Transportation Plan For A Sustainable Transportation System

This paper recognizes that climate change, which can be defined as the gradual increase in temperature caused by the increased production of carbon dioxide, presents a fundamental national security challenge.

Amongst the many choices we have to make today, we also must make a decision on how we will get from point A to point B - utilizing public transportation or our own vehicles. Public transportation generally includes busses or trams for getting around town, and many large cities have commuter trains. While there are other forms of transportation such as taxis and for hire cars such as Uber, they can only move much smaller groups of people at a time. Public transportation in the United States and other developed countries is relatively safe, but recent issues regarding accidents is also taken into consideration. Some things to consider are comfort and convenience, cost, and environmental effects.

National security, in the 21st century, has shifted from the focus on traditional threats (armed forces) (Siddiqi, 2013) to the integration of new threats and challenges, which have global consequences as the world evolves. Climate change has been increasingly identified as a serious contemporary security threat (McDonald, 2013), nationally and globally, instead of an environmental concern (Dupont & Pearman, 2008). This challenge presents a long-term global threat, with substantial human, national and transnational security repercussions (Wuebbles, Chitkara & Matheny, 2014). Furthermore, Wuebbles et al. (2014) acknowledge climate change as a threat multiplier, seen to exacerbate stresses (i.e. conflict, instability and poverty), enhancing the global importance of the issue as recognised as a critical national security risk. In perceiving climate change as a threat multiplier, this essay will recognise how the issues cumulative progression and consequences interacts with existing security issues, directly and indirectly challenging national security (Brown, Hammill & McLeman, 2007). Secondly, the long-term risk of climate change will be discussed, analysing the importance of implementing adaptation strategies for risk protection and vulnerability reduction. Finally, being a transnational security threat, global cooperation will be addressed, stressing the importance of internationalism and collaboration to protect against this evolving threat to national and

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.

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.

Public transportation provides numerous positive attributes to the community at large. It enhances personal opportunities by providing personal mobility and freedom, gives people transportation options to