Complementarity of transport modes
Topic: World Transport and Communication · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 7 "Transport and Communication"
Meaning
Complementarity of transport modes means that road, rail, water and air transport support each other instead of competing. Each mode does the job it is best at. Ocean freighters carry goods between countries. Roads are cheaper and faster over short distances and give door-to-door service. Railways carry bulky goods over long distances within a country. Airways carry costly, light and perishable goods (goods that spoil fast). When the modes work together, goods move at the lowest total cost and time.
Example
India's PM Gati Shakti plan (2021) is a multimodal plan, meaning it plans several modes together. A typical trip uses three modes. Bulky cargo goes by rail to a port such as Mumbai. An ocean freighter then takes it abroad. Trucks handle the short first and last stretches.
Don't confuse with
- Modes of transport: this is the list of the four ways of moving people and goods (land, water, air, pipeline). Complementarity is about how those modes divide the work between them.
Related concepts
- Transport
- Transport network
- Node
- Link
- Transport distance
- Isochrone
- Factors affecting transport
- Modes of transport