Describe the growing importance of road transport.
India has one of the largest road networks in the world, aggregating to about 56 lakh km. In India, roadways have preceded railways. They still have an edge over railways in view of the ease with which they can be built and maintained. The growing importance of road transport vis-à-vis rail transport is rooted in the following reasons;
- Construction cost of roads is much lower than that of railway lines
- Roads can traverse comparatively more dissected and undulating topography
- Roads can negotiate higher gradients of slopes and as such can traverse mountains such as the Himalayas
- Road transport is economical in transportation of few persons and relatively smaller amount of goods over short distances
- It also provides door-to-door service, thus the cost of loading and unloading is much lower
- Road transport is also used as a feeder to other modes of transport such as they provide a link between railway stations, air and sea ports
