Modes of Transportation

Modes of Transportation:
If you think of, there are three basic modes of transportation, by water, by air third by  land.  The land has provided us the scope of  Roadways and railways, air has provided the airways and the water has provided the scope of the waterways. The roadways include all type of the roads, National highways, state highways, Major district roads, Village roads, etc. It includes all the feeder roads.  Railways is generally used for the long travels, but the Metro railways are used for the short travels. The waterways are used by the cargo ships, or other boats, on the oceans, rivers, seas, canals or rivers wherever possible. The airways are used by the aircrafts and the helicopters. 
So the major modes of the transportation are : (1) Waterways (2) Railways (3) Roadways/Highways (4) Airways
The transportation by the airways is the fastest among the four and by waterways it is slowest.  Travel by air also provides more comfort.  The transportation by the waterways is possible between the two ports, or along a river and canals where the facilities for landing are available.
Transportation through the railways is advantageous for the long journey to transport the goods and passengers between different stations. The roads can act as the feeder system, to cater the traffic from various near and far places. The energy required to haul a unit load through a unit distance is only a fraction of that required for the haulage through the roadways. So we should make the use of the railways as much as possible. 
The transportation by the water is the slowest among the four modes but it needs the minimum energy to haul a unit load through a unit distance.
The transportation by road is the mode which can provide us the maximum flexibility with the routes, type of vehicles, lanes, and times. We can use a two wheeler or four wheeler, what ever suits the situation. It is the mode of transportation which provides the door to door service, and is required by all the other three modes of transportation. 
Everyone need to use a roadway  to reach the Airport, Harbour or the Railway station more often. So this mode also acts as a feeder system to all the other three modes of transportation. 
The branch of the Engineering which deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the highways is known as the Highway Engineering.