Transportation in Canada

Canada is a developed country whose economy relies on the extraction and export of raw materials. Because of this, it has a very large transportation system which includes more than 1.4 million kilometres of roads, 10 major international airports, 300 smaller airports, 72,093 kilometres of functioning railroad track, and more than 300 commercial ports and harbours that provide access to the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans as well as the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. [cite web |url=http://www41.statcan.ca/2007/4006/ceb4006_000_e.htm |title= Transportation in Canada| publisher= Statistics Canada| accessdate=2008-03-26] In 2005, the transportation sector made up 4.2% of Canada's GDP, compared to 3.7% for Canada's huge mining and oil and gas extraction industries.cite web |url=http://www.statcan.ca/english/research/11-621-MIE/11-621-MIE2006044.pdf |title= An Analysis of the Transportation Sector in 2005| publisher= Statistics Canada| accessdate=2008-03-27|format= PDF]

Transport Canada oversees and regulates most aspects of transportation within Canadian jurisdiction. Transport Canada is under the direction of the federal government's Minister of Transport. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is responsible for maintaining transportation safety in Canada by investigating accidents and making safety recommendations.

Commuter train systems

Commuter trains exist in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver:

History

European contact

Early European settlers and explorers in Canada introduced the wheel to North America's Aboriginal peoples, who relied on canoes, kayaks, umiaks and bull boats, in addition to the snowshoe, toboggan and sled in winter. Europeans adopted these technologies as they pushed deeper into the continent's interior, and were thus able to travel via the waterways that fed from the St. Lawrence River and Hudson Bay. [ [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/virtual-vault/ Virtual Vault] , an online exhibition of Canadian historical art at Library and Archives Canada]

In the 1800s and early 1900s transportation relied on harnessing oxen to "red river carts" or horse to wagon. Maritime transportation was via manual labour such as canoe or wind on sail. Water or land travel speeds was approximately 8 to 15 kilometres per hour (5 to 9 miles per hour).cite web
last =Rodrigue
first = Dr. Jean-Paul
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Historical Geography of Transportation - Part I
work = Dept. of Economics & Geography
publisher = Hofstra University
date = 1998-2008
url =http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch1en/conc1en/ch1c3_1en.html
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-01-18]

Settlement was along river routes. Agricultural commodities were perishable, and trade centres were within 50 kilometres. Rural areas centred around villages, and they were approximately 10 kilometres (6 miles) apart. The advent of steam railways and steamships connected resources and markets of vast distances in the late 1800s. Railways also connected city centres, in such a way that the traveller went by sleeper, railway hotel, to the cities. Crossing the country by train took four or five days, as it still does by car. People generally lived within five miles of the downtown core thus the train could be used for inter-city travel and the tram for commuting.

The advent of the interstate or Trans-Canada Highway in Canada in 1963 established ribbon development, truck stops, and industrial corridors along throughways.

Evolution

Quotation|Different parts of the country are shut off from each other by Cabot Strait, the Strait of Belle Isle, by areas of rough, rocky forest terrain, such as the region lying between New Brunswick and Quebec, the areas north of Lakes Huron and Superior, dividing the industrial region of Ontario and Quebec from the agricultural areas of the prairies, and the barriers interposed by the mountains of British Columbia|The Canada Year Book 1956 Citation
last =Howe, C.D.
first =the Right Honourable Minister of Trade and Commerce
author-link =
last2 =Canada Year Book Section
first2 =Information Services Division Dominion Bureau of Statistics
author2-link =
title =The Canada Year Book 1956 The Official Handbook of Present Conditions and Recent Progress
place=Ottawa, Ontario
publisher =Kings Printer and Controller of Stationery
year =1956
location =
volume =
edition =
url =
doi =
id = page 713 to 791
isbn = ] The Federal Department of Transport established November 2, 1936 supervised railways, canals, harbours, marine and shipping, civil aviation, radio and meteorology. The Transportation Act of 1938 and the amended Railway Act, placed control and regulation of carriers in the hands of the Board of Transport commissioners for Canada. The Royal Commission on Transportation was formed December 29, 1948 to examine transportation services to all areas of Canada to eliminate economic or geographic disadvantages. The Commission also reviewed the Railway Act to provide uniform yet competitive freight-rates.

The current situation, has resulted in a lack of public transportation for the increase in ridership and may influence the next federal election. [cite news|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080901/public_transit_080901/20080901?hub=Canada|title=Lack of public transit hurting Canadian consumers|date=2008-09-01|publisher=CTV News]

ee also

*
* Canadian Forces VIP aircraft
* Transportation in the United States
*Steamboats in Canada

External links

* [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/virtual-vault/026018-119.01-e.php?q1=Transportation+and+Maps&PHPSESSID=4nel0brdl9jig2875u4atpbmc4 "Transportation and Maps" in "Virtual Vault"] , an online exhibition of Canadian historical art at Library and Archives Canada
* [http://nats.sct.gob.mx/ North American transportation statistics]

References