What Are We Aware of in Transportation?

What is Transportation?

As societies developed, the word transportation started to carry much more meaning for people than going from one place to another. As cities developed and grew, the self-sufficient land-dependent production organization disappeared, and the need to transport needs from different places to cities emerged. Today, cities have become places of production shaped by different modes of production and the production of different products. The needs of people living in cities are transported from different cities and brought together with consumers. This complex process has many components, many factors and many dimensions, even if we explain it in a very simple way. 

Today, I will try to explain from a different perspective what has been going on in transportation planning since the foundation of the Republic of Turkey. In doing so, I must state that I find a critical approach more valuable in order to see the facts rather than the window opened to us by political preferences. 

When the theories of imperialism are analyzed, it is seen that imperialist countries attach importance to building long railroad lines in underdeveloped countries. Underlying this preference of imperialist countries is the idea of transporting the resources of the colonized country to the ports in the cheapest and easiest way. The fact that Britain and Germany were rivals for the Baghdad Railroad in the last period of the Ottoman Empire is also based on such a reason. The following detail is important here. Imperialism is the form of colonialism shaped by the export of capital. From this point of view, giving the railroad from Konya to Baghdad to the Germans brought a series of financial structures into play. The most concrete example of this is the inclusion of the Ottoman Bank, which prioritized French interests, in the railroad project acquired by the Germans. It is also worth mentioning that it is clear that a commercial and social revival would begin in and around the route where the railway was built. The only condition for maximizing the expected benefit is independence. Otherwise, concessions benefit the concessionaire more than the concession grantor. 

Railroad? Highway?

After the establishment of the Republic, Atatürk, who knew very well the importance of independence and railways, gave special importance to the construction of railways. The words of the 10th Year Anthem reflect this approach and there is a story that reflects this approach very well. The railroad between İliç-Erzincan, passing through the steep slopes in the basin of the Euphrates River, was built by digging rocks with manpower. During the construction, Atatürk's response to those who complained to him, "Pasha, we can't dig, it's too difficult" is a lesson. He took out a coin from his pocket and asked, "Is this too much for you to dig?". That incredibly beautiful railroad route was built with the superhuman efforts of a great leader and a people who believed in and trusted him. The importance of this line will be better understood in the period after the Second World War. 

After the Second World War, the cards were redistributed and a new world order was established. Unfortunately, the independence that Ataturk called "my character" was riddled with holes in many areas. Turkey was one of the countries that the US, which started exporting capital to the world, made dependent on itself with Marshall Aid. The uncontrolled introduction of American tractors into agriculture during this period had devastating effects that would last for many years. Railways were forgotten and highways were emphasized. The first fifteen years after the Second World War was a period in which mistakes were made that are the source of Turkey's problems that cannot be solved even today. The wrong prioritization of highways in this period led to the chronicization of unequal exchange, which is the basic rule of imperialism. The current reflection of this inequality can be seen in the very small share of high-tech products in our exports. This situation also shows that unequal exchange (economic dependence) is not diminishing, but deepening. 

The policy choices of governments play an important role in the expenditure of public resources. For example, the ratio between the cost of a double-track, signalized and electrified railway line and the construction cost of a highway is given as 3/8 (1). In other words, the construction cost of the railway is less than the highway. These ratios may vary with factors such as expropriation and land conditions. When the construction, maintenance and operation costs of the two basic transportation systems are compared, it is stated that "railways are 40-50% cheaper in passenger transportation and about 70% cheaper in freight transportation" (1). The preference for highways initially implies a highly inefficient use of public resources. This inefficiency also has the effect of increasing unequal exchange. 

The long term effects of choosing road over rail are more devastating than the difference between construction and maintenance costs. Although Çorum is located in the Black Sea region, it is an Anatolian city on the route from Ankara to most of the Black Sea. In addition to its cement and sugar factories, it has a developed industry. Considering the terrain, there is no negative factor that would increase the cost of railroad construction. Every year, tens of thousands of trucks with high tonnage use the highways on the main route between Ankara and Çorum. The worn out road is maintained after every winter. I do not think that there is a person who can explain the logic of the preference for not building a railway to Çorum. Both fuel and depreciation costs of freight transportation on highways are very high. This is a fact known by the whole world. Many examples similar to Çorum can be given. For example, why is it not possible to transport agricultural products from the Mediterranean and Aegean regions to other regions quickly and cheaply by means of developed railroad networks?

It is known that the impact of railways on environmental pollution, accident risk and transportation costs are much more advantageous than highways. The share of railways in "air pollution is 5%, while the share of highways is 85%" (2). In terms of energy costs, the unit cost is 1 unit for railways, 3 units for highways and 5 units for airways. In Turkey, the transportation sector uses about 20-25% of the total energy. It can be said that our country, which is dependent on foreign energy, clearly increases this dependency with the choice of highways. 

Although the recent high-speed train projects in Turkey are positive, they are open to criticism as a priority. Because the problem is that freight transportation is predominant on highways rather than passenger transportation. Of course, the high construction costs compared to world prices have a scope beyond the issue we are discussing here. In a well-functioning state mechanism, all these costs should be examined, questioned and held accountable. The share of transportation costs in food inflation in Turkey is quite high. This is due to the fact that almost all of the transportation of food is done by road and there is a high dependence on foreign fuel oil. However, the cost of railway transportation over long distances is 1/3 of that of road transportation. 

Railways should be suitable for the transportation of food products. Along with the construction of new lines, wagons with cooling systems should also be planned. Of course, it is important to plan investment in the budget for these. The importance of budgets is that they not only determine where and how much public resources will be spent, but also where and how much public revenues will be collected. To return to this issue in the next article, if instead of allocating resources and investment planning for something as urgent as railroads, huge budgets are allocated to the Directorate of Religious Affairs, then the people have no choice but to pray in the face of falling purchasing power. A public that is indifferent to the budget for its own future will soon start praying for its own sustenance. Do not think that praying does not cost anything. That's what the Religious Affairs spends all that money on...

References

(1) Kabasakal, A., Solak A.O., (2010). "Economic Efficiency Analysis of Railway and Highway Transportation Systems", Anadolu University Journal of Social Sciences, C.10, S.1., pp. 123-136.

(2) https://www.udybelgesi.com/demiryolu-karayolu-karsilastirilmasi.asp