering the cost of maintaining aircrafts by some airlines implies that it lowered the standard and the security of passengers as there was a possibility of mechanical problems occurring on transit thereby crashing the plane (Smith, 2003). As such, such sectors should be regulated by the government in order to protect the passengers. On the other hand, the deregulation of the airlines meant that any person having the resources could join the business, which may have been flooded with inexperienced business men and women, who may have benefited from corrupt deals in the era of regulation, to allow them obtain licenses for operating at the expense of genuine ones who may not have had the way of accessing them. When this happens, the users of the airlines, i.e. passengers, may also benefit from low costs of travelling as they would have the opportunity to decide for themselves on the best airline to travel in depending on what they can afford (Paul, 2000). In fact, various airlines have been competing healthily for customers by providing luxurious compartments in the aircrafts to guarantee comfort, which is everyone’s first priority while travelling as long as one is willing to pay for the tickets. Under regulation, a passenger may be forced to travel in a substandard aircraft, which does not suite his or her taste just because the airline has been permanently allocated to a certain route. Some of the passengers even opt to hire private aircrafts for their travel because they have the capacity to do so. This is also true when it comes to the deregulation of bus services as it has occurred in the US, UK, and China especially in the urban areas. As it has been observed, there is usually an increase of new investors in the industry which in turn increases competition thereby leading to a short term lowering of bus fares (Shaw, 2009). The common man, who travels from home to work on daily basis, benefits highly as his travel expenses are lowered therefore, allowing him to spend the savings on other more important projects, such as paying for school fees or buying food. However, it is important to note that such an increase in the number of vehicles on the road could be counterproductive. By this, we mean that there is a possibility of dread locks occurring in areas such as the roundabouts as well as burning of fuel by motor vehicles as a result of traffic jams around the city, which also lead to high losses in terms of time. To control this, these governments have invested greatly on infrastructure in order to control vehicles coming and going out of the city through the building of bypasses. Impacts of Transport on the Environment Transportation activities as explained have helped human beings greatly in travelling as well as ferrying goods. However, they have attracted a lot of concerns due to their interference on the environment. One of the issues that have been of major concern to the world governments is the climate change. Several meetings have been held such as the one which took place in Copenhagen, in order to deliberate on how to slow down the rate of environmental damage. Among the identified causes of global warming and climate change is the emission of carbon and other pollutants to the air (Phillips, 2002). As it may be understood, the population of motor vehicles and other locomotives as well as airlines has risen significantly over the years. To drive these machines, fuel is required, which burns up to produce power a process that results to the emission of various gases which according to environmentalists are the cause for the depletion of the ozone layer. In addition, it is also true to say that these gasses not only do they lead to climate change but also leads to air pollution. This has become common in major cities where there is a lot of congestion of motor vehicles which exhale thick clouds of gases especially due to poor maintenance of the engines. As a result, it becomes dangerous for the communities living in these surroundings, since they get to suffer from infections such as cancer, cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological diseases as a result of inhaling these gases (Hens, 2006). Apart from the gas emissions through exhaust pipes, motor vehicles as well as aircrafts such as helicopters, while landing and taking off, blow a lot of dust particles into the air, which makes it impossible for the people nearby to breathe properly. It also interferes with their visibility as one is not capable of opening his or her eyes for fear of the dust getting into the eyes. Noise pollution is also among the major environmental consequences of transportation activities. This occurs due to the loud sounds that emanate from running engines as the vehicles drive by (Phillips, 2002). In a city for example with a high number of vehicles, it becomes so annoying especially due to the fact that it makes it impossible for a person to communicate either with the others directly or through their phones. Moreover, it has been noted that most of the vehicles are installed with entertainment devices which produce a lot of noise, especially if they are operated by young adults who don’t really care of what other people think about their activities. These loud noises can lead to severe head aches on the surrounding people and they can also emanate from car and train horns when trying to attract attention either on obstacles on the roads or the rail way lines. People who also live in neighborhoods that are close to the air ports also suffer the same predicament as the airplanes especially those with heavy engines produce a lot of unavoidable noise as they cut across the runaway ready for take off or