The time that the average citizen spends during his life on the road, for example, from home to work and back, is terrifying. Even more impressive is the figure if he is a resident of a metropolis, twice a day freezes in the so-called traffic jams. This is one of the most important problems in organizing a comfortable environment in the city. And it can, if not completely resolved, then significantly reduce the severity, if you correctly create transport nodes and terminals. So, what are they for and what are they?
What are transport nodes
There are a variety of ways to travel: buses, trams, trolleybuses, cars, planes, ships, trains, etc. As a rule, you can get from one point to another in several ways. But often, especially if the route is quite complicated, you have to change several modes of transport in order to reach your destination. And although, for example, you can transfer from a bus to the metro or car in several places within any major city, it sometimes happens that you can leave from one point in many ways at once. And then the term "transport hub" is already applicable. This place is constantly in full swing, hundreds and thousands of passengers are rushing about their business, trains arrive, planes fly off, in general, at first glance, there is complete fuss and disorder. In fact, everything is different. With good organization, transport nodes are harmoniously working systems, where each part is a streamlined mechanism that interacts with all other elements. And in this case, their value is difficult to overestimate.
What are they needed for
The time spent on a trip or delivery from one point to another in a modern rhythm of life should be minimized. People, tired of waiting, have made many inventions that allow you to instantly receive information, establish communication. But, unfortunately, while there is no teleport, we are forced to spend quite a lot of time on the road. And sometimes you also have to go, for example, to the airport or station. The concentration of several modes of transport in transport hubs partially solves this problem. Firstly, in order to, for example, transfer from a train to a ship or an airplane, a minimum amount of time is required here - everything is literally within walking distance. Secondly, with the right location, even one hub can unload other transport arteries. As a result, everyone wins.
This discloses another aspect of the functioning of any node - it not only accumulates, but also regulates traffic flows according to the principle of valve operation. If necessary, in order to avoid congestion and inconvenience, some passengers or cargo can be detained at some stage. In a word, there are analogues of roads and traffic lights.
Hubs are not only passenger, but also cargo. Even if we take the postal services industry - in every major city there will be a place that can be described as a central transport hub - this is where correspondence will flow, which later, after sorting, will go to smaller territorial units. And here letters and parcels will come, so that later they will go, say, abroad. Are there questions left after this, are transport nodes needed?
Organization and structure
Logistics is not a simple, but very promising area. It is she who helps to correctly and as efficiently organize the work of any more or less large unit. When building the structure of his work, it is important to take into account both the most basic things, for example, the methods of transporting goods from one type of transport to another and the necessary infrastructure, as well as very minor nuances like convenient and intuitive navigation for passengers.
To simulate the work of the hub, at the design stage, special software is used that shows what will happen when certain parameters change.
Accommodation
The right place is another important point when planning traffic flows. If you make the wrong choice, it can only worsen the situation. Inconvenient access roads will create traffic jams in the vicinity; the lack of parking spaces will become a serious problem for motorists. The airport, built in the lowlands, will cancel flights over and over again due to heavy fog. In general, it is very easy to make a mistake. And here the same science comes to the rescue, which helps to model the situation under certain options. In the end, the transport hub is not a place where people appear from nowhere - they arrive in one way or another, and you need to make sure that it is convenient for them to do this.
Pros and cons
Properly organized transport hubs, at first glance, are completely devoid of flaws. But, unfortunately, this is not entirely true. Firstly, it is obvious that their work is not noiseless, and placement away from the main streams is pointless, so that in any case they interfere with someone. Secondly, due to the fact that there is a huge number of people busy with their thoughts, it is in the hubs that there are many thefts, despite the large number of security measures. Moreover, and this is much worse, transport hubs often become the site of major terrorist attacks. With a sufficient density of passenger traffic, this can turn into a huge number of victims and victims. However, such a danger exists for all places where a large number of people gather at once.
Examples
Almost any major European city is an international transport hub. Amsterdam, London, Berlin: Flights with transfers at local airports are common. In the East, these are Doha, Shanghai, Dubai, receiving a huge number of transit passengers. Moscow, with its only three passenger airports, as well as nine railway stations, can also be included in this list.
At lower levels, the nodes, respectively, are less significant in scale. An example is the same Simferopol in Crimea. Well, absolutely any metro station in Moscow can be called local hubs. But they are also very important - you just need to remember what happens when there is a sudden malfunction.
Efficiency
As it has probably become obvious, the operation of a large transport hub depends on so many factors. And one more, without which high efficiency is simply unattainable, is the technical equipment. Without modern electronic systems and devices, any calculations of a convenient location and flow planning are useless. Transport tapes, automatic recognition services, and many, many more things that passengers do not even encounter are important and necessary for the smooth operation and proper interaction of the involved modes of transport, especially if there are more than two of them.
And, perhaps, the passenger flow can be called a universal indicator of the hub's performance. The number of people that he manages to serve per unit of time is an indicator that perfectly characterizes the quality of work of the transport hub at its level.
Further development
The importance of transport nodes is undeniable. Moreover, any hub is a potential, first of all, economic and industrial. In crowded places you can place hotels, shops, restaurants, vending machines. Almost any goods and services will be in demand, for example, if people want to pass the time during transplantation.
If we broaden our view a little, it is easy to understand that large transport hubs and cities are interconnected and interdependent. On the one hand, hubs provide uninterrupted supply, which creates conditions for the development of industry, and on the other hand, megacities require the resolution of logistic problems. So one without the other simply cannot exist.
In addition, new modes of transport are gradually developing, and it is required to integrate them into existing flows. For example, helicopter transportation for several decades was something from the realm of fantasy, and today they are available to almost every traveler. And this direction is just one of many.