By the end of the topic, the learner should be able to:

1. Explain the meaning and importance of transport to business
2. Explain the essential elements of transport
3. Describe the modes and means of transport
4. Discuss advantages and disadvantages of each means of transport
5. Discuss the factors which influence choice of appropriate means of transport
6. Discuss trends of transport.

Transport is the physical movement of people and goods from one place to another. It helps bridge the gap between producers and consumers hence creating place utility.

In order for a transport system to function efficiently it should have certain basic elements, these elements are:

1. Unit(S) of carriage
2. Methods of propulsion
3. Ways
4. Terminals(terminus)

This refers to anything i.e. vessel that is used to transport goods and people from one place to another. Units of carriage include: ships, trains, airplanes, motor vehicles, bicycles and carts. Units of carriage are also referred to as means of transport.​

​This is the driving force (source of power) that makes a unit of carriage to move. The power for most vessels may be petroleum products, electricity, human force or animal power.

It refers to either the route or path passes by the vessel. The route can be on land, on water or through air. Examples of ways are roads, railways, paths, canals, seaways and airways. The ways can be classified into either natural ways or man made ways.

1. Natural ways-As the name suggests, natural ways are the ways that are provided by nature. They are therefore free to acquire. They include airways and seaways.
2. Man-made ways-These are ways that are made available by human being. They include roads, canals and railways. Man made ways are usually expensive to construct and maintain.

The vessel used to carry goods and people starts from one destination and ends up at another. At these destinations the loading and off-loading take place respectively. The loading and off-loading places are referred to as terminals or terminus. Examples of terminuses are bus stations, airports and seaports.

Mode refers to the manner in which transport is carried out. There are three modes of transport namely:

1. Land transport
2. Water transport
3. Air transport

​This mode of transport involves movement of goods and people using units of carriage that move on dry land. The various means under this mode includes:

This involves human beings carrying goods on their heads, shoulders or backs. Human Porterage as a means of transport is the oldest kind of transport and is still very common in our society. The means is suitable for transporting light luggage over short distances. It is also appropriate where other means of transport are not available or convenient.

Carts are open vessels usually on two or four wheels that are pushed or pulled by either human being or animals such as oxen and donkeys. The carts pushed or pulled by human beings are referred to as hand carts or mikokoteni. The ones pulled by animals, on the other hand, are called animal driven carts. Carts are used to carry relatively large quantities compared to human Porterage. Like human Porterage, they are not suitable for long distances. Types of goods that are transported using this means include, agricultural produce, water and animal feeds.

These are means (units of carriage) of transport that ferry goods and people on roads. Vehicles are the most commonly used means of transport.
Vehicles are either passenger or goods carriers. Passenger carriers may be buses, matatus, taxis and private cars while goods are transported using Lorries, pick-ups, tankers and trailers. Vehicles are expensive to acquire and maintain. The convenience of vehicles may depend on the nature of the road on which they travel.
Some roads are impassible especially when it rains while others are usable throughout the year (all weather roads).Of special concern in road transport is the matatus. These are privately owned passenger vehicles which were introduced to supplement the existing mainstream transport companies that were inadequate at independence. They got their name from the amount of fare they used to charge originally that is, mapeni matatu. The operators have to obtain the relevant documents such as insurance cover in order to be allowed to operate. Their owners may form associations which take care of their interests along given routes or in certain areas.

Trains are vessels that transport goods and people on rails hence the term railways.
The terminuses of trains are the railways stations. Therefore; the goods to be transported by trains have to be taken to the railway station. Railway transport is suitable for heavy and bulky goods as well as passengers. There are two types of trains: cargo and passenger train.

This is the movement of liquids and gases from one place to another through a pipe. Products transported through pipes include water, gases, petrol and diesel. Solids that cannot be dissolved or damaged by water may also be transported through pipes as suspension. Examples coffee berries from machines to drying places. The pipeline is both a vessel and a way.
Products flow by the force of gravity or pressure from an original station. If the original terminal is at a higher level than the receiving terminal, the force of gravity is adequate to move the product. But if the receiving terminal is at a higher level than the original than the originating terminal, then power is required to pump the product uphill. For example, petroleum from Mombasa which is at sea level needs pressure to pump it to all the receiving stations.​

​It is a mode of transport where the units of carriage transport goods and people on water. Water in this case includes; navigable rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. The means of transport which are the units of carriage or vessels using this mode include; ships, dhows, boats, steamers and ferries. Water transport can be divided into inland waterways and sea transport.

