Transport service

A transport service is the provision of vehicles and other facilities to move people or goods from point A to point B. Thus freight services consist of the physical movement and handling of goods (incl. pick-up, consolidation, actual transport, trans-shipment, delivery) whilst passenger services make it possible for people to travel from one place to another. Maritime transport services consist of three types of activities: (i) international maritime transport (the actual transportation service until the destination port); (ii) maritime auxiliary services (any activities related to cargo manipulation in ports and on ships); and (iii) port services (activities related solely to ship management in ports). A public transport service has a considerable number of dimensions, such as: network structure, pricing, spacing of lines and stops, frequency of service, and vehicle size. The quality of transport services (and 'service levels) has become an important issue in the EU, and includes quality in terms of 'capacity', 'transport service' and 'traffic flows'. In passenger rail transport, speed and comfort are seen as the prime quality of service indicators. 'Inter-modal' refers to transport services which make use of more than one transport mode (also known as 'multi-modal' services).