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Highway is the major road that connects cities, towns, communities and villages in a given environment. It is usually used for the effective and safe transportation of people and goods over a long distance. Before a highway is constructed in an area, there are factors that are being considered such as expected traffic flow, pavement thickness, intersection or interchange design, maintenance, economic and social benefits, environmental impact assessment, and safety among others. However, here are the five notable highways in the world:

1. The Pan-American Highway

People believe that this highway is the longest in the world. For instance, Wikipedia wrote that the network of the highway in North America is close to 48, 000 km in length. The highway cuts across nations, towns and communities. The highway is a major road network that links two continents: North America and South America together, thereby cutting across different countries such as US, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama in North America while in South America it links Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina. The Pan-American Highway is about 15,000 miles.

2. Australia’s Highway 1

Australia is not just a nation but a continent on its own. Since a highway stands as a major road network linking communities or towns together in an environment, hence, the Australia Highway 1 plays this specific role linking major state capitals across the nation. The Australia Highway 1 connects all the states in Australia from Capital Territory to New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland and Tasmania. The total length of the Highway 1 is estimated to be 14,500 km which is about 9,000 miles. It is known to be the longest national highway in the world.

3. Trans-Siberian Highway in Russia

Russia is a very large and developed country with one of the longest highways in the world. The highway covers not less than 10,000 kilometres from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok and is popularly known as the Trans-Siberian Highway, although the name is yet to be acknowledged by the authorities. The said highway is made up of different roads which include: M10 Russia highway; M5 Ural highway; Irtysh highway; Siberia highway; Baikal highway; Amur highway; and Ussuri highway.

4. Trans-Canada Highway in Canada

It is a national highway in Canada that passes through the 10 provinces of Canada, with a length of 7,821 km which is about 4,860 miles. The Trans-Canada Highway is usually abbreviated to TCH or T-Can. The national highway passes through major cities such as: Victoria, Vancouver, Abbotsford, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Greater Sudbury, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Charlottetown, Fredericton, Moncton, Sydney, and St. John’s.

5. The Golden Quadrilateral Highway in India

This is national highway in India with 5,846 kilometres which is about 3,633 miles road network that links 4 major Indian metropolitan cities. This explains why it was named Golden Quadrilateral, these cities are: Delhi (North), Chennai (South), Kolkata (East) and Mumbai (West). The highway is the largest road project completed in India and the 5^th longest highway in the world. It is also important to note that the GQ highway links all the 13 states in India and it is only the national highway in India. The importance of the highway cannot be overemphasized. Apart from the fact that it provides smooth and faster transport links to cities, ports, industries, India’s cultural centres among others, it also boosts industrial development and job creation. The GQ provides access or connection to the following major cities in India which include: New Delhi, Jaipur, Udaipur, Ajmer (Rajasthan); Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar (Gujarat); Mathura, Varanasi, Agra, Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh); Mumbai and Pune (Maharashtra); Bangalore (Karnataka); Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh); Chennai (Tamil Nadu); Bhubaneswar (Orissa), Kolkata (West Bengal), etc.

Toyota Electric car charging its battery. First and foremost, electric car is an electric vehicle that makes use of rechargeable batteries to move the object in a particular direction through one or more electric motors. The electric vehicle is cost effective when compared to other vehicles. In a bid towards zero-emission vehicles, automobile companies have begun to produce electric vehicles in large numbers. For instance, in 2015, RAV4 EV second generation model sold 2,489 units in California in the United States. By September, 2017, Tesia sold over 250,000 electric vehicles globally; in October 2017, Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi sold over 500,000 electric vehicles, etc. With the increase in the number of electric vehicles sold, there will be charging stations for the public where electric automobiles can be charged. Nissan Automobile is an example of automobile company producing electric cars in the world e.g. Nissan Leaf, Toyota Rav4 electric vehicle, etc. As at 2018, not less than 5.3 million electric vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles were in use throughout the world. Several nations are now planning to stop the use of fossil oil and diesel powered automobiles in the nearest future. Such countries include Norway by 2025; China by 2030; India by 2030; Germany by 2030; France by 2040 and Britain by 2040. However, there are electric vehicles that use other sources of energy, for instance, there’s an electric vehicle that uses solar panel as the source of its energy, it is called solar car.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reveals that over 700 people die every year in road accidents caused by tyre failure. In addition, The National Transportation Safety Board reveals that more than 500 people die while about 19,000 people are injured every year in auto crashes related to tyre failure.However, as motorist here are the safety tips you need to know:

1. Do not delay to replace your tyre, if it is worn out
2. Reduce your speed during rain or wet weather
3. Do not overload your vehicle
4. Carry out regular checks on your vehicle alignment
5. Check your tyre pressure at least twice in a month and more importantly before a long journey.

All motorists are advised through this platform to take the issue of tyre safety more serious.  

In recent years railway transportation has witnessed a phenomenal growth and success in its operations. Its unique qualities and benefits over other modes of public transport contribute to its big success. Many passengers prefer to make use of rail transport for their long and short journeys because it is reliable, faster, economical and also free from heavy traffic. For instance, for both long-distance and sub-urban routes, Indian Railway (IR) operates more than 20,000 passenger trains daily across India. (https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Indian_Railways)   It is also estimated in India that an average 30 million passengers make use of railway transport every day. ( https://www.quora.com › On-average-how-many-people-are-on-the-go-in-a-) According to Wikipedia, in 2018 Amtrak served 31.7 million passengers. With the given figures, it is clear that millions of people around the world make use of railway transport daily. Likewise, rail transport can also be used to move bulk of goods or large percentage of cargoes around the world daily. For instance, between 2012 and 2013, India Railway moved 1,010 million tons of cargo while in 2017, 1,106 billion tons of goods were moved in India (Wikipedia). In Canada in 2018, 34.7 million tons of freight were moved by rail transport (October 2018- Statistics Canada). In 2017, Germany Railway moved 400 million tons of cargoes (The Federal Statistical Office). Needless to say that rail transport plays two key roles as over-land public transport in moving cargo and people in large numbers. However, despite these two key roles and the fact that railway transport is free from traffic jam, yet, it is not free from accidents. Here are rail accidents in 2018:

1. On 16^th October 2018, close to Bouknadel area in Morocco, a passenger train derailed; not more than 7 people died and 125 people were injured.
2. On 19^th October 2018, at the eastern outskirts of Amritsar, Punjab, two Indian passenger trains ran into a gathering of people who came together on the railway track to witness Hindu celebration of Dussehra; not less than 59 people were killed while not less than 100 people were injured.
3. On 4^th October 2018, two trains collided in Cayce, South Carolina, of Columbia. Amtrak Silver Star passenger train from New York City collided with stationary CSX Transportation freight train; 2 people were killed while 116 people were injured.
4. In 2018, Corlu train in Turkey derailed; 24 people died and 276 were injured while 42 people were seriously injured.
5. On 31^st January 2018, an accident occurred at Lanetown Road in Crozet when the Amtrak train known as Congressional Special Train 923 collided with a refuse disposal van at a level crossing. No death or serious injury was recorded.
6. On 4^th January 2018, a train in South Africa derailed after it collided with a truck at a level crossing at Ceneva Station. It was noted that after the derailment, 7 out of the 12 coaches were burnt. However, 21 people were killed in the accident while 254 passengers were injured.
7. On 13^th December 2018, a passenger train collided with a locomotive train in an area close to Yenimahalie in Ankara Province, Turkey. At the occurrence of the accident, 9 people died and 84 people were injured.
8. On 12^th February 2018, two trains collided in Austria at Niklasdorf. The coaches of the two trains derailed leading to the death of a passenger while 22 passengers were injured.
9. On 20^th September 2018, a train collided at a level crossing with a Stint cart at Oss, North Brabant, Netherlands. The occupants of the cart were children; four of them died in the accident while two of them were seriously injured.
10. On 25^th January 2018, a passenger train derailed in Pioltello. Three people died in the accident while 100 people were injured.
11. On 21^st October 2018, a train derailed in Taiwan in an area known as Yilan County. The rail accident killed 18 people and injured 187 passengers.
12. On 24^th July 2018, a railway accident in India at St Thomas Mount Station on Chennai Beach- Tambaram section killed 5 people and injured 4 people. The accident occurred when a wall hit the passenger hanging on the train doors.

