Imagine yourself sitting in traffic, you are just in your car and the engine is just going and gas is being wasted and the fumes coming out which pollute our environment. You look out and see that it is still bumper to bumper on I-680 going to work, you are stressing out because you might be late for work. Then when you go back home, it’s the same bumper to bumper traffic. All this time you could have just been with your family, helping your kids with their homework, or work on something for your job. Traffic is a major issue for 21st-century cities, it is hurting our economy and our environment. One solution to this is a major issue is to invest in public transportation and encourage more people to ride public transportation. I am calling for the Federal Transportation Administration, state, and local governments to invest more in public transportation and spread the awareness of public transportation. Public transportation is beneficial to our communities by providing a solution to traffic and the havoc it causes on our lives. Public transportation can carry way more people per hour at full capacity than the typical single-commuter car. Freeways with cars that carry on average 1.2 persons per car in medium traffic (around 30 mph) will only carry 1,080 people per hour. At max, a freeway can carry 1,800 cars per hour and that only results in 5,400 passengers per hour if there were 3 passengers per car. Compare that to the average heavy rail (BART, NYC Subway, MBTA) train
Three quarters of emissions in 2004 were coming from road traffic (Woodcock, p.1930, 2009). Emissions used from transportation are forecasted to increase from the year 2007-2030 by about 80% according to studies done by James Woodcock who is currently studying climate change and health from car fuels (Woodcock, p.1930, 2009). This is due to the fact that the emissions from vehicles are increasing significantly and are higher than any other energy fragment (Woodcock, p.1930, 2009). The only way to lower this percentage is to decrease the number of individual automobiles on the road and increase the number of public transit systems, starting long distance walking to work or school, carpooling or even biking to destinations. These principles would
Trains are everywhere in our society, we have jokes, toys, movies, and children’s television shows, but did you know rail transport started in 6th century Greece? The city of San Antonio, Texas is a fast-growing metropolitan city that has a very tremendous amount of people. It has been estimated that the city will grow by another million people in the next ten to twenty years. San Antonio’s traffic is becoming a huge issue and is quickly approaching to be one of the most congested areas in the states. The public transport in San Antonio consists of a very complex bus system, taxicabs, Trolley’s downtown, and the growing market of ridesharing drivers. San Antonio has had many talks and negotiations throughout the last two decades on getting a Light Rail system constructed to help with public transportation. This proposal is for specific businesses, the city of San Antonio and Bexar County to come to a funding agreement.
Automobiles play a major role in today's society. Almost every American owns at least one motorized transportation vehicle. Some say they make our lives better by reaching places faster than before. Others say they are a harmful to the environment. Have they made our society better or worse? They may be fast, but do we as humans want our environment to suffer because of time. Face it, cars pollute. And they release destructive chemicals into the air. Air pollution can threaten the health of many subjects in the environment including human beings.
Transportation in the region has a long and successful past. However, public transportation has consistently taken a back seat to the personal automobile. There has been a strong core of persons who rely on public transportation to achieve mobility, and governmental
Traffic in downtown Austin, Texas is becoming a sever issue and is continuing to become slower and more congested every day. Austin ranks 4th on a list of U.S. cities with the least efficient roadways, and with its remarkable growth rate, the issue can only get worse. After reading numerous articles based on opinions and statements from local city planners and engineers, the best way to see an improvement in the traffic issue is to increase the amount of public transportation in the Austin area. The increase of public transportation would provide fast travel time and would help reduce the amount of money, commuters and locals use on gas by a substantial amount per year. Though many may argue the that we have enough public transportation already, reducing the number of personal vehicles on the road would decrease the amount of bumper to bumper traffic experienced on a daily basis, as well as increase the options for those commuting to the city every day. there are many possible solutions, such as widening the highways or even building them underground, these solutions however are not the most economically correct and productive way to relieve traffic downtown.
