{"id":1958,"date":"2017-10-13T19:59:10","date_gmt":"2017-10-14T00:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/livesofmaps\/?p=1958"},"modified":"2017-10-13T19:59:10","modified_gmt":"2017-10-14T00:59:10","slug":"the-interconnection-of-transportation-in-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/livesofmaps\/2017\/10\/13\/the-interconnection-of-transportation-in-the-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"The Interconnection of Transportation in the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all know that transportation is a vital part of our everyday lives in the US, but do we really know the specifics of how it all works? The map that I have selected depicts the major transportation facilities of the United States in 1999. \u00a0The map was produced by the Department of Transportation which is a department that tries to improve the transportations systems in the United States. When this map was created, the United States had a highly developed transportation system equipped with many options for getting in and around the country. From cars and buses to trains and planes, all various forms of transportation were available to most American people. However, this map does not just depict what types of transportation people use, rather what areas in the United States see the most travel of goods and people. \u00a0As shown on the map, more urbanized areas and cities have the most highways, railways and waterways running through them. \u00a0In addition some things that are labeled on the map are major ports. The majority of these ports are found along the east coast. \u00a0This could be due to the fact that goods are being transported across the Atlantic Ocean from European countries.<\/p>\n

I chose this particular map because transportation of goods, services and people often get taken for granted. When you pick up an avocado in the grocery store, you hardly think of how that avocado got from the farm, to the grocery store and into your hand. This map makes us think more about transportation and how urban areas are the hub of it all. \u00a0The transportation of goods and people contribute to the transportation of ideas across the US. This movement of ideas causes cities and ports to be more progressive in their thinking, which is shown in the map. In addition this map shows how connected major cities are across the country and this connection allows for the United States to be a nation based on industry and technology. The US has been built on the idea of infrastructure and industry. The elements of industry and technology contribute the pprogressiveness of the US. \u00a0This projection allows the audience to focus in on specific transportation across the US and see the difference in transportation between rural and urban areas. \u00a0Rural areas are more spread out and less people populate them as opposed to urban areas such as cities that are full of infrastructure and has a high population.<\/p>\n

While looking and analyzing this map, I can find some critiques for it. \u00a0For example, I know that the map was developed by the US Department of Transportation, which is a federal administration with offices around the US. However, I would like to consider what group of people specifically made the map and if their views influenced the map. \u00a0Was the map developed in an urban area? If so does the urban area inflict bias towards the layout and the projection of the map? A common concept about maps that goes unnoticed is that maps show silences. These silences are the deeper meaning of the map and the important details that relate to the map but are not shown on the projection. \u00a0The silences on this map that I think about are economics and the flow of money when goods and people are transported. \u00a0For example, since urban areas and cities have the most transportation flowing through it, cities are taking in the most money. And therefore, the more Midwestern states and rural areas are bringing in less money due to the lack of transportation and goods going through the areas.<\/p>\n

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Another concept that is used to describe cartography is that maps are often very political. I would describe this map as an ethnocentric and political map because it only shows the transportation of the United States. The idea of transportation is political because it exposes the different relationships between people in the US who can afford more efficient transportation as opposed to people who cannot . This map also shows political aspects because it favors the US and puts our transportation system above others. Since the map was created by a US federal department, it is known that ethnocentric bias towards the US is going to be embedded in the map. \u00a0This bias can be derived from the people at the Department of Transportation who want to show off how industrialized our country’s system of transportation system is.<\/p>\n

The Major Transportation Facilities of the US is a very insightful map \u00a0that shows the interconnection of cities and transportation across the country.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all know that transportation is a vital part of our everyday lives in the US, but do we really know the specifics of how it all works? The map that I have selected depicts the major transportation facilities of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3453,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/livesofmaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/livesofmaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/livesofmaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/livesofmaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3453"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/livesofmaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/livesofmaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/livesofmaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/livesofmaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/livesofmaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}