Railway accident is often traceable to human error, therefore, safety must not be underestimated in railway operations.

According to a worldwide report, over 3,000 adolescents die every day. In Britain in 2015, road accidents killed 145 people aged 10 to 19 and left 3,166 more seriously injured (BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/health-39920052 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/ras30-reported-casualties-in-road-accidents#table-ras30028).  According to Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 2,715 teenage drivers aged between 13 and 19 died in road accidents in 2015. More so, 2,927 teenagers died in road accidents in 2013. (https://www.aceable.com/safe-driving/teen-car-crash-statistics-2/) Road transportation is the highest killer of teenagers in the world (https://www.bbc.com/news/health-39920052). Looking at the rate of road accidents in our contemporary world, mostly in developing countries, it may be difficult to see another mode of transport that will claim the lives of many innocent people, sending them to their early grave as it is in road transportation. Road transportation is inevitable to all as we are all road users. Therefore, there is the need to confront the problem of high rate of road accidents sending the teens to their early grave, with the kind of road safety education that will develop the skills to make use of the road safely and to develop road safety consciousness at their early age. It is important to design model transformational road safety education for the teens that will be taught throughout their school periods, so the whole mind of the child can develop the skills to consider safety first when making use of the road. The more we teach our children road safety education, the more important it becomes for them to make use of the road safely. When we start to educate the teens on road safety as a subject in their schools, and with a growing understanding of road safety, this will allow acute focus and concentration whenever they are making use of the road, mostly with the kids that go to nearby schools without any adult accompanying them. This kind of model education from primary to secondary school will create waking consciousness in them, whenever they attempt to use the road. Without an element of doubt, schools can be used through transformational road safety education to reduce high rate of road accidents affecting quite a number of teenagers, sending them to their early grave at their tender age. It is high time we realized the importance of using the classrooms to model a civilized society on road safety, where a community of responsible teenagers are raised with a mindset of zero tolerance to high rate of road accidents. Hence, the saying ‘Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.’  

Marine transportation is undoubtedly boosting the growth of industry in the world. The mode is used for transporting the largest number of cargoes or containers across the globe more than any other modes, Millions of containers are moved across the sea virtually every day and no other mode of transport can match its capacity. Import and export of goods in large numbers around the world are made possible to a large extent through sea transportation. The efficacy of maritime transport to increase the growth of industries in the world cannot be underestimated. Industries producing different items in large quantities would prefer their products to be carried to where they are needed beyond their geographical locations. To achieve this purpose transport by sea is a better option than air transport in terms of capacity and affordability. Sea transport is highly cost effective and most importantly its capacity to carry heavy loads or bulk cargoes than any other mode in international transport cannot be overemphasized. Maritime transportation plays an important role in the industrial revolution of any nation and today, world trade growth record cannot be divorced from the impact of sea transportation. However, here are the ways that sea transport has contributed to the growth of industry in the world:

1. It boosts trade expansion on alarge scale.
2. It gives consumersthe benefit of having access to products that are produced by other nations.
3. It is cheaper, thereby reducing the transportation cost that would have increased the cost of production.
4. Regular and efficient maritime transportation is a means to reducing congestion at the sea port. In other words, it can be used to reduce congestion at the sea port.
5. It boosts the nation’s
6. It creates room for globalization. Marine transportation moves larger goods or cargoes from one continent or nation to another.
7. Sea transportation serves as a complement to other modes of transport. Sea ports often serve as a point of loading and off-loading of cargoes.
8. Maritime transport plays a key role in the globalized market. Global freight transportation is a critical element to industrial growth.

Base on the roles sea transport plays in industrial development, it is clear that it is a mode that enhances economic prosperity and quality of life.

Over 15,000 lives are saved in United State each year in road accident because drivers and passengers were wearing seat belts. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In addition, in 2017, out of the 37,133 people died in road accidents, 47%  of them failed to wear the seat belt. Moreover, it was estimated that the use of seat belt saved 14,955 lives in 2017 alone. Source: NHTSA The NHTSA Regional Administrator, Thomas M. Louizou, said: “More than half the drivers and passengers being killed in crashes are not wearing seat belts. That is a major problem.” Seat belt is important to the point that it can save your life in an auto crash. This is one of the major reasons among others why you need to wear your seat belt while driving. However, here are the reasons why you need to wear your seat belt.

1. Some countries make it a law for every motorist.
2. It will help to prevent your face from hitting the windshield, if your car is stopped suddenly.
3. When accident occurs and the car is somersaulted, a seat belt will hold you firm on your seat and keep you from being thrown from the vehicle.
4. It keeps you from hitting against some parts of the vehicle while driving e.g. the door, the car steering wheel and the seat in front of you.
5. The seat belts keep all the occupants e.g. the driver and passengers from hitting into each other, which may cause a serious injury in some accidents.
6. In case of accident, airbags may be useless or ineffective if you fail to wear your seat belt; you may still end up being thrown from the car or hit against its parts e.g. the door, the windshield etc., and passengers. In addition, if you are not wearing your belt your body may not be in the best position that benefits from the protection of an airbag.
7. The use of a seat belt may save your life; this is because death may come as a result from hitting the windshield, being thrown from the vehicle and banging against vehicle parts and passengers.
8. Use of seat still remains the number one vehicle safety device.
9. The use of seat belt helps to protect a pregnant woman and her unborn child in a car. However, the pregnant women are advised to wear the lap belt low, in such a way that it pulls downward on the pelvic bones. In other words, they should not wear it against their abdomen.
10. It does not hurt to use a seat belt.

Without any element of doubt, wearing your seat belt can save you from unwanted accident and untimely death, do not prove otherwise, because your seat belt can be the only savior when accident occur.

