Extract

This chapter investigates the main trends in global transportation infrastructure by initially examining how these state-based physical structures are adapting to global flows across the main forms of passenger and freight transportation. It is evident across each of the sectors that there are substantial forces for infrastructural integration. These are created by a series of forces, many of which lie on the soft infrastructure side of the global transportation system (such as trade facilitation, service liberalisation, etc.). As such, the forces for integration are suggestive of enabling flows to which national systems respond. However, these integrative forces are limited by variability in soft and hard infrastructure systems (both natural and man-made) which limit the fluidity of transport flows between and across NIS.