Transport Economics and Concepts

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers fundamental concepts of transport economics, including demand types, supply categories, and market curves based on the Namibia University of Science and Technology lecture notes.

Transport Economics

A branch of economics that deals with the allocation of resources within the transport sector, specifically studying the movement of people and freight from one location to another.

Transport Demand

A measure of the quantity or distance of passengers or freight travelled, often expressed as the number of journeys, passenger-kilometers, or vehicle-kilometers of travel ($VKT$).

Derived Demand

A characteristic of transport demand where the need for a transport mode is based on the requirement to reach a specific destination rather than the service being demanded in its own right.

Revealed Demand

Demand that is expressed in the journeys that are actually made or the goods that are transported using existing infrastructure.

Latent Demand

Desires or wants for travel that a consumer cannot satisfy due to a lack of existing infrastructure, where providing the infrastructure would reduce travel costs and enable the journey.

Geospatial Data Model

The way features represent a complete and accurate view of the world and are organized within a LIS database.

Transport Supply

The capacity of transportation infrastructures, modes, services, and networks over a specific period and geographically defined system.

Static Capacity

The amount of physical space available for transport within a system.

Dynamic Capacity

A form of transport supply capacity that is improved through the application of better technology and management.

Third-party Transportation

A supply category where transport companies offer their vehicle or fleet to be used by others in an open market for a fee based on a contract.

Own Account Transportation

A supply category where the transport user owns their own vehicle or means of transport to move their own freight or passengers.

Transport Demand Curve

A curve that slopes downward from left to right, representing the inverse relationship between transport cost ($C$) and the quantity of transport demanded ($Q$).

Transport Supply Curve

An upward-sloping curve where an increase in cost ($C_1$) entices providers to increase the quantity ($Q_1$) of transport services supplied.