This is transport carried out on lakes, rivers and inland canals. The Lake Victoria facilitates transport among the three east African countries i.e. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Ferries also connect the mainland to islands such as Rusinga Islands, found in Lake Victoria.
Water hyacinth has however been a threat to transport on the lake. Most rivers in Kenya are not navigable due to reasons such as:

1. Too small
2. Presence of rapids and waterfalls
3. Too shallow
4. Most are seasonal
5. High gradient

​This is where goods and people are transported in seas and oceans. All types of water vessels may be used in sea transport. Sea transport is important as it connects continents of the world thereby facilitating international trade. Kilindini in Mombasa provides a good natural harbor facilitating sea transport between Kenya and other countries of the world. Ferries also connect the island of Mombasa and the mainland.

​Ships
A ship is a large vessel that transports people or goods through water. Their sizes however vary depending on quantity of goods and passengers they carry. Ships help in connecting countries or places which borders the sea. They load and offload in terminals referred to as harbors found at sea ports. For example, the Kilindini harbor is found in the port of Mombasa.
Ships that transport people are referred to as passenger ship while those that transport goods are referred to as cargo ships. Cargo ships are c are convenient for carrying heavy and bulky goods.
Ships may also be classified as either liners or tramps.

​Liners
These are ships that are owned and operated by shipping companies called conferences. Each conference is responsible for specifying the route on which each liner would operate the rates to be charged and setting the rules and regulations to be followed by the members.

Tramps
These are ships that do not follow a regular route or time table. Their routes therefore depend on demand. During times when demand is high, they charge higher rates and when demand is low they lower their rates. Tramps can therefore be likened to matatus. Tramps may be owned by either individuals or firms.​

1. Do not have a fixed rate. They therefore move to wherever there are goods or passengers to carry.
2. Have no set time tables. They therefore move according to demand
3. Their fares change according to demand.
4. Their travelling patterns are irregular and therefore cannot be relied upon

NB: Liners and tramps owners are in constant competition business. Traders therefore need to choose the type of ships to hire. Liners are however more popular than tramps among traders because of their reliability.
When a trader hires an entire ship to transport goods to a given destination, he/she and the ship owner signs a document called a charter party. This document shows the terms and conditions under which the goods would be transported.
Other information included in the agreement are destination, nature of the goods and freight charges. When the ship is hired to carry goods for a given journey the document signed is referred to as voyage charter. On the other hand, if the ship is hired to transport goods for a given period of time, the document signed is called time charter.
Ships may be specially built to carry special commodities. These may include tankers specially built to transport petroleum products and other liquids. Refrigerated ships may also be available to transport perishable commodities such as meat, fish and fruits.

These are water vessels used in transporting goods and people over short distances. They are therefore found in both inland water transport and also the sea transport, e.g. the Likoni ferry in Mombasa carries people from and to the island of Mombasa and the main land.

This refers to the movement of goods, people and documents by aircrafts. Aircrafts/ aeroplanes are the units of carriage and air the way. The terminals include airports and airstrips.
Aeroplanes are fast compared to other means of transport i.e. they are the fastest means of transport. They are therefore suitable for transporting urgently required goods like drugs and perishable goods Such as flowers over long distances.
Aircrafts may be classified as either passenger planes or cargo planes. Passenger planes transport people from one place to another. On the other hand, cargo planes transport light cargo to the required destinations. Aeroplanes may be fitted with special facilities for handling special goods. Aeroplanes are expensive to acquire and to maintain. Their operations may also be affected by weather conditions.