The traffic problem in Atlanta drains both time and money for thousands. It has been shown that Atlanta drivers spend on average 51 unnecessary hours behind the wheel each year (WSB Radio, 2013). That’s more than two 24 hour days spent sitting in traffic. During all this time spent, Atlantans end up spending upwards of $1000 per year on gas and collectively use 63,000,000 gallons of gas each year while sitting in traffic (WSB Radio, 2013). Traffic in Atlanta has been a huge waste of time and money for Atlantans for years and something needs to be done to alleviate the
“As the number of drivers increases, more and more people die at railroad crossings. In a car-train collision, the odds that those in the car will live are not very good,” stated in the Railroad crossing article in the NUES Driver’s Ed Online Course. There are many precautions that can be taken to reduce the amount of deaths occurring in railroad crossings. While signs and gates indicate a train coming across, there are many things we can do as pedestrians as well. First off, we should always follow and be aware of the advanced warning signs and do as instructed. There are even markings on the pavement as well. Never go around the gates or over the curbing that stops you from crossing the tracks. It is against the law to cross the tracks when
Adam complains about parking at least three time a day. He is late to economics class every Tuesday and Thursday, and Professor Willis simply cannot take it anymore. Professor Willis told Adam that he needs to wake up earlier in order to get a spot on campus, but sleep is vital to all college students. Sleep should not be compensated for the time to find parking. Adelphi should instead listen to the proposal in this essay, which deals with the plan of action to create more parking spots on campus. Spots are limited, and Adam is not alone. There is a large number of people who have a problem finding a parking spot. Parking is the number one problem on campus for both residents and commuters and a solution is needed. Adelphi has the money and power to create more parking spots on campus by extending both of the underground parking lots. The benefits of extending the underground parking lots will allow for Adelphi to cut down on their shuttle service, permit all students to park on campus, and for less accidents to occur.
On average, an American commuter spends around 30 hours per week sitting in traffic going to and from the job that they may or may not love. Commuters in some cities like Washington DC, that is both near and dear to our hearts, can spend roughly 60 hours per week stuck in traffic. Not only is time wasted wasted while commuting, but the gas that we constantly fill our cars up with may as well be flushed down the drain. Following the gas that is going down this metaphorical drain here, is a ridiculous amount of money from an innocent commuter’s wallet. Additionally, time wasted while commuting could’ve been time well spent with one’s family or even with one’s pets. The
This is one of the main cause environmental pollution. Canadian vehicle owners are now double what they were in 1960. (The David Suzuki Foundation, n.d.). In Canada, Moreover, about 9 million workers said that they had never used public transportation to commute. The reason why they don’t use it, because about 7.4 millions of these people thought that public transportation would be somewhat or very inconvenient (Campbell, W., 2011, October
Phoenix is large city in the United States and it is also the biggest city in Arizona. There are lots of who people live, work and study here. Therefore, there are always traffic jams in the rush hours which are morning and afternoon. If the government could improve the public transportation, for example, by adding more buses, there would be fewer people driving cars. According to Tribune (2009) Arizona lobbyists criticize claims that spending more money to improve public transportation is important, not only for creating more jobs, but also for help for reduce traffic, air pollution, and our dependence on oil. This shows that the public transportation here should be improved. Improving public transportation will also be beneficial for citizens in Arizona. It is because there will be fewer traffic jams then people will be taking buses instead of
We watched “Taken for a ride” documentary that finally gave an answer to my inquiries about American transportation. I am European and, before, I never quite understood why Americans use drive-ups, rather than doing healthy walking, and—why sitting in traffic for them seems natural, except for the fact that they have so big road arteries and easy free parking spaces, that function as incentive to drive, not to forget that gas prices (very high in Europe) here are very cheap. Moreover, since I started using the bus to commute to campus, I had an impression of some kind of stigma enveloping the bus system, as if it is in use for poor and minorities.
We have to become more responsible in our way of life and realize that oil will soon run out at current rates and we have to embrace public transportation now if we are to succeed in the upcoming future. Also, our goal is to make this a greener nation. By reducing the number of cars on the road and making it possible for every citizen to have access to public transportation, we can reach this goal. It is our duty and responsibility to take care of the planet and make sure that we do not cause our own destruction. Reducing carbon emissions and greenhouse gasses will put our nation on the right path for the future.
One of the major disadvantages of driving is the risk of death due to fatal car accidents in the United States, which was around 32, 719 highway deaths in 2013. However, for public transportation, such as trains, there have been on average 876 deaths due to a rail incidents in 2013 in the United States ("Crossing Collisions & Casualties by Year."). Although these numbers seem high, light trucks, vans, and passengers compose a majority of the highway deaths and only a mere 6 rail passengers were a part of the 891. Although these statistics are on a national level, these statistics show how much safer it is for a person to travel by train rather than by car, and even more, if the number of cars decreased in the Atlanta Metropolitan area and people used other forms of transportation, such as public transportation, air pollution’s health risks and effects would not harm the urban population as much as they do
Public transportation can help reduce stress caused by driving, save money, and also protect our environment by reducing the number of vehicles on the road. In order to get more people off the road and into the public transportation system we must increase the number of buses and taxis that are available. We must also increase the number of stops available for daily bus routes. With more stops on the map more people are likely to use the bus system. Each city or town will be able to decide where more bus stops are needed and make the adjustments necessary to provide better service for the taxpaying citizens. Of course, none of this is possible without adequate funds in each town/city and the gas tax is guaranteed to provide those funds. Providing more public transportation will help us reach our ultimate goal of protecting the environment and ourselves.