Rules of the Sea
Shipping has been used to transport goods since ancient times. Today, over 50,000 merchant ships trade internationally, transporting every kind of cargo. Without them, we simply could not have the level of import and export of affordable goods that make up our modern economy and lifestyle. The International Maritime Organisation( IMO) is responsible for regulating international shipping, including limiting emissions and reducing the impact on the marine environment. The ISO committee on ships and marine technology( ISO / TC 8) co-operates closely with the IMO to ensure that its standards respect and contribute to meeting IMO’ s regulations.
WORLD BANK
Transport is a crucial driver of economic and social development, bringing opportunities for the poor and enabling economies to be more competitive. Transport infrastructure connects people to jobs, education, and health services; it enables the supply of goods and services around the world; and allows people to interact and generate the knowledge and solutions that foster longterm growth. Rural roads, for example, can help prevent maternal deaths through timely access to childbirth-related care, boost girls’ enrolment in school, and increase and diversify farmers’ income by connecting them to markets.
The sector is crucial to reducing poverty, boosting prosperity, and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, as transport is at the heart of critical development challenges:
●●
Climate change: Transport accounts for about 64 % of global oil consumption, 27 % of all energy use, and 23 % of the world’ s energy-related CO 2 emissions. With motorisation rates on the rise, the environmental impact of the sector is expected to grow dramatically.
●●
Rapid urbanisation and motorisation: Cities will be home to some 5.4 billion residents by 2050, equivalent to two-thirds of the projected global population. The number of vehicles on the road will double to reach two billion by 2050.
●●
Accessibility and affordability: An estimated one billion people in low-income countries still lack access to an all-weather road. In many cities, time lost to congestion erodes prosperity. High mobility costs cut the disposable income of the poor who often lack reliable and affordable public transportation.
●●
Road safety: More than 1.25 million people are killed and up to 50 million are injured on the world’ s roads every year. Low and middle income countries account for 90 % of the deaths although they own just half of the world’ s motor vehicles.
●●
Air pollution: Pollution from motorised road transport has been associated with a wide range of health conditions, including cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. Each year, almost 185,000 deaths can be directly attributed to pollution from vehicles.
WALL STREET JOURNAL- Tim Higgins
Self-driving cars could mean better public transit, more green space and less congestion, but also more urban sprawl and greater inequality.
But, even as they acknowledge the promise, others see possible problems. They warn that robot cars could encourage greater urban sprawl and cut into funding for public transit, widening the divide between the haves and have-nots. And driverless cars won’ t be replacing all humandriven cars overnight, meaning an awkward mix of robots and humans sharing roadways.
Smarter public transportation
Some urban planners envision integrating autonomous cars with existing public transit, making the whole system more flexible and responsive.
A likely starting place is on-call robot taxis married with smartphone apps that let users plan the most efficient routes across town. For instance, a commuter might check the app and see that the quickest path is taking a rental bike to the train station, riding for 20 minutes, and then finishing up with a robot taxi for the final two miles to the destination.
79