At times, there are situations when it will be difficult, if not impossible, for an organization to allocate transport services efficiently to the large quantity of goods or products needed to be transported or moved to the warehouse or where it is needed. Furthermore, increase in production of different products around the world coupled with the importation and exportation of different products or goods by different organizations in the world have created additional and structural complexity of cargoes at the seaports. In such times or situations, logistics becomes inevitable so as to capture and manage the movement of these high volume cargoes or goods. Logistics as a vital industry gives support to organizations in the area of controlling the flow and storage of products or goods of the organization into and out of an enterprise operation. These useful functions of logistics industry make it inevitable to the production and distribution of goods and trade. In simple language, logistics is designed to satisfy customer demands. In other words, logistics management plays an important role in planning, implementing, and controlling the movement and storage of goods and services and any vital related information between the producers or sellers and the buyers with the aim of satisfying the customer demands within a specified time. Logistics boost production, distribution trade and retail activities of an organization. Logistics also involves engaging in the task of supplying needed materials to a particular location and at a particular time to consistently back the production of goods and services. Here are the benefits of logistics to your organization: 1. It prevents extra cost on infrastructure: The establishment of any logistics firm with notable investments in the system and infrastructure to enhance smooth operations in the area of distribution and supply in order to give support to any customer or producing company in the area of storage, movement of materials and goods, thereby helping the producing companies to avoid extra expenses in dedicated facilities or infrastructures. 2. It prevents extra cost on fleet investments and maintenance: Engaging the services of a logistics firm gives production companies enormous relief of using trucks and equipment without bearing the direct cost of purchasing them, maintaining them, employing competent staff and drivers to carry out logistics operation, managing safety measures in compliance with relevant regulations, among others. 3. An economical use of space to reduce freight cost: Two or more customers’ freight going to the same particular area can be matched or arranged together by a logistics firm, in full truckloads, in order to reduce customer’s freight transportation cost. This kind of arrangement is more economical with space, time and resources. 4. Logistics industries carry the burden of responsibility during freight transportation for their various customers. They bear responsibility for compensation or any liability incurred, probably due to goods damaged in transit. 5. High capacity to deliver: Logistics industries are often made up of high professionals and highly skilled staff or personnel and with heavy duty equipment, vehicle fleet and infrastructure that enable them to manage freight transportation and distribution on national and global networks. 6. It serves as a means to reduce congestion at sea ports: Logistics industries have the ability to arrest cargoes congestion at the sea ports. They can move high volume of cargoes consistently to desired locations, thereby arresting undue congestion at the sea ports. 7. It can provide ‘just in time’ services within short notice: Logistics Company can also be used to meet urgent demands or distribution of certain products or material. Nonetheless, with continuous increase in production and international trade, it explains the need for improvement or change in logistics operations and better understanding in the area of inventory management, international customs, currency exchange, security, among others. The big logistics firms such as UPS, DHL, and FedEx among others play an important role in logistics industry. So today we have efficient and safe movement of goods at local, national and international levels through logistics industries. Continuous improvement on safe and timely delivery services are among the core values of logistics services.

It appears that car tyre safety has been overlooked or taken for granted by many motorists who do not care to know much about the tyres on their vehicle.Most motorists lack adequate tyre safety information or tips that can prevent severe accidents. Many drivers, mostly ladies, leave their tyre safety in the hands of roadside vulcanizers who may also be clueless. This may create more chances of severe injury or loss of life for the road users. It is important that your car tyres can save you from untimely death or unwanted injuries,if properly managed with safety. On the other hand, your car tyres can also cause untimely death or unwanted damage if poorly managed and this is the reason why tyre safety is very important, mostly to prevent untimely death and injury. Many road users have undoubtedly lost their precious lives on road accidents due to tyre failure. For instance, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reveals that over 400 deaths occurred every year due to tyre failures or blowouts and 78, 000 crashes occurred every year. The frequency of tyre blowouts is highly worrisome.For instance, tyre blowout statistics also reveals that majority of accidents that occurred from 2005 to 2007, and involving over 2 million vehicles were caused by tyre related issues. Here are tyre safety tips you must know: 1. Know your tyre pressure: Most times, motorists do not take time to know the proper tyre pressure recommended by the manufacturer of their tyres. They leave this importanttyresafetymeasure into the hands of roadside vulcanizers who may also be clueless about it.Motorists must try to know the pressure of their car tyreincluding the spare tyre every month. 2. You must check your tyre tread: A tread worn-out tyre is dangerous because it creates more chances for the tyre to slip or slid which may lead to unwanted accident.The adhesive friction of a tyre on the road surface onwhich it movesmust not be in doubt. Motorists must ensure to check their tyre tread every month. 3. You must maintain proper wheel alignment between the two tyres: This is essential if you want to enjoy the maximum lifespan of your tyre, and stop your vehicle from changing direction suddenly when driving due to imbalanced alignment. Therefore, every motorist needs to balance their vehicle alignment. 4. Always use the tyre size recommended by your vehicle manufacturer: Every manufacturer of any product has useable information about its products to the consumers or users. Such information or warning must not be taken for granted or ignored if you desire to enjoy the product, most especially when the information has to do with safety. 5. Do not use ageing tyre: Every tyre has an expiry date; you need to replace them when due.Using ageing tyres creates more chances for accidents to occur. Life is good and your life is precious; the issue of tyre safety must be a major concern for all motorists than any other category of road users.Every road user must not be ignorant of potential safety hazards that may come as a result of poor tyre management. Every road user must rise up to the task to reduce high rate of accident related to tyre failure. It pays to be safety conscious.

Many people of high caliber and prominent men of worthy character in Nigeria have lost their lives or died young in road accidents involving all kind of haulage trucks. In 2015, a haulage truck caring unlatched container fell on a bus in Illishan, killing 11 occupants that were students of Olabisi Onabanjo University, (OOU), Ogun State and the driver of the said bus. It is also interesting to note that properties worth millions, if not billions, were destroyed in different locations across the country in accidents caused by haulage trucks. For instance, in 2015, not less than 21 vehicles, 44 shops, and 3 houses were thoroughly destroyed by a fire accident caused by a petrol tanker that fell off the bridge in Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos-State. If one single petrol tanker accident destroyed such amount of properties, you can imagine what 2 or more petrol tanker accidents could do to the society. This may probably explain to you why sharing the road with articulated vehicles or petrol tankers still remain worrisome in the heart of many people. According to former Corps Marshall of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Mr. Osita Chidoka, road accident involving tanker drivers and road haulage trucks between January and March 2009 were 2,119 accidents and 301 deaths. The fact that this happened in 3 months is shocking. With this report, it means on the average there were 23 accidents every day and not less than 3 lives were lost every day. In addition, in 2015, the Corps Marshall of FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi, at a stakeholder’s summit noted that in 2013, a total of 21,199 vehicles were involved in crashes in which 1, 495 were tankers or trailer related. However, from the above given statistics by Corps Marshalls, it is clearly noticeable that the rising road accidents involving tanker drivers and haulage trucks and the recorded deaths from these accidents are increasingly worrisome. Nevertheless, there are 3 reasons why high rate of accident involving petrol tankers and haulage trucks couple with high rate of deaths from these avoidable accidents remain worrisome to road users, however, here are the reasons:

1. Near-absence of both commercial and government driving school for articulated vehicles and tanker drivers.  

Training is very important for all haulage and tanker drivers, most especially those that haul hazardous materials that demand special handling skills. In addition, haulage trucks use compressed air brake system that requires additional training and basic knowledge of proper maintenance, otherwise it will be difficult for truckers to operate such vehicles properly. Why? It is because the manner of applying brake in air brake system is quite different from common hydraulic brake system. In fact, in some developed countries you are not allowed to drive any haulage truck that uses air pressure brake system without additional training and license to operate such vehicles. However, since there isn’t enough reputable training schools for tanker drivers and truckers hence, most of them end up being trained by their master (i.e. senior driver) who may also be clueless. Consequently, we have many truck drivers who do not know simple traffic rules and road signs.

2. An unusual life-style of some truck drivers.

Personally, as an individual, I keep wondering about the lifestyle of some of the truck and haulage drivers. Some of them prefer to be on the road for more than 24 hours probably to make more money. In other words, when it is time for them to rest they hardly go to their houses to rest. They prefer to sleep on the road, buy food on the road and when they are sick they buy drugs from drug hawkers instead of going to hospital or a reputable pharmacy store to get good drugs. And at times they engaged in self medications. In addition, some of these truckers see alcoholic drinks as a normal drink for refreshment; hence, you see them moving around with bottles of alcohol or alcohol sachet; painfully enough, they see it as normal lifestyle for them to drink alcohol before driving. What a misconception! Hence, you see many of them driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. This is highly worrisome. More so, high level of indiscipline coupled with wrong attitude towards public safety and trespass or infringement on the right of other motorists are also responsible for high rate of accident involving tanker and haulage drivers. All of these are undesirable lifestyle common among tanker and haulage drivers.

