The Modern Systems of Transport and Communication

The impact of new transport and communication systems has had a more dramatic effect in the developing than in the old world. In the Far East, this impact will vary marginally from country to country. In the West, Britain provides some interesting changes, and it is with Britain that this essay is concerned.

Many of the advances in Britain are due to post-Second World War developments in technology. Most have been beneficial. Some have been questionable in their effects on the life of the country. The old steam train poured smoke and grime into the atmosphere. Pollution and dirt disfigured towns and indeed whole areas close to the rail network. Diesel and electricity now eliminate this effect. However, the immense increase in road transport has brought even greater problems. Catalytic converters are so far optional. Gases dangerous both to humanity and to the protective ozone layer are freely emitted. Traffic jams proliferate, resulting in loss of money and tempers. Pollution also results from noise, as anyone living near the flight paths of London’s six major airports will testify. At one time, Britain was covered by a valuable bus service network, but most of this has been eliminated or privatized, leaving many isolated villages virtually stranded, insofar as many people without private cars are concerned.

There is also a downside to the immense advances made in electronics over the past few decades. Personal privacy may be invaded by phone tapping and the planting of bugs, which enable conversations to be picked up easily. These devices are easily obtainable. The privacy of computers can easily be picked up easily be broken by hackers, and a whole body of new legislation has had to be passed to counter these criminal offenses.

Yet it would be unfair to deny the positive advantages of progress. The post-war period has witnessed the building of a country-wide network of motorways, the latest being the London orbital, the M25. Transport of goods has largely moved from rail to road. Container lorries convey goods both internally and to and from Europe. This has helped to enhance trade within the European Community but, like many other advances, has led to unemployment in the dock areas, since loading and off-loading containers is largely a mechanical process. Environmentalists criticize the proliferation of trunk and M roads, though nowadays their objections are largely taken into account. However, rail has not been discarded. Very heavy loads, such as coal for electricity generation, must still be moved by rail. Existing networks carry most commuters into London; inter-city services compete with short aircraft runs; England is short to be linked with the Continent by means of tunnels to France, now near completion; some lines are capable of taking high-speed trains.

Air travel development has had a profound effect on both business and pleasure. Air-freighting has opened up new markets, greatly facilitating the import and export of all but the heaviest products. Production of course is governed by demand, and the tendency is towards increased sophistication if goods are to be competitive. So the result is a shift from mechanics to technology, from labor-intensive means of production to robots, and from electricity to electronics. This has meant significant unemployment, the need to establish a state benefit system where this did not already exist, and the relocating of many work-forces. A consequence has been urban sprawl and the establishment of new centers of light industry. A further consequence has been environmental damage.

Air travel for pleasure has opened up the world to holidaymakers. The popular venue for the British worker is no longer the seaside town; it is the Mediterranean with its more or less guaranteed sunshine. This loss of sterling is somewhat offset by overseas tourism in Britain.

And in the sphere of communications, speed and efficiency have been greatly enhanced. Satellite telephone communication enables instant worldwide dialing, together with faxing, on the same principle. Television and radio today permit instantaneous news coverage. The recent Barcelona Olympics were a wonderful example.

All these changes tend to move governments and peoples in the direction of a one-world concept, though without having any effect on the cause of peace and justice. The end result is merely a sharpening of our perception of man’s inhumanity to man.