At the start of a server, players will create their buildings right next to raw materials, but eventually as technology improves, new projects will require a variety of processed materials from a variety of sources. To handle moving these across the world, players will need to band together and put forth the time and resources to create transport networks.
Transportation is a huge driver of modifications to the environment, as well as a huge consumer of resources and, in late-game, source of pollution. How players decide to lay out their roads will have a huge impact on the both the ecosystem and economy of Eco.