3. Poor safety consciousness on the part of truck owners and truck drivers.

Every time I travel through Lagos-Ibadan expressway I always marvel at my observations: if you travel on the said expressway you will see quite a number of haulage truck accidents. At times you see trucks fall on the road like a piece of paper. At times you will see 2 or more trailers entering the bush probably as a result of brake failure or the driver sleeping behind the wheel. I wonder if all these trucks are properly maintained before they are used and I also wonder if all these truckers are safety conscious. Truly speaking, lack of safety consciousness among the truck and tanker drivers is highly worrisome. Furthermore, it also baffles me when I see unlatch containers dangerously placed on an articulated vehicles, and the driver moves such vehicle freely on the road without being checked by the traffic regulatory agencies such as the Police, the FRSC and the State Vehicle Inspection Office. A significant number of road accidents on our roads are caused by unlatched containers that fell off the trucks. For instance, on July 12, there was an accident involving a petroleum tanker which crushed 3 cars, not less than 100 people died in that accident in Okogbe area of Rivers State. On Christmas Day in 2013 a woman with her 4 children and 5 other people were killed when a container fell on a stationary commuter bus at Alaba Suru, in Lagos. In addition, on May 21, 2014, the brake of a truck carrying unlatched container failed and the container fell on a moving bus at Toyota Bus-Stop on Oshodi-Apapa expressway, Lagos; no death was recorded from the incident but the drivers were seriously injured. More so, on September 3, 2015, a truck carrying a container fell on Ojuelegba Bridge on Funsho Williams Avenue in Lagos and landed on a Sport Utility Vehicle, (SUV), 3 people died in this sad accident. All the above given accidents probably would have been avoidable accidents if safety was fully considered by the truckers before they embarked on the journey. Really, if we all see road safety as our top priority and inevitable responsibility of all road users, then catalogue of accidents and deaths on our road transport system will definitely reduce. Without any element of doubt, poor safety attitude on the part of the truck drivers has increased the rate of accident on our roads. Nonetheless, it is important to note that the number of registered vehicles operating on Nigerian roads is increasing day by day. It is also noted, that not less than 7 million registered vehicles are currently operating on Nigerian roads (Source: FRSC). This shows that the majority of Nigerians rely much more on road transport system for their mobility needs. A senior rank officer in FRSC, Mr. Lukan U. Ukpi, stated that road transport accounted for over 75% of mobility needs in Nigeria. More so, lack of effective rail transport system and high cost of travel by air transport have increased much pressure on road transport system in Nigeria and as a result of this, hardly will you see a day growing old without occurrence of road accident on our national roads. Since majority of Nigerians depend on road transportation for their mobility, hence, there is an urgent need to tackle the high rate of accident and death caused by haulage trucks and petroleum tankers. Government should encourage and establish more driving schools for trucks and haulage drivers; the unusual life style of truck drivers should also be checked; minimum safety standard and appropriate sanction for default must not be compromised. These among others are the ways to reduce catalogue of unwanted accidents and avoidable deaths caused by haulage trucks and tanker drivers on our roads, otherwise, sharing roads with them may be hellish.

You must know the tire in your car. In fact, you are at risk if you don’t know the tires that move you around, l personally asked some drivers or motorist two or more questions about their car tires but, their response to my questions show to me that their car tires may put them at risk or bring to them untimely death. Why? It is because they lack adequate knowledge on the tires that move them around. It is unfortunate that most drivers don’t have any vital information on the round black objects that move them around. Such motorists or drivers may pose a high risk on themselves and other road users that is why it is important for you as a motorist to know much about the tires on your car. Here is some of the important information you need to know: M/S; M+S; MS or M&S: When you see any of these letters on your tire it means such tire has the ability to move your vehicle on a snow and muddy area, with these letters on your tires show that the tires meet the Rubber Manufacture Association guidelines for mud and snow tire. The Tire Width: 235 is the width of a tire measure in millimeters (mm). It is usually measure from sidewall to sidewall. However, the measurement is determined by the size of the rim. The Tire Aspect Ratio: Aspect ratio is a number that shows the height of the tire from the head to the top of the tread. This is always expressed in percentage of the width. For example, if the aspect ratio of a tire is 75 then the height of the tire is 75% of the given width i.e. (7 5×235/100) =176.25mm. Therefore, the aspect ratio is 175.25mm; hence, the smaller the aspect ratio the wider the tire in relation to is height. The Tire Traction: Tire traction is usually rated as AA; A; B or C. AA is the highest grade in the rating follow by A, B and C respectively. This rating base on the tire ability to stop a car on wet concrete or asphalt, however, when you see a tire carrying any of these letters on its sidewall, it is simply, showing the tire traction ability of the tire. It is usually written like this on the tire Traction AA; Traction A; Traction B or Traction

1. Temperature: The tire temperature rating is a measure of how well the tire dissipates heat and how well it handles the buildup of heat. The temperature grade is applied to a properly inflated tire that is not over loaded. However, overloading, under inflation or excessive speed are all notable factors that can make your tire to build up heat and excessive heat build up on your tire can cause your tire to wear out faster and it may even lead to tire failure. It is important to note that, tire temperature is usually rated as A, B or C. So when you check the side wall of your tire and you see any of these following: Temperature A or Temperature B or Temperature C. It simply shows you the temperature ability of the tire.

The Tread Wear: First and foremost, please note that the higher the tread wear number the longer you can expect the tread to last. Before the tread numbers can be generated, the tire must be tested in controlled conditions on government test track. However, since no one will be expected to drive his or her own car on exactly, the same surface at the same speed as the government testing track then, the numbers are not accurate indicator of how long your tread will actually last, but it is a good relative measure, therefore you can expect the tire that carries or has lager number to last longer than the one with smaller number. However, the tread wear number is usually written on the tire side wall like this: Tread wear 440 etc. Service Description: The service description of a tire consists of two major areas which are Load rating and Speed rating.

• Load Rating: This is also a number correlates to the maximum load rated for the tire. It shows to us the maximum Kg that a tire can carry. Therefore, a higher number means that the tire has the higher loading capacity. Nevertheless, a separate note on the tire usually written after the loading rating indicates the loading rating of your tire at a given inflation pressure. E.g.

Max. Load 880 kg (35-psi) Max. Press. Standard load This is an example of how the load rating and the recommended air pressure are written on your tires. Speed Rating: The letter that follows the load rating indicates the maximum speed allowable for such tire as long as the weight is at or below the rated load. For instance, letter S indicates that the tire can handle speed up to 112 mph i.e. (180.246 kph). The Tire Manufacturing Date: Whenever you want to buy or get a new tire, one of the first things you need to consider or look for is the manufacturing date of the tire you want to buy. This is because a tire is expected to expire after six (6) of its production or manufacturing date. It does not matter whether such tire is used or not, a tire expires after six (6) year of production. Why? It is because tires deteriorate naturally day after day and at the expiration of six (6) years the quality of such tires must have reduced drastically. Hence, it is possible to buy a brand new tire that has not been used before which is indeed an expired tire from the store or seller, that is why you need to check the manufacturing date of the tire before buying it. How to Check a Tire Manufacturing Date: If you do not know how to check the date from the sidewall of a tire you may end up buying an expired tire. However, the tire manufacturing date is usually different from the common way we are used to write date of an event. For example the date is usually written like this (1012) or (1314) or (3613) etc. However, it is important to note that the first two figures refer to the week of production while the last two figures refer to the year of production. For instance, (1012) means 10^th (tenth) week of the year 2012, (3613) means 36^th week of the year 2013, etc. Therefore, if the manufacturing date of a tire is (1314) such tire is expected to expire after six (6) years of the said date which is (1320).

