【Abstract】The transport system has an important position in the society and economy. It is the foundation of social and economic growth and has a significant influence on social activity. In this paper， the history of transportation is analysed to study the history and development of transport methods. Then the transport methods are catalogued to illustrate the features and system properties， which include road， air， water， railway and pip. The relation between transport system and social development is also discussed to study how the transport system reform the economy， society as well as peoples living.

【Key words】transportation methods； social development； transportation method classification

【作者簡(jiǎn)介】譚艾伶，瀘州天立國(guó)際學(xué)校。

I. History and development of transportation methods

Since ancient time， the relation of history between human society and transport methods development has been strongly bounded. Every evolution of transportation method comes with the massive improvement of economies， as well as the expansion of activity range of human. The development of transport methods is mainly consisting of the following four stages.

The first stage is the primitive transportation stage. The main method of transport tools was human ourselves， which means by carrying by hand， on shoulder， or above head. As time passes， the exchange of items started to taking place in history. Human started to domestication animals like horse and camel to carry heavy items to reduce the human load. These two methods of transport are the foundation and origin of modern transportation. The second stage is the manual transportation stage. The transport range of economics items was limited by the human activity range， and items were mainly based on natural products， such as agricultural products. During this era， the transportation started to rely on roads. The third stage is the steam transportation stage. The economy was based on the development of a small scale of private business during the end of emperor societies. In 1825， Jorge Stephenson built the first railway in the world and railway transportation started to become the main method of road transportation. The transportation started to form in the combination of railway， water and road transport. The fourth stage is the modern transportation stage. Thanks to the economic globalization， faster and more efficient technologies of transport is necessary to meet the demand of rapidly changing economy. Different methods of transportation co-operate and optimize each other while competing in the economics， forming a unified transportation system with the features of diversity and universal. The methods cover the road， water， air， railway， pipes and so on， and their co-existing and co-operating improve the efficiency of transportation and overall social economic benefits.

II. Types and features of transportation system

The transport system is a complex system. It can be catalogued in different ways when analysing in different aspects. The following five aspects are analysed to study the structure of transport system.

1.Railway Transportation

The railway transport is one of the most important methods of freight transport in the modern world， it has an important role in the remote exchange of stocking. The railway transport system consists of railway network system， rolling stock system， communication system and so on. The method of railway transport has the highest capacity in ground transport， the capacity is even more improved especially after the construct of heavy load railway network. The high-speed train comes into action， with the help of high-tech such as computer technology， energy technology， automatic control， new materials， and the social and economic growth. The railway also has the features of high speed， compatible with different network， high endurance and reliability， long distance operation， and comfortable travelling experience.

2.Road Transportation

The fast transport feature of road transportation can suit the demand of modern logistics development. The road transport system consists of road transport tool system and road network system. With the expansion of road network， the vehicle transport is rapidly increasing around the world， and has overtaken the railway transport as well as other methods of transport. As there is no rerouting required for road transport compared with railway transport， therefore the delivery time of road transport is relatively faster. Besides using the road network， the vehicle can also enter places such as a factory， mining field， mountain area， residential area， town. Such feature is not possible for other types of transport. Therefore， the road transport has the advantage of larger activity range and better mobility and is the best option for direct delivery.

3.Water Transportation

The water transportation is one of the first methods of transport for dedicate usage， it is now still very important for high load transport mission. The water transport system mainly includes waterway and ships and it has the highest loading capacity within all methods of transport， especially beneficial during long-distance ocean transport with lots of cargos. The water transport can be based on existing natural resources such as rivers， lakes， seas and oceans， hence the initial cost for the system is low. The energy consumption during transport is the least within all methods， therefore the economic consumption for water transport is the lowest among the all， making it very suitable for transporting energy resources， materials， and primary products. The water transport is suitable for all kinds of cargos， especially when transporting large items in long distance， it plays an important role in the import and export trading between countries.

4.Air Transportation

The air transport system includes the following four basic elements， aircraft， airport， air traffic control and management system， and air route. The four elements dynamically work together， and play their specific role in the air transport. Besides the four basic elements， there are also some other elements such as business operation， aircraft maintenance， airline supply， fuel supply， ground support and safety system. Among different transportation systems， the air transport has the feature of high speed， comfort， adaptive， well scheduled， safety and economically friendly. The airline transport system for public people includes airline， airline management and maintenances， airport， and air traffic control system and so on.

5.Pipe Transportation

Pipe transportation has become a separate technology catalogue in most of the industrial countries， forming a large combination of industrial structure and become one of the main methods of transport alongside with railway， road， water， and air transportation. Because of the feature of the pipe transport， it is mainly used for transporting product of the pipe owner. There are mainly three types of pipe transportation， including oil pipe transport， natural gas pipe transport， and solid-fluid pipe transport. The pipe transport is developed after the discovery and improvement of the oil industry. This very specific type of transport has the feature of high capacity， not affected by climate or any other conditions on ground， continuous operation， and low construction and operation cost.

III. The relation between methods of transport and society improvement

Transport system enhances the process of economic development. As an important department for production in the social economy， the transport system can link every process of production， exchange， distribution and consumption within the society. It ensures an effective link of all processes in the society， and normal production as well as efficient activities in the economic society. The social economy system can only communicate effectively and freely through the transport system， including the activities of distribution， production， communication and consumption. The growth of the social economy is based on the support and motivation of transportation. A completed and integrated transport system is important in the resource distribution and use， manufacture， and local economic development. The necessary requirement for the economic development is the effective transport system. Therefore， the transport system has a critical role in the social and economic development.