Where Americans use transportation, Britons generally prefer transport. In American English, transport is only a verb (with rare exceptions). So where Americans say public transportation, transportation commissioner, and air transportation, Britons say public transport, transport commissioner, and air transport. Neither transport nor transportation is right or wrong; they’re just different ways of saying the same thing.
Canadians use both transport and transportation, though the latter has the edge. Australians favor transport.
Examples
But regional transportation officials, eager to find out for sure, on Wednesday commissioned a nine-county poll to gauge voter support for a gas tax. [San Francisco Chronicle]
Campaigners say they have a letter by the transport secretary which shows he is keen to see the barriers installed. [BBC]
Cuba’s capital, Havana, has good public safety and terrible public transportation. [NPR (U.S.)]
It’s a story familiar to everyone who uses public transport. [Guardian (U.K.)]
Comments are closed.