Should All Public Transport Be Free and Paid for by the State

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.

Improving transit will reduce commute time and amount of cars on the road. Toronto is ranked 47th worst traffic in the world. This means that Toronto has a real traffic problem. We must improve the system. This means, having better bus routes and more buses, more subway lines. Toronto currently has only 4 subway lines. This is nothing compared to New York with 34 lines. If our transit

The United State has always been weak in public transportation and mass transit tools. California was once supposed to be different and revolutionized. Trolleys connecting the suburbs to the city and business districts was the main reason why cities expanded vertically. These mass transit tools organized the transits in an extremely environmentally friendly way. But the venue of cars and the thought of independence flattered americans pushing them to each buy a car, synonym of their independence. Now the trains and connecting public transportations have practically disappeared and are irrelevant.

Fifty cents of the gasoline tax dollar increase will go towards making the public transit system more feasible to people. This includes more bus stop locations, more arrival and departure times, more accessible train and airplane facilities, and increased safety precautions. Cheaper fares would also be a good means to increase the use of public transportation. In Huntsville, Alabama where the town is trying to have an efficient city system and is doing well at it, the tourist trolley fare is one dollar per trip and two

In general, everyone needs to go to places everyday whether it is work, visiting a family member, or just touring around interesting places. In order to go to these places, a person needs money. Public transportation costs a lot. Some people won’t be able

The author of this article wrote that it is important for the citizens of Detroit to vote for a public rail and bus transit system. Puentes states that there are a myriad amount of jobs but there is also no way to get to them. Although there are many buses, trains and routes in Detroit, there are no connecting routes from one region to another or to the city itself. This makes it harder for people to get to their jobs in less than an hour. Something else the author mentions is that most of the families in Detroit receive low income, so they cannot pay for all the buses needed in order to go to work.

There are two main culprits of the public transport industry responsible for this mess. These are namely the bus and rail companies who despite, receiving large government subsidies, simply can't rectify their problems.

Threats of substitutes: In U.S., an automobile was considered as necessity so for every adult there was car on roads. Even for inter-city travel more than 70% time cars were used. Buses, trains and other means didn’t have much impact. The growing array of higher priced imported models had negative effect.

In order to correct our economic system’s faults, we must understand that the problem is multifaceted and won’t improve unless addressed as such. This will be rather difficult considering how the U.S’s system is constructed and the range of problems facing us. The problems facing us not only include low wages but inflated prices for higher education, food, necessities, and cars which are technically a luxury but are sometimes needed to obtain and keep a well paying job due to gaps in the public transportation system. Personally, this has affected myself because the private security industry is riddled with jobs/schedules which make taking public transport difficult or sometimes impossible. There are others like myself who then have a more difficult time looking for stable work that’s also accessible on transit.

In Daniel Wood's article "Road Pricing Necessary, Contentious—and coming to Vancouver," he provides a glimpse into the possible uproar that will come of introducing road pricing to the city of Vancouver. The masses of people who commute by transit have to pay for it while drivers on the other hand, pay nothing to use the roads. Woods goes on to describe examples of how drivers get charged for using the roads in other parts of the world and how it helps to reduce congestion and encourage the use of public transit. Woods states that in Vancouver, the roads have been free since the beginning of time. Consequentially, the public does not really comprehend the concept of road pricing—let alone have any experience with it—and without the proper education,

The development of transportation system in the United States is a mandate of the federal government as delineated by the Constitution. The US has enjoyed a legacy in development and exploration of transport system channels. As a result, this has enhanced movement of people and goods across the nation. Presently, the US has an advanced network of paved highways and the world’s most sophisticated commercial aviation architecture. However, triumph of the transportation system in the US can be considered as a blessing and a curse in terms of its ability to increase and reduce urban congestion. Recently, the stimulus plan was proposed with the aim of reducing urban congestion. Notably, there are people who support while others do not. An analysis of high-speed rail operations will help decision makers understand that high-speed rail will not work.

There are really many challenges if we try to improve public transportation, the government will be cost a lot of

Our transportation system, quite arguably, may embody our most vital system, as Infrastructure and Democracy clarifies, “access is the hallmark of a great infrastructure” (Jones, Reinecke). By great contrast, our roads remain a current issue. 42 percent of America’s urban highways remain congested, costing the United States 101 billion dollars in wasted time and fuel each year. Also, the32 percent of roads, in poor or mediocre condition, cost the average traveler $324 per year (American Infrastructure Report Card). Unfortunately, updating the highway systems seems longer than it may seem, as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that from proposal to completion most highways will need nine to nineteen years to fix (Leduc, Wilson 129). In addition to the roads, our bridges are failing just as much. One of every nine bridges within the United States is categorized as structurally deficient. The average bridge 42 years old, and in order to eliminate the bridge renovation backlog, our country would need to invest twenty and a half billion dollars until 2028 (American Infrastructure Report Card). However, in 2013, the United States only invested 12.8 billion dollars in bridge reconstruction and repair (American Infrastructure Report Card). Also, our countries transit

Public transportation is serious need of a massive overhaul in this nation. We are in desperate need to catch up to the European standard of public transportation in this country. In Europe, citizens can travel across cities, bodies of water, and even counties with their state of the art public transportation system. Europeans are not nearly as reliant on cars and oil as the United States is because they have the much more practical option of taking the transportation provided to them by the government to where ever they need to go. They have set a model that the United States needs to strive for and meet in the near future.

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.