​This is a recent development in transport. It refers to the packaging of goods in standardized ‘box like’ containers designed for use in transporting cargo. The containers are mainly made of metal though a few are made of wood. They can either be hired or bought from firms that provide them. The hired containers are returnable to the owner after the goods have been transported.
Containers are designed in a way appropriate to transport goods by ships, train, lorry or by air. To safeguard the goods against risks such as theft and unfavorable weather conditions the containers are sealed immediately after goods have been packed. The sealed containers are then transported up to the final destination where they are off-loaded. The consignee can then break the seal.
Goods can be transported in containers as Full Container Load (F.C.L) or as Less Container Load (L.C.L).Full container load applies where the container is filled with goods belonging to one person. In FCL, goods are delivered to the consignee intact.  On the other hand, less than container load applies where a container is filled with goods belonging to several consignors. This may be the case where a single consigner does not have enough goods to fill a container. When such a container reaches the destination, it is opened and the various consignees take their goods.
There are special handling facilities for loading and offloading containers onto and from the units of carriage.
Apart from the container depot at Mombasa, Kenya Ports Authority (K.P.A) has established inland container depots referred dry ports. An example of a dry port is found at Embakasi in Nairobi. The establishment of dry ports aims at relieving congestion at the sea port. It also aims at making handling of cargo easier and efficient for inland importers and exporters.
When containers are off loaded from ships at Mombasa, they are loaded into special container trains called railtainer which transports them by railway to the inland container depot at Embakasi. Containers can also be transported by specially designed trucks between the ports or from the port to consumer’s destination.

1. 1995 P1
Give three disadvantages of railway transport in Kenya. (4 marks)
2. 1995 P1
Give three disadvantages of railway transport in Kenya (3 marks)
3. 1995 P2
Explain five reasons that may account for continued use of handcarts as a mode of transport in Kenya. (12 marks)
4. 1996 P1
State four circumstances under which a businessman would choose to transport goods by air?  (4 marks)
5. 1996 P2
The oil pipeline has recently been extended from Nairobi to western Kenya. Explain five benefits that may be accounted to the country from the extension. (10 marks)
6. 1997 P1
Outline four reasons why a school in Kisumu may prefer to transport its sixty students to a music festival in Nairobi by train rather than by bus. (4 marks)
7. 1998 P1
List four disadvantages of using containers to transport goods. (4 marks)
8. 1998 P2
Discuss five factors that have hindered the expansion of railway transport in Kenya.                                                                 
9. 1999 P1
Give five reasons why a manufacturing firm would be located in an area well served by good road network. (4 marks)
10. 1999 P1
Outline four limitations of containerization. (4 marks)
11. 1999 P2
Explain five features of an efficient transport system (8 marks)
12. 2000 P1
State four reasons why road transport is popular in Kenya.  (4 marks)
13. 2000 P2
Explain the advantages of pipeline as a mode of transporting oil products. (12 marks)
14. 2001 P1
State four ways in which the nature of goods would influence the choice of transport.  (4 marks)
15. 2002 P1
Outline four reasons why a transporter of goods from Mombasa to Nairobi may prefer rail transport to road transport. (4 marks)
16. 2002 P2
Outline five factors that should be considered when choosing a means of transport.  (10 marks)

17. 2003 P1
State the unit of carriage for each of the following modes of transport. (5marks)

​18. 2003 P2 
Explain six advantages of containerization as a mode of transport. (10 marks)
19. 2004 P1 
List four ways in which transport promotes growth of trade. (4 marks)
20. 2004 P2 
Discuss six factors that may discourage the use of pipeline as a means of transporting petroleum products in a country. (12 marks)
21. 2005 P2
Discuss five circumstances under which a trader may choose to transport goods by rail. (10 marks)
22. 2006 Q5a P2
a) Outline five factors that may limit the use of containers as a method of transporting goods in a developing country. (10 marks)
23. 2007 Q11 P1
State four circumstances under which air transport may be used to ferry goods (4 marks)
24. 2008 Q14 P1
Outline four factors that a trader would consider in choosing a mode of transport. (4 marks)
25. 2009 Q11 P1
Outline four factors that should be considered in the choice of a means for transporting perishable goods (4 marks)
26. 2009 Q2a P2                                                                             
(a)Explain five demerits that may be associated with water transport. (10 marks) 
27. 2010 Q18 P1
State four reasons why flower exporters would transport their produce by air rather than by sea. (4 marks)