Traditionally innovative transport modes were often seen as engineering lead projects - the challenge was to make something that worked, not necessarily something with any use. Lately there has been a greater appreciation of the need to relate an engineering solution directly to an existing transport movement.

This eschews the nature of transport. Transport itself is a means to an end. We therefore need to address this end. We need to look at the whole system, not just one specific component within that system.

Groceries

We will use an example from previous work by this author to demonstrate this case [1]. Take the distribution and sale of household groceries. In most cases the existing system is based on the movement of products from producer / manufacturer to a series of centralised warehouses. Products are placed in trolleys or on pallets, which are transported en mass by road lorry to a plethora of large supermarkets. At regular intervals (typically weekly), customers transport themselves from home to supermarket, purchase a variety of individual items, transport them home, and then store them until such time as they actually consume the item. A strong commercial impetus has tended to result in a relatively efficient distribution channel, but do not be fooled into thinking it is absolutely efficient.

The traditional engineering-lead approach might have designed a new transport technology, then attempted to see if it could be applied to an existing transport activity. The current approach will tend to identify an existing transport movement (for example, lorry-load movement between warehouse and supermarket), and design a system which suits it.

Think Rationally

But take a step back and examine the whole process and a radically different solution emerges, with much more extensive benefits.

Both the existing transport movements and associated inventory holding are inefficient. In an efficient system individual products would be manufactured or produced, then immediately transported directly to the purchaser, who would them immediately consume the product. Inventory is held for an absolute minimum of time. In the current model the consumer adds to the inefficiency of the transport component within the distribution process. Consumers move themselves to and from the supermarket, which adds no value to the overall movement of their groceries, the sole objective of their personal movement. In an efficient system the product is transported to where the consumer wishes to consume it - in this case their home. Only for a few types of product is it probably more efficient to transport the consumer than the product (for example, tourism, medical surgery).

Such a system is probably unachievable, however there is potential to move much closer to it than is currently the case. Had we only addressed the 'obvious' transport component between the warehouse and the supermarket, the potential impact of our system will probably have been considerably lower than had we addressed the whole process.

Example

The ridiculous nature of the current approach adopted to many innovative transport systems (and indeed many current transport systems) is demonstrated by examining a 'what if' scenario for water supply to individual residents in a hypothetical town.

Assume water is drawn from a river that runs through the centre of the town. Every time a resident requires water they pick up a bucket, walk to the river, fill up the bucket, and walk home. Over time the town grows in size, and residents waste more and more time walking to the river and back. To cut down the walking time, a dozen local reservoirs are dug, which act as local distribution centres for water. An aerial rope-way system is constructed to move water from the river to the local reservoirs (a Heath Robinson style contraption with buckets attached to the rope-way [2]). Residents walk to their local reservoir with a bucket each time they want water.

A new 'innovative' pipeline is proposed, through which water can be automatically pumped as required. Using the current model for innovative transport solutions the pipe would be installed between the river and the reservoir. By looking at the whole process, it can easily be seen that a pipe network should be installed between the river and each of the houses, reflecting the demands of the consumers, not the demands of the existing distribution system. It seems all too easy to loss sight of the real objective.

I await with interest, the day when the strange quirk of retail distribution that is the high street shop, is replaced by something slightly more direct. Maybe concepts such as home shopping will provide a wake-up call for proper consideration of transport in the whole distribution channel.

Notes

  1. Howgego, T., Roe, M., (1998), The use of pipelines for the urban distribution of goods, Transport Policy no.5 pp61-72.
  2. William Heath Robinson (1872-1944) was an English cartoonist, whose comic inventions featured ridiculous simple mechanical devices designed to perform various pointless tasks. Most were held together with pieces of very thin string. One of his perhaps more inspired works was a 'one at a time lock' for traffic on the Brompton Road (London), which would have done modern day 'traffic calmers' proud.