Transport economics is one of the most interesting courses I underwent as a university undergraduate in the department of Transport Planning and Management. It is a comprehensive economic knowledge that focuses on efficient transport operation with less expenditure in order to strengthen the nation’s economy. Transport history reveals that transport, as it were, is as old as the existence of man’s creation on earth. Then, the personal and biological responsibility of man to search for his needs, mostly his daily food, could not be fully realized without an element of transport for his mobility; and the only relevant means of transport then was walking. Till now, walking still remains an indispensable and unique means of mobility. Truly speaking, it is difficult, if not impossible, to see a man who would engage in any activity without walking or without the use of any transport element. However, a report of the economic activities of any given country is not complete without notable reference to the impact of transportation on the nation at large. The various demands for transport and the supply of transport facilities or resources such as road transportation network, rail tracks, ports as well as vehicle and vessels to meet such demands play a notable part in building and strengthening both rural and urban economy. It is also a notable factor in the development of other resources. These explain the need for transport economics. In addition, the activities through which goods and services are produced, sold and bought within and outside a country cannot be possible without the element of transportation. Transportation gives undeniable support to production and trade in any region of a nation; therefore, the significance of transport economics cannot be overlooked in building a nation’s economy. What is Transport Economics? In economics, there are various areas of knowledge developed to solve various economic problems in different disciplines with the main focus to strengthen the national economy. For better understanding, these developed areas of economic knowledge are worthy of mention, and they include Industrial Economics, Agricultural Economics, National Economic Planning, Public Finance Economics, International Economics, Behavioural Economics, Ecological Economics, Environmental Economics, Health Economics, Information Economics, Monetary Economics, Population Economics, Urban Economics, among others. However, the question still remains: What is Transport Economics? Transportation is concerned with the movement of people, goods and services from one place to another; while economics on the other hand is concerned with resources allocation. Therefore, transport economics is concerned with the careful allotment and efficient use of transport resources to meet various specific transport demands in the society or within an organization. Transport economics aims to find maximum-value-use and less expenditure of all transport resources and infrastructure such as roads, vehicles, rail tracks, vessels, ports, railway stations, rail yards, signal systems, ships, airports, traffic control systems, etc., to meet particular or various transport demands. The transport sector is faced with various factors that could affect its growth such as congestion, competition, shortage and poor infrastructure, political barrier, to mention a few. Hence, the need to apply economics as an effective means to tackle the various factors that can inhibit the growth of the transport sector becomes inevitable. In essence, transport economics is a mechanism or tool that can be used to ensure the efficient use of different modes of transport so as to have better advantage from transportation and to strengthen the economy of a nation at local, regional, national and international levels. In the world today, the transport sector remains the largest employer of labour as well as the largest industrial sector in the world, yet there are various problems that the transport industries and the transport consumers encounter during transport operations such as: high cost of freight transportation, rise and fall of air transport fares, keen competition and struggle to survive among transport industries of the same mode, high cost of aircraft fuel, undue cargo delay at seaport, undue passenger queue and delay at airport, bus stop and train station, high cost of running transport industry, to mention but few. However, it is noteworthy that transport economics is that branch of economics that provides strategic solution to these problems. In order to gain maximum benefits from the transport sector and its operations, transport economics provide optimal economic management techniques to transport operations, organizational decision making, freight and passenger transportation, scientific organization of labour and wages, economic methods for measuring expenditures and economic impact or results in transport operation, etc. to the operation of all transport modes. These include rail transport, air transport, maritime transport, river transport, road transport and pipelines transport. Transport economics is the area of economic knowledge designed to improve transportation. Transport economics experts develop scientific transport recommendations that can be extensively used to solve important transport problems and also help to relieve the transport system or sector of excessive work with little impact. Importance of Transport Economics and Skills

1. Transport economics experts acquire the ability to collect, analyze, organize and critically evaluate information pertaining to the transport industry.
2. Experts in transport economics also acquire the ability to identify and solve transport issues through creative thinking.
3. Transport economics experts are trained to evaluate economic policies that affect the transport sector.
4. Transport economics helps to understand political barriers that can inhibit transport operations.
5. Transport economics also contribute to economic development of a nation through job creation.
6. Transport economics makes economic activities possible through the efficient use of transport and also serves as a branch of economic knowledge to boost transport operations.
7. Transport economics can be used to support full multimodal transport operations and to also enhance transport capital development projects such as ports, rail track network, railway stations, among others.
8. Transport economics experts are equipped with training, skills and experience which enable them to identify the best measures to achieve certain transport goals or targets.
9. Transport economics ensures that the comprehensive benefits of transport investment accrues to all transport users rather than only direct users which has been the common practice in some transport sectors with a limited focus that ignores many potential benefits for transport users or transport service consumers at large.
10. It is important to stress that transport economics as a branch of knowledge in the field of economics is also designed to provide transport support to other economic branches of knowledge like Industrial Economics, Agricultural Economics, Health Economics, Labour Economics, etc. Hence the saying, ‘The thumb is a little finger that touches the other fingers’. Indeed, transport economics is a thumb that touches other areas of economic knowledge for efficiency.
11. Transport economics unit in any organization may also be concerned with providing reliable measures supported by quality data gathered to provide a sound basis for decision-making.
12. Transport economics unit can also undertake the task of combining and comparing results from different economic evaluation and estimation techniques so as to use as a tool for proper transport operation planning and management.
13. Transport economics unit can be saddled with the responsibility of conducting economic analysis of transport impacts and cost benefits assessment from types of investments made on transportation as well as measuring the effects on transport users.

In conclusion, transport infrastructure and transport providers are two key important factors for the transport sector to function. However, due to the increase in demand for transport services, there is also an increase in problems associated with transport services such as congestion, pollution, road accident, rail collision, rail derailment, cargo delay, etc. Therefore, the need to understand and to satisfy the high demand for transport services while reducing the expenditures and its associated risks to the barest minimum makes transport economics to remain most crucial.    

