LAND TRANSPORT SYSTEMS - 2021/2

Module Overview

Passenger transport systems are a key component of the tourism product. Transportation plays a crucial role in attracting visitors to, and disseminating visitors within, a destination. This module explores the fundamental role of land transport systems in domestic and international tourism. The focus of the module is on road, rail, urban and non-motorised transport modes. Demand management issues, congestion problems, infrastructure investment and environmental impacts are all evaluated. The complexities of public and private sector partnerships in the passenger transport industry will be analysed and inconsistencies in transport infrastructure and provision across different countries and regions will be discussed.

Module provider

Hospitality, Tourism & Events Management

Module Leader

THOMOPOULOS Nikolas (Hosp & Tour)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• High speed rail networks in Europe and Asia
• Luxury train travel holidays
• Infrastructure projects and finance (e.g. Channel Tunnel and Oresund Bridge)
• State ownership, privatisation and fragmentation issues in railway systems
• Private car journeys for tourism purposes
• Road congestion, transport bottlenecks, and the impacts on tourism
• Mid to long distance coach travel
• Environmental impacts of land transport
• Urban public transport systems (bus, metro, tram, rail, cycle hire)
• Inland navigation (canals and rivers)
• Slow tourism using land transport
• Cycling and walking holidays

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of land transport systems, and is designed to allow students to evidence their achievement of the learning outcomes. The assessment comprises of an individual assignment.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:
• An individual assignment, in which students are examined on their ability to critically review academic literature, theories and industry reports related to land-based transport.
• This assignment has a target length of 3500-4000 words.

Formative assessment
During the first seminar, the assignment and the feedback process is explained. Feedback is also provided during and after in-class discussions. A pre-assignment feedback session is an integral part of this module. During this session, students work in groups on a task which reflects the assignment requirements and receive feedback on their work.

Feedback
When marking is completed, students are able to access a marking form online which contains detailed individual feedback, as well as a breakdown of marks. Students receive written feedback and the marking form outlines each student’s strengths, areas for improvement and suggestions on how to improve performance in future assignments.

Module aims

• To analyse the dominant role of road transport in domestic and international tourism
  
  
  
• To examine rail transport management issues at the international level
• To understand urban public transport systems and their importance to tourism destinations
• To investigate tourist demand for non-motorised transport and slow tourism practices

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to enable students to gain a detailed understanding of the various land-based transport systems. The use of lectures, seminars, case-study exercises, in-class group activities and industry guest speakers will provide students with the opportunity to meet the key learning outcomes of the module. The formative and summative assessments will develop the students’ critical reasoning skills and will challenge them to apply academic theory in a transport context.

The learning and teaching methods include:

• 1-hour lecture and 2-hour seminar per week x 11 weeks, with a range of specialisms designed to provide a framework of knowledge
• In-class exercises, case studies and discussion topics will highlight contemporary issues and allow the students to form and challenge perspectives from the vested stakeholders
• Visiting speakers will ensure students appreciate the relevance of the material to the various modes of land transport

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MAN3165

Other information

None

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2021/2 academic year.