Environmental Impact of Transportation

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1. Please describe how the field of transportation has evolved over the last 500 years. (30%). Transportation has always been a part of life. From the earliest civilizations till now man has always had the innate desire to move from place to place. This desire for mobility and curiosity to search out, see, and find things or places has caused man to advance progressively and creatively in the means by which we transport ourselves. Over the past 500 years man, it seems, has gotten more daring, faster and efficient in the means of transportation. 500 years ago mans main means of transportation was on horseback. Man used domesticated horses, ponies and beasts of burden to move as well as to move goods from place to place. The roads were dirt tracks. Goods were moved by wagons and carts. Man also transported goods by water. Ships and boats were used to carry large goods as well as passengers from one place to another. Over the next century man used stagecoaches in transportation. These were basically covered wagons for passengers and goods. It was strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, they was used widely before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers. The mid 19th century was revolutionized by railways. They made travel so much faster and kept both goods and passengers safe from robbers. The first trains made were powered by steam. Around this time steam ships were also invented. These made travelling by sea also fast. In the late 19th century cars were invented. They were quite expensive and not accessible to everybody. Traffic lights were also invented around this time. In 1903 the first plane was invented. This revolutionized transportation as
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