Source: picssr.com There are different modes of transport viz: Rail transportation, Sea Transportation, Air transportation, Road transportation and Pipeline transportation. However, in road transportation we have three (3) transport systems which are Road transport system, Rail transport system and monorail transport system, in all of these transport modes and systems, monorail is the most unpopular overland transport in developing countries. The Characteristic of Monorail Monorail is normally elevated above traffic, above congestion, above pedestrian and above vehicles. In fact, its grade is separated from surface traffic of all kinds, cars, trucks, trains, people, bicycle, motorcycle and so on. So that monorail can run without any interference from other means of transport thereby, improving traffic flow and reducing the accident rate. These are part of the uniqueness of monorail. Monorail the Safest Transport System In addition, monorail is the safest transport system because of its grade separation. It cannot for any reason whatsoever collide with cars or other vehicles or run over people or bicycles. In fact, people can ride bike or walk without having to look out for on coming vehicles or train as the case may be for any pedestrian who intends to cross the road or railway track. Monorail actually wraps around single ‘rail’ and it cannot derail like I said. Indeed, it is the safest transport for now in the world. It has a low accident rate when you compare it to other transport modes. For instance, the first fatal monorail accident occurred on the 5^th of July, 2009, at Walt Disney World in Florida. In fact, it is first fatal accident ever happened in the 38 year history of the monorail system. You can imagine it yourself the number of accidents that might occurred in other modes of transport in 38 years. Therefore, my earlier assertion that monorail is the safest transport system is not a gain saying but a stark truth. No Noise Pollution in Monorail Transport More so, monorail does not make any noise on motion unlike cars, articulated vehicles (trailers), buses, air crafts and so on. In fact, it is the most quiet overland transport. It does not produce any harmful noise like that of automobiles or jet airplanes in an environment. Do you know that the noise produced by vehicles and air crafts can be annoying or disturbing a man in his environment? But monorail transport system does not produce such undesirable noise. It is environmental friendly. Monorail uses Electricity not Fuel. It is also important to let you know that monorail is electrically powered therefore; a standby power supply is usually made available for its operations. Since it is powered by electricity it does not pollute our environments as we have in road transport and air craft. Hence, it supports the green environment program. However, monorail does not take a wide space as any one may think; its line can be placed in the street within a space of 4 or 5 feet Column. Monorail a Viable Public Transport However, monorail has the capability to move large number of goods and people far more than what a luxurious bus can carry at once without interfering with any other land transport. Indeed, it is a good form of macro transportation. For instance, Walt Disney World monorail transport system in Florida, has one of the highest ridership in the world, it offers service to over 100,000 passengers in each day operations. Nonetheless, the use of monorail as public transport system in urban cities makes the most economical sense of all over land transport. Increasing its usage is a better means of contributing to healthier environment as well as reducing road accidents and rail collision.

Out of other modes of transport, air transport remains the number one choice of many travellers who would like to move from one nation to another or travel across continents. Its unique quality in providing safe and very fast transport services to thousands of people daily, mostly the businessmen, by linking them to where there are business opportunities in different locations around the world makes it the most preferable transport mode for international travellers. For instance, in 2016, globally air transport accounted for 3.6 billion passengers which is 48 per cent of the world population. (Source: NCAA Profile Oct. 2014-Oct. 2016) The role of the aviation industry in the economy of any nation cannot be overemphasized; its enormous contributions to both domestic and international trade have led to the economic growth and development of many nations in the world. Besides, it is also a notable source of employment as the aviation industry includes all airlines, airports, air navigation and other important ground services that make air transport operations possible; they are all sources of notable employment for unemployed people. Furthermore, air transport plays an important role in the global economy by enhancing world productivity, and providing links to expand different markets for companies to operate. These important roles, among others, make air transport indispensable. Hence, the need to make air transport safer is the fundamental duty of aviation industries and the International Civil Aviation Organization. However, there are three distinctive factors why air transport is safer than other modes of transport. These factors are easily noticeable in the daily operations of all aviation industries in the world. They are: 1. Safety; 2. Security; and 3. Enforcement of Regulations and Procedures. Safety In the aviation industry safety policy is inevitable. It is the most important issue; the beginning and the end of its daily operations. In fact, meeting the flyer’s expectation is a top priority in the aviation industry. Safety in aviation refers to a state in which risks associated with air transport are reduced to zero or to the barest minimum. There is no gainsaying that all activities in the aviation industry are embedded in safety policy, no aviation industry will like to take the issue of safety for granted. For instance, on 18 July 2012, the African Ministerial Meeting on Aviation Safety held in Abuja, Nigeria, was focused on air transport safety, where the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) encouraged all aviation ministers in Africa to endorse and adopt the Africa Strategic Improvement Action Plan. This plan is meant to improve safety in aviation industries in all African countries. (Source: https://www.icao.int/Newsroom/Pages/strategic-action-plan-to-improve-aviation-safety-in-Africa.aspx) Therefore, there is no continent in any part of the world where air transport safety should be taken for granted. It is a top priority in the aviation industry and till now, no other transport mode does it better than the aviation industry. Furthermore, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has come up with programmes to maintain regular safety operations in air transport, two of such are Aviation Safety Implementation Assistance Partnership (ASIAP) which was established in February 2015 and Safety Fund (SAFE). The Aviation Safety Assistance Partnership (ASIAP) was created purposely to provide reasonable assistance to different nations in sharing safety information, giving attention to the most important needs; jointly work with other nations in assistance activities; support a resource mobilization strategy and agree on outcome indicators. In simple language, ASIAP aims to ensure the safety of operations in the aviation industry. Safety Fund (SAFE): Is another safety programme under ICAO for aviation industries. SAFE’s priority is to improve air transport safety around the world through gathered fund. There are nations mostly in the developing countries that have no financial capability to tackle serious safety inadequacies in their aviation industries. This justifies the reason SAFE was established so as to rescue aviation industries in such countries through donors and voluntary contributions from different nations. By and large, air transport safety is a top priority in the aviation industry, therefore, all airlines, aircraft manufacturers, ICAO, IATA and government regulators in different countries are all in collaboration to avoid any safety problem that may jeopardize an aircraft’s ability to fly safely. Security Adequate security is another notable factor that makes air transport safer than other modes of transport. In aviation, security is the set of measures and resources that are used to prevent any malicious act such as terrorism, robbery, among others, against the smooth operation of air transport. In other words, security in aviation refers to all acts of illicit obstruction against civil aviation. One of the functions of ICAO is to prevent or reduce all unwanted acts of unlawful interference against civil aviation. However, there is a form referred to as Official Report on Acts of Unlawful Interference for all ICAO member states in different languages and as at November 2017, ICAO had 192 members. (Source: Wikipedia) The form is meant to report any form of attack on air transport operations. This shows how important the issue of security is in the aviation industry. Due to the importance of the aviation industry to a nation’s economy, governments in different countries are also in collaboration with aviation industries to provide adequate security measures for the industry. For instance, the US government established Department of Homeland Security while the department also established Transport Security Authority (TSA) to manage security measures in the aviation industry. Security against liquids, aerosol and gel materials: Another area of security concern that makes air travel safer is the area where flyers are checked to make sure they are not carrying liquid explosive substances or illegal materials into theaircraft. The use  of liquid explosives is now a notable aviation security concern, hence, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has come up with guidelines on security controls for Liquids, Aerosol and Gels (LAGs). Liquids are non-solid materials and aerosol is a substance usually kept under pressure in a container, which can be released or dispensed as a spray when a button is pressed while gel is also a substance that often looks like jelly. However, in 2006, a terrorist plot was discovered when the terrorist tried to smuggle an improvised explosive device into an aircraft by carrying dangerous substances that looks like ordinary LAGs i.e. liquid, aerosol and gel. This explains why ICAO in October 2008 provided guidance material to ensure that the security control guidelines for LAGs are implemented harmoniously in all aviation industries in the world. Indeed, security is a serious matter in air transport. Cyber-security: This is another issue of concern for all relevant stakeholders in the aviation industry. Vital information in the aviation industry needs to be highly protected from any unlawful interference, so as to make air transport safer. However, civil aviation cyber-security refers to measures taken to protect civil aviation information storage in electronic systems against any unauthorized access or attack by cyber-criminals. As a matter of fact, civil aviation relies so much on information and communications technology (ICT) systems for efficient safety and smooth air transport operations, hence, the need to protect confidential information against cyber threats calls for adequate security for the ICT systems in aviation. Furthermore, after the ugly incident of September 11 2001 in the US, all stakeholders in aviation industries have been able to reach an agreement to put strong security measures in place that apparently frustrated the unlawful acts from criminal actors that would have made another big noise in the world. Nevertheless, in 2013, an Industry High-level Group (IHLG) was created by stakeholders in the aviation industry which include International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); the Airports Council International (ACI); the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO); the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as well as the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Association (ICCAIA). It was created purposely as a tool to work for the benefit of all stakeholders on important matters or signify issues of common interest to aviation industries such as aviation cyber-security. The Industry High- level Group (IHLG) is expected to protect civil aviation from any form of cyber threats. Truly speaking, in all modes of transport, air transport is second to none in the area of safety and security. Enforcement of Regulations and Procedures The strong enforcement of regulations and procedures by airport authorities is one of the reasons why air transport is safer for flyers. The enforcement of improved regulations and smart procedures, to as well align with ICAO standards, is a notable way for an airline’s growth and sustainability. It is my personal opinion that, if airports are going to be well positioned to play a significant role in supporting the aviation sector in the area of safety and security, a strong enforcement of safety regulations and procedures must not be undermined. The inspection of aircraft worthiness; the pilots, engineers, cabin staff and crew’s fitness in compliance with relevant regulations and procedures mostly in respect of alcohol consumption, drug use, crew rest time, carrying out pre-flight inspection procedure by using the prescribed checklist; entering of defects in the aircraft technical logbook, maintenance with approved techniques, methods and practice, regularities in maintenance procedures and records, flying aircrafts before expiration of flight clearance and so on, must not be compromised. Otherwise, increase in the violation of civil aviation regulations and procedures by airlines, pilots, engineers and cabin crew that can jeopardize the safety and smooth operation of air transport will be inevitable. However, air transport authorities understand the high risk involved in the violation of air transport regulations and procedures. Hence, to ensure compliance, violators can be sanctioned and such sanctions could be strict warning, suspension, fines, outright cancellation of airworthiness certificates, withdrawal of license as well as grounding of aircrafts among others. For instance, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) in Australia sanctioned an individual pilot and airline for violating civil aviation regulations and procedures. The following are examples of recent enforcement decisions by CASA in Australia: On 12 July 2018, ‘Investigations conducted by CASA revealed that the pilot had knowingly operated an aircraft with major damage following a landing incident. This conduct was in contravention of multiple provisions of the Civil Aviation Act including 20A and 20AA(4). The pilot’s conduct was considered to be more serious in this instance because this was the second recent occasion in which he had been found deliberately flying an aircraft without satisfying applicable airworthiness requirements. Being satisfied that the pilot had failed to properly discharge his duties as a pilot and was not therefore, a fit and proper person to be the holder of a PPL, a delegate of CASA decided to cancel the pilot’s PPL pursuant to regulation 269 of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988.’ Note: PPL means Private Pilot License-Aeroplane. This means the license to operate private aircraft was cancelled. On 21 March 2018, ‘Investigations conducted by CASA in the wake of a fatal accident in 2017 revealed that the conduct of the accident flight by the pilot involved significant and dangerous non-compliance with the aviation legislation including conduct regarded as reckless and/or negligent, contrary to section 20A of the Civil Aviation Act and regulation 282(4) of the Civil Aviation Regulations. Being satisfied that the pilot had failed to properly discharge his duties as a pilot and was not, therefore, a fit and proper person to be the holder of a PPL or a CPL, a delegate of CASA decided to cancel the pilot’s PPL and CPL pursuant to regulation 269 of the Civil Aviation Regulations.’ Note: PPL means Private Pilot License-Aeroplane CPL means Commercial Pilot License-Aeroplane. It means the pilot’s 2 licenses to operate both private and commercial aircrafts were cancelled. On 30 June 2017, ‘An investigation into the circumstances surrounding a fatal crash of an R44 helicopter near Cape Tribulation in North Queensland in April 2016 revealed that the pilot had contravened a number of provisions of the aviation legislation. This included flying after dark without an appropriate rating, flying without a valid medical certificate and engaging in reckless operation of an aircraft. The pilot’s PPL-H was cancelled under the provisions of sub regulation 269(1) of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988.’ Note: PPL-H means Private Pilot License-Helicopter. It means its license to operate private helicopter was cancelled. Source: https://www.casa.gov.au/enforcement-action/standard-page/decisions- suspensions-and-cancellations Furthermore, my observation reveals that, failure of airport authorities to enforce regulations and procedures that will ensure high rate of compliance of all parties concerned in air transport industries may also increase the flyers’ right abuse. It is worthy to note that many flyers have suffered their worst right abuse in the hands of airline operators probably due to the lack of regulation of air transport industries on the issue of consumer protection or poor enforcement of such regulations, for  instance, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. These two airlines cheated their passengers worldwide between 2004 and 2006 with hidden charges. When it was discovered by US regulatory authorities, the airlines refunded all its cheated passengers in the US and Europe but refused to refund the over 300,000 Nigerian passengers who suffered the same hidden charges on the grounds that Nigeria had no consumer protection law that they violated. In fact, they argued that even Aviation Act 2006 was not in place. (Source: NCAA Regulatory Profile) Having gone through the above paragraphs, I hope you will also agree with me that air transport is safer than other modes of transport.