while landing. There is also the danger which is caused on the marine life due to oil spills for example if an accident happens in the ocean. Water from floods may also drain a lot of oil particles from garages whereby not much care is taken to prevent oils from spilling onto the ground. As the rain falls, the rain water sweeps the oil and drains it into the rivers and eventually into the ocean as well as other large water bodies that sustain animals such as fish, crocodiles, as well as plants which provide food for these animals. Consequently, human beings who depend on marine food end up suffering from hunger and despair due to lack of enough fish to fish (Hens, 2006). Ships also pose a great risk to the marine life due to the fact that all the effluent which is as a result of the operations in the ships may find its way into the ocean thereby introducing harmful pathogens and bacteria which is unfriendly to the organisms living in the ocean. These emissions can also lower the quality of water thus making it unfit for human consumption. Expansion of roads and the building of new ones as well as railway lines can also be noted to have negative impacts on the environment. Hundreds of kilometers of land containing trees and other vegetation must be cleared to allow for these processes to take place (Phillips, 2002). As it may be evident, most of the roads and railway lines cut across forests which are essential in the absorption of carbon dioxide from the environment thereby purifying the air. In addition, the forests are natural habitats to various species of animals, which are forced to move further into the interior of the forests thereby making it impossible for tourists to watch them. On the other hand, these tourists use heavy vehicles to crisscross the game parks and reserves thereby destroying vegetation covering the soil which in turn lead to soil erosion. Sustainable Transport Systems In order to attain sustainable transport systems, measures should be put into place to ensure that mobility and accessibility is provided for all human beings residing in a certain locality (Cox, 2010). However, this should ensure that safety of all road users as well as the environment is accorded first priority. Transportation through road is always viewed as the major contributor to environmental degradation (Hanson, 2004). This is due to the fact that emissions from exhaust pipes can be viewed by all and sundry. In addition, the more the vehicle drives slowly, the more the smoke it produces. The reason for saying this is that not all road users have the capacity to pay for transportation by a vehicle hence some of them use other means such as bicycles or opt to walk. If they are allowed to use the same roads as the motorists, then the motorists will be compelled to drive slowly to avoid running down these road users. On the other hand, passengers in the vehicles will be inconvenienced and the environment will also be affected negatively. A sustainable transport system should incorporate all these for example by building alternative paths for pedestrians as well as cyclists (Hanson, 2004). That way, the infrastructure will allow for the speedy movement of motor vehicles as well as low pollution to the environment as is the case in traffic jams caused by pedestrian crossings and roundabouts. Conclusion Deregulation of the transport industry can be said to have its benefits as well as negative impacts. For example, it may promote unfair competition whereby some of the players in the industry lower their charges inconsiderably in order to attract more customers than their competitors. Several companies such as the Pan American World Airways and Eastern Airlines have been identified as some of the victims of this process. It also leads to the endangerment of consumers as a result of the failure of investors to allocate enough finances for servicing and maintaining their assets in order to reduce expenditure for them to realize sufficient profits. Also true is that some of the operators take advantage of situations to hike travel charges as they have the liberty to do so unlike when the government acts as the regulatory body. On the other hand, it enhances the entry of new participants in the industry which in turn results to lowering of charges though on a short term basis. Transportation activities have various negative impacts on the environment ranging from climate change due to gas emissions, deterioration of water quality thereby harming marine life, noise pollution as a result of loud noises produced by running engines, destruction of forests to allow for the expansion of transport systems as well as soil erosion as a result of vehicles driving over land thereby destroying grass and vegetation covering the soil. Bibliography Bernstain, A. (2001) Grounded: Frank Lorenzo and the Destruction of Eastern Airlines, Beard Books Cox, P. (2010) Moving People; Sustainable Transport Development, Macmillan Hanson, S. (2004). The Geography of Urban Transportation, the Guilford Press Hens, L. (2006) Environmental Health Impacts of Transport and Mobility, Springer Paul, S. (2000) Airline Deregulation and Laissez-Faire Mythology, Quorum Books Phillips, M. (2002) Transport, Environment and Health, World Health Organization Shaw, J. (2009) A New Deal for Transport: The UK's struggle with the sustainable transport agenda, Wiley-Blackwell Smith, H. (2003) Privatization and Deregulation of Transport, Palgrave Macmillan US Centennial of Flight Commission (2010) ‘Deregulation and Its Consequences,’ Available at: http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Commercial_Aviation/Dereg/Tran8.htm (Accessed: 12 June 2010) Read More