HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION IN TURKEY

Abstract

Transportation has been one of the most important activities of the human-being since the first eras of the history to the present. The transportation and transmission activities starting with the invention of the wheel have minimized the concepts of time and distance with the use of planes and fast-speed trains at present. The transportation sector is important for economic growth because it enables to put economic resources into good use, build connections with other countries, regulate the flow of goods and ensure the continuity of this process as well as enabling to establish new settlement areas and develop the existing ones and create employment opportunities due to the relationships with other sectors (insurance, warehouse, clearance, packaging etc.). In the present study, the historical development of highway transportation and the policies implemented in this sector in Turkey are investigated in stages. Besides, the relationship between the highway transportation and other transportation systems in Turkey is handled. As a result, it has been concluded that it is necessary to revise the highway transportation-centred policy that was launched in Turkey around 1950 and is still implemented; take alternative transportation networks to the forefront and ensure an absolute integration among these transportation types.