  If one examines the social and economic impact of road transportation in any given nation, it will not be an over statement to say it’s a notable factor for national development. This is so because of its great flexibility that leads to enormous contribution to the rapid, social and economic development in our rural communities and urban areas. However, using land transportation to increase trade flows across borders of neighboring countries has a lot of benefits for such countries. Why? I guess you may want to ask, firstly, trade as it were has great potential to create wealth; to reduce poverty and to sustain economic growth, while land transportation on the other hand plays a key role in production and distribution of goods and services as well as, creating employment for many people. This means road transportation as it were, plays both direct and indirect roles to reduce poverty and to sustain economic growth. So, due to the enormous contribution of road transportation to national development of any nation in the world, hence, the need for international road transportation between neighboring countries to boost international trade on domestically produced products of good quality becomes inevitable. Governments of these neighboring countries realizing the important need to take the advantage of their proximity to complement each other with their peculiar products so as to boost their economy. The issue of economic growth must be a matter of concern to any serious government. Having realized this fact hence, the comparative means of transport to achieve this goal is international road transportation. So, what is International Road Transportation? International road transport refers to land transportation between two or more neighboring countries. It can also be seen as trans-border road transportation. In other words, it is the movement of people and goods among countries that share common borders through roads agreed by the neighboring countries for their international transportation. Better still, it is the movement of goods and people by road transport across national boundaries of neighboring countries. However, all vehicles used in roads territorial boundaries are expected to meet the requirements of traffic rule and standards set by neighboring countries. Such agreement may include the size, the weight, type of goods allowed, width of the vehicle, joint acknowledgement of driver licenses etc Why is it the Most Preferable Mode among Neighboring Countries? There are reasons why land transportation is judged as the best mode for international transportation among other modes, here are the reasons: For instance, Sea transport is cheaper but very slow when you compare it to road transport while air transport is very fast but much costlier than road transport, likewise, rail is also cheaper than road transport but not as flexible as road transport that has the quality to offer door-to-door services therefore, only the road transport has comparative advantage over other modes although, it’s not cheaper than sea and rail transport yet it’s not as cost as air transport. Also time sensitivity is another notable advantage of road transport over other modes of transportation. Even though it is not as fast as air transport yet because of its flexibility it’s comparatively faster than other transport modes. For instance, sea and air transport operations end in their ports while rail transport also ends in railway station hence, clearing of goods, loading, off loading and other related activities at the ports and railway station delay the movement of goods to the last destination and none of them has the quality to provide door-to-door transport services like road transport. Another uniqueness of road transport is that, it is the only transport mode that can complement other modes of transport. Examples of Countries that Share Common Road across-border There are countries with bilateral agreement to share common road that links 2 or more countries together, here are few examples:

