Folks often talk about "basic needs" in the the form of "food, water, shelter." Humans need to eat and drink to survive. "Shelter" includes any and all protection from "environmental extremes" in the form of "clothing" and "housing."
After "individual basic needs" we find "basic economic needs" like transportation, "energy", and "building materials"
For most of human history "transportation" options consisted of walking, riding a horse, or "waterways." Railroads, automobiles and airplanes increased the speed of transportation, but it was still "transportation."
Cornelius Vanderbilt made a lot of money helping folks get to where they needed to go. First with sailboats, then steamships, and eventually railroads.