An Investigation and Comparison of Road Transportation Indicators among the Provinces of Iran

Abstract One of the major obstacles in the process of national development, is the disruption in regional balance construct. As has been noted in some studies the existence of regional inequity leads to domination of some regions to surrounding regions and causing political and economic challenges in developing countries. And given that transportation is one of the components of region, undoubtedly equity in transportation infrastructure and quality services both for passenger and freight is one of the factors affecting the balance construct between regions. Socio-economic impacts of transportation are amongst the most important issues in transportation planning and appropriate transportation planning is the key to sound regional development. One of the major planning issues is the transportation equity. Inequity of transportation, itself leads to many other inequities and it is highly essential to consider that in the plans and policies regarding transportation in the country. The main purpose of the present paper is to investigate and make a comparison of road transportation indicators among the provinces of Iran. For this purpose, the relative level of transportation development in different provinces was determined using taxonomy method. Nine indicators provided by Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization were used to carry out analyses. The data were analyzed and described by utilizing from SPSS and GIS Soft wares. The outcomes indicate relative favorable development status in the region consisted of Tehran, Alborz and Qom provinces and unfavorable development of transportation status, especially in the Southeast region. In fact it was revealed that vertical equity in the distribution of infrastructure and services among provinces of Iran is not considered enough. This may be the result of horizontal equity or internal and external factors affecting the performance of the provinces or both