1. China and Mongolia
2. Mongolia and Russian Federation
3. Mongolia and Republic of Kazakhstan

Source: Ministry of Road and Transport Mongolia

4. China and Kazakhstan
5. China and Uzbekistan
6. China and Kyrgyzstan
7. China and Tajikistan
8. China and Russia
9. China; Pakistan; Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
10. China, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan

Source: The introduction of International Road Transport Agreements of China: Ministry of Transport of China, Mar. 25, 2015. Many neighboring nations realizing the need to complement each other well with their peculiar products and also to enhance economic cooperation among themselves, these among other reasons justify the need for cheap, fast and timely or ‘just in time’ transport services to move their quality domestic products across borders therefore; the most suitable solution to achieve this is international road transport. It is interesting to note that no government of any nation in the world has sufficiently developed to offer employment to all its unemployed citizens; this explains why we have high number of unemployed youths in different parts of the world especially in developing countries. So, the issue of unemployment is a universal problem, therefore, international road transportation is a notable solution to unemployment because it will definitely aid production and international trade thereby, providing both direct and indirect job opportunities to many citizens.

There are several people around the world living in rural communities where half of them are peasant farmers. Such people mostly in Africa rely most on oldest form of transportation which is walking or trekking, this form of transport limit them to access social amenities while also increase the level of poverty among them, these among others are the likely problems people living in rural areas are likely to face. To this end, introduction of road transport system in rural areas is a major solution for a sustained socio-economic development in such communities; more so, it’s an important means to enhance national integration. However, here are the benefits of providing road transport in rural areas:

1. It increases access to market centers, wherefore, encouraging commercial farming activities.
2. Access to several rural areas is a sign of improved road network resulting into higher availability of farm inputs at a low price.
3. It brings about employment opportunities.
4. It increases access to social amenities.
5. It plays a vital role of promoting development in rural communities.
6. It promotes national integration.
7. It is a tool for poverty alleviation.
8. It provides continuity in moving people and agric produce from rural communities to urban areas.
9. It provides the farmer the opportunity to quickly move perishable commodities to the market centers or places where they are needed.
10. It promotes sense of belonging.

Nevertheless, one of the major cause of poverty in rural communities is lack of access to good road transportation, therefore, having read this article, it is understandable that, access to good road transportation is a notable factor to develop rural communities.

The important of transportation at large for economic development of any nation cannot be over emphasized. Without transportation it is difficult if not impossible for a nation to develop, in fact, good transport infrastructures and road network that lead to transport efficiency is a sign of a developed nation. However, as important as all modes of transport are to the economic development of a nation, it is important to note that road transportation still plays an important or unique role to other modes of transportation. Road Transportation and Its Uniqueness Transport modes provide people the opportunity to choose a suitable mode for their journey or products, but road transportation does not only provides opportunity for people to choose rather with good road network, it also complements other modes of transport. This makes it the only indispensable mode to other modes of transport, no any other modes has the keen competitive quality and capacity to perform this significant role of road transport, as to provide extra mile to complete any journey made by other modes of transport. For instance, traveling by air begins and ends at air port; traveling by sea begins and ends at sea port; traveling by railway begin and ends at railway station and while journey on inland waterway begins and ends at jetty or water wharf. However, most of these transport modes lack the capacity to provide door-to-door transport services to passengers hence, road transport provides this extra-mile transport needs to complement each mode, this shows the uniqueness of road transportation. Truly speaking road transport plays vital roles by facilitating movement of people and materials, helping trade and commerce, linking industry and agriculture to market places and open-up of new settlements and more importantly, providing transport needs or services to complement other modes of transport. Nevertheless, as it is noted earlier, good road network is needed to enhance growth and development, therefore, no successful enterprise or developed nation without efficient use of road transportation.

Source: TexasMonthly There’s no doubt to say transportation modes on land are playing key role in complementing other modes of transport such as air transport, sea/water transport or pipeline transport and as well as boosting the economic growth of any given nation.Overland transport modes are majorly road and railway transportations and both are fully operated on land and in case of emergency, they play important role in mass evacuation of people and goods. For instance, if there’s natural disaster or threat in an area overland transport can be used for rapid mass evacuation of people and goods. However, because of the importance of this two land transportation modes to a nation and their various users, there’s need for government and freight industries to improve the freight security and efficiency of overland transports in many ways such as road transport, rail transport, traffic management, track maintenance, mobility, level crossing safety measures to mention but a few. One of the major problems among others facing rail and road transportation is security, this is because the two transport modes are commonly used as tools by criminals to carry out their evil works. This explains the need for innovative security services relating to both road and rail transportation that will enable their operations safer for various users. It’s important to know that the two transport modes are the major easy target for criminals like kidnapper, terrorist, armed robbers and so on. Due to increase in this menace the Transport Security Administration (TSA) has warned both transport and freight industries against terrorists hijacking trucks and driving to the crowd to cause weapon of mass destruction. For instance, The Transport Security Administration reveals that within 3 years vehicles were hijacked and used in 17 times to kill 173 people while 665 people were injured. Likewise, in Nice, France, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhel drove a tractor trailer into a gathering celebrating Bastille Day, killing 87 people including children and injured more than 400 people. In March 29, 2010, there was “A double suicide bombing at Lubyanka and Park kultury stations of the Moscow Metro killing 40 people while 102 people were injured.” Source: Wikipedia. Likewise, on March 22, 2016, in Belgium, there was suicide bomb attack at Maalbeek metro station in Brussels which caused the death of 20 people and 200 people were injured. Source: Wikipedia. Having read the above data you will note that overland transport modes are commonly used by the criminals hence, the need to increase focus on land transportation security such as surveillance on road and railways becomes inevitable. Another reason for physical security in overland transportations is that they are mostly used for illegal transactions across the borders such as illegal drugs, weapons, piracy, illegal immigration and so on.Bus and rail terminals are locations where passengers and freights are assembled in large number for immediate transportation and at such places safety and physical and freight security should be a major concern for transport and freight industries. Why? It’s because stealing or thefts is one of the common problems at terminal and it may also be seen as potential target for terrorist attack. Strong security in overland transportation has huge benefits to a nation such benefits include the followings:

1. It will truncate the unwanted transportation operations of illegal weapons and suspicious people that may cause insecurity or any other form of security threats thereby, boosting the commerce and industrial activities.
2. It will also reduce stealing or theft at terminal as well as reducing diversion of goods thereby, eliminating the direct losses thereafter.
3. It will also reduce illegal transportation of all sorts of contraband goods such as counterfeit products, narcotics or marijuana, weapons, hazardous materials e.g. chemical that can cause death if inhaled, to mention but a few.
4. It makes it difficult if not impossible for people to evade taxes and duties.
5. It will also reduce the illegal immigration of people into the country.

To this end, it is important to note that weak security in overland transport system can lead to overall national insecurity. Individual group or person may be motivated to attack any of these overland transports thereby terrorizing and injuring innocent users as well as causing disruption in economic growth. These among others explain why we must not afford to neglect overland transport security, strong security out-fit must be put in place in both bus and railway terminals and better still, adequate passenger and freight security is a sign of qualitative transport services to the public.