Transport place a very important role in the economic development of the country. How?
Answers
Development can be defined as improving the welfare of a society through appropriate social, political and economic conditions. The expected outcomes are quantitative and qualitative improvements in human capital (e.g. income and education levels) as well as physical capital such infrastructures (utilities, transport, telecommunications).
While in the previous decades, development policies and strategies tended to focus on physical capital, recent years has seen a better balance by including human capital issues. Irrespective of the relative importance of physical versus human capital, development cannot occur without both interacting as infrastructures cannot remain effective without proper operations and maintenance while economic activities cannot take place without an infrastructure base. The highly transactional and service oriented functions of many transport activities underline the complex relationship between its physical and human capital needs. For instance, effective logistics both relies on infrastructures and managerial expertise.
Because of its intensive use of infrastructures, the transport sector is an important component of the economy and a common tool used for development. This is even more so in a global economy where economic opportunities have been increasingly related to the mobility of people, goods and information. A relation between the quantity and quality of transport infrastructure and the level of economic development is apparent. High density transport infrastructure and highly connected networks are commonly associated with high levels of development. When transport systems are efficient, they provide economic and social opportunities and benefits that result in positive multipliers effects such as better accessibility to markets, employment and additional investments. When transport systems are deficient in terms of capacity or reliability, they can have an economic cost such as reduced or missed opportunities and lower quality of life.