Characteristics of Road Transport

It is an accepted fact that of all the modes the transportation, road

transport is the nearest to the people. The passenger and the goods have
to be first transported by road before reaching a railway station or a port
or an airport. The road network alone could serve the remotest villages
of the vast country like ours.
The Characteristics of Road Transport are briefly listed here.
1. Roads are used various types of road vehicles, like passenger
cars, buses, trucks two and three wheeled automobiles, pedal
cycles and animal drawn vehicles. But railway tracks are used only
by rail locomotives and wagons, water ways are used by only ships
and boats
2. Road transport requires a relatively small investment for the
government. Motor vehicles are much cheaper than carriers like
rail locomotives and wagons, water and air carriers. and air
carriers. Construction and maintenance of roads is also cheaper
than that of railway track, docks, harbours and airports.

3. Road transport completely offer an freedom to road users to

transfer the vehicles from one lane to another and to from one road
to another according to the need and convenience. This flexibility
of changes in location, direction, speed and timings of travel is not
available to other modes of transport.

4. In particular for short distance travel, road transport saves time.

Trains stop at junctions and main stations for comparatively longer
time.
 5. Speed of movement is directly related with severity of accident.
The road Safety decreases with increase dispersion in speed. Road
Transport is subjected to high degree of accidents due to flexibility
of movements offered to the user. Derailment of railway
locomotives and air planes and air crashes are not uncommon.
They are in fact more disastrous.
6. Road transport is the only means of transport offer itself to the
whole community.

Importance of Roads:
1. Roads play a very important role in the transportation
of goods and passengers for short and medium distances.

2. It is comparatively easy and cheap to construct and

maintain roads.

3. Road transport system establishes easy contact

between farms, fields, factories and markets and
provides door to door service.

4. Roads can negotiate high gradients and sharp turns

which railways cannot do. As such, roads can be
constructed in hilly areas also.
5. Roads act as great feaders to railways. Without good
and sufficient roads, railways cannot collect sufficient
produce to make their operation possible.

6. Road transport is more flexible than the railway

transport. Buses and trucks may be stopped anywhere
and at any time on the road for loading and unloading
passengers and goods whereas trains stop only at
particular stations.

7. Perishable commodities like vegetables, fruits and

milk are transported more easily and quickly by roads
than by railways.

Due to above-mentioned advantages, the road transport

has become very popular and its share is constantly
increasing.

Classification of Roads:
The main significance of the Nagpur Plan lies in the fact
that it classified roads into four categories on the
functional basis. They are: (i) National Highways (ii)
State Highways (iii) District Roads and (iv) Village
Roads. A brief description of each category is given as
under:
1. National Highways:
The main roads which are constructed and maintained
by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) are
known as the National Highways. These roads are meant
for inter-state and strategic defence movements and
connect the state capitals, big cities, important ports, big
railway junctions and link up with border roads. The
length of National Highways increased from 19,811 km in
1951 to 33,650 km in 1991 and 49,585 km in 1999.
Currently, the total length of the National Highways in
India is 65,569 kilometres. National Highways form the
lifeline of road transport and constitute the framework of
road system in India. Although the percentage share of
the National Highways to the total road length has
decreased considerably from 4.95 per cent in 1951 to only
1.96 per cent in 1999, they carry nearly 40 per cent of the
road traffic of India.
2. State Highways:
These are constructed and maintained by state
governments and join the state capitals with district
headquarters and other important towns. These roads
are also connected to the national highways. The length
of state roadways in India has more than doubled within
a span of about three decades and has increased from
56,765 km in 1971 to 1, 37,950 km in 1999. These roads
constitute 5.46 per cent of the total road length of India.
3. District Roadways:
These roads join the district headquarters with the other
places of the district. Development and maintenance of
these roads fall within the purview of Zila Parishads.
There has been more than four and half times increase in
the length of district roadways from 1, 73,723 km in 1951
to 8 01 ,655 km in 1999.

In 1999, these roads accounted for 31.74 per cent of the

total road length of India. Formerly most of the district
roads were unsurfaced and lacked bridges and culverts.
But now the situation as changed and most of these
roads are surfaced. Such a situation has improved
connectivity and pave way for economic development.
4. Village Roads:
The village roads are mainly the responsibility of village
panchayats and connect the villages with the
neighbouring towns and cities. These are generally dusty
tracks and are usable only during the lair weather. They
become muddy and unserviceable during the rainy
season.

Efforts have been made m the recent past to connect the

villages with metalled roads. The length of these roads
has increased by about 5 times from 2, 06,408 km in
1951 to 10, 28,410 km in 1999. These roads accounted for
over 40 per cent of the total road length of the country in
1999.

Transport in India roadways

Transport in India roadways is favored while covering
long and short distance. As of 2013, India has a
whopping network of road of about 2,914,133 mi
(4,689,842 km), which indicates the fact that road
transport is the most predominant mode of transport in
India. At 660 meters of roads per square kilometer of
solid ground, the quantitative compactness of our
country's network of road is much more eminent than
that of People's Republic of China and Federative
Republic of Brazil. The official records from the
Government of India indicates that as of 2011, about
25,30,000 kilometers of roads were completed.

Major road development projects are being carried out

under the National Highways Development Project, a
government initiative implemented in the year 1998.
Besides, highway operators and private entities are
carrying out many important road development projects.
For instance, the Yamuna Expressway - a six lane
(extendable to eight lanes), 102.52 miles (165 km) long,
expressway exclusively designed for high-speed vehicle
traffic, linking Greater Noida with Agra in the northern
state of Uttar Pradesh, was implemented by the Jaypee
Group of Noida.

At present, the Government of India is seeking to boost

investments from foreign countries in road projects.
Foreign involvement in the Indian road network
expansion has appealed to several international
contractors and engineering consultants, with Malaysia,
Republic of Korea, United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland and United States of America being the
most prominent participants.

Did you know?

India's extensive network of road holds over 65 % of its

cargo and about 85 % of vehicular traffic

India's massive network of road is administrated by

assorted government agencies. Find below the
information about the classification of roads in India and
their length and authority (Data as of 2011):

Expressways

Total Length of Expressways in India: 942 km (585.33

mi)

National Highways (NH)

Total Length of National Highways in India: 92,851 km

(57,694.93 mi)

Classification: Single, Intermediate, Double, Four, Six

and Eight Lane

Regulating Body: Ministry of Road Transport and

Highways, Government of India

State Highways (SH)

Total Length of State Highways in India: 1,63,898 km
(1,01,841.49 mi)

Regulating Body: State Governments, especially Public

Works Department of State Governments

Rural Roads

Total Length of Rural Roads in India: 27,49,805 km

(17,08,649.61 mi)

Regulating Body: Municipalities, Panchayats and other

Local Governing Bodies

Major and Other District Roads

Total Length of Major and Other District Roads in India:

17,05,706 (10,59,876.57 mi)

Regulating Body: Municipalities, Panchayats and other

Local Governing Bodies
Did you know?

Yamuna Expressway (connecting Greater Noida with

Agra) is the longest six-laned controlled-access
expressway stretch in India

Having said all the above information about the massive

road network of India, undoubtedly, road transport is the
most common mode of transport in the country. Another
substantial reason behind the unvanquishable popularity
of road transport in India is that among the numerous
urban centers of India, only Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi,
Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad have commuter rail
services whereas more than 25 cities across the country
are operating city bus services.
Advantages and
Disadvantages of Road
Transport
Advantages:
1. Less Capital Outlay:
Road transport required much less capital Investment as
compared to other modes of transport such as railways
and air transport. The cost of constructing, operating and
maintaining roads is cheaper than that of the railways.
Roads are generally constructed by the government and
local authorities and only a small revenue is charged for
the use of roads.

2. Door to Door Service:

The outstanding advantage of road transport is that it
provides door to door or warehouse to warehouse
service. This reduces cartage, loading and unloading
expenses.

3. Service in Rural Areas:

Road transport is most suited for carrying goods and
people to and from rural areas which are not served by
rail, water or air transport. Exchange of goods, between
large towns and small villages is made possible only
through road transport.

4. Flexible Service:
Road transport has a great advantage over other modes
of transport for its flexible service, its routes and timings
can be adjusted and changed to individual requirements
without much inconvenience.

5. Suitable for Short Distance:

It is more economic and quicker for carrying goods and
people over short distances. Delays in transit of goods on
account of intermediate loading and handling are
avoided. Goods can be loaded direct into a road vehicle
and transported straight to their place of destination.

6. Lesser Risk of Damage in Transit:

As the intermediate loading and handling is avoided,
there is lesser risk of damage, breakage etc. of the goods
in transit. Thus, road transport is most suited for
transporting delicate goods like chinaware and
glassware, which are likely to be damaged in the process
of loading and unloading.

7. Saving in Packing Cost:

As compared to other modes of transport, the process of
packing in motor transport is less complicated. Goods
transported by motor transport require less packing or
no packing in several cases.

8. Rapid Speed:
If the goods are to be sent immediately or quickly, motor
transport is more suited than the railways or water
transport. Water transport is very slow. Also much time
is wasted in booking the goods and taking delivery of the
goods in case of railway and water transport.

9. Less Cost:
Road transport not only requires less initial capital
investment, the cost of operation and maintenance is
also comparatively less. Even if the rate charged by
motor transport is a little higher than that by the
railways, the actual effective cost of transporting goods
by motor transport is less. The actual cost is less because
the motor transport saves in packing costs and the
expenses of intermediate loading, unloading and
handling charges.

10. Private Owned Vehicles:

Another advantage of road transport is that big
businessmen can afford to have their own motor vehicles
and initiate their own road services to market their
products without causing any delay.

11. Feeder to other Modes of Transport:

The movement of goods begins and ultimately ends by
making use of roads. Road and motor transport act as a
feeder to the other modes of transport such as railways,
ships and airways.

Disadvantages:
In spite of various merits, road/motor has some
serious limitations:
1. Seasonal Nature:
Motor transport is not as reliable as rail transport.
During rainy or flood season, roads become unfit and
unsafe for use.
2. Accidents and Breakdowns:
There are more chances of accidents and breakdowns in
case of motor transport. Thus, motor transport is not as
safe as rail transport.

3. Unsuitable for Long Distance and Bulky

Traffic:
This mode of transport is unsuitable and costly for
transporting cheap and bulky goods over long distances.

4. Slow Speed:
The speed of motor transport is comparatively slow and
limited.
5. Lack of Organisation:
The road transport is comparatively less organised. More
often, it is irregular and undependable. The rates
charged for transportation are also unstable and
unequal.