Editing Transportation in Canada (section)

===European contact===
Prior to the arrival of European settlers, [[Aboriginal peoples in Canada]] walked. They also used  [[canoe]]s, [[kayak]]s, [[umiak]]s and [[Bull Boat]]s, in addition to the [[snowshoe]], [[toboggan]] and [[sled]] in winter. They had no wheeled vehicles, and no animals larger than dogs.

Europeans adopted canoes as they pushed deeper into the continent's interior, and were thus able to travel via the waterways that fed from the [[St. Lawrence River]] and [[Hudson Bay]].<ref>[http://www.collectionscanada.ca/virtual-vault/ Virtual Vault], an online exhibition of Canadian historical art at Library and Archives Canada</ref>

In the 19th century and early 20th century transportation relied on harnessing oxen to ''[[Red River ox cart]]s'' or horse to wagon. Maritime transportation was via manual labour such as canoe or wind on sail. Water or land travel speeds was approximately {{convert|8|to|15|km/h|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="GeoOfTrans">{{cite web | last =Rodrigue | first = Dr. Jean-Paul | title = Historical Geography of Transportation - Part I | work = Dept. of Economics & Geography | publisher = Hofstra University | date = 1998–2008 | url =http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch1en/conc1en/ch1c3_1en.html | access-date = January 18, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080112113050/http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch1en/conc1en/ch1c3_1en.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = January 12, 2008}}</ref>

Settlement was along river routes. Agricultural commodities were perishable, and trade centres were within {{convert|50|km|0|abbr=on}}. Rural areas centred around villages, and they were approximately {{convert|10|km|0|abbr=on}} apart. The advent of [[Steam locomotive|steam railways]] and [[Steamboat|steamships]] connected resources and markets of vast distances in the late 19th century.<ref name="GeoOfTrans"/> Railways also connected city centres, in such a way that the traveller went by sleeper, railway hotel, to the cities. Crossing the country by train took four or five days, as it still does by car. People generally lived within {{convert|5|mi|0|abbr=on}} of the [[downtown]] core thus the train could be used for inter-city travel and the [[tram]] for commuting.

The advent of [[controlled-access highway]]s in Canada established [[ribbon development]], truck stops, and industrial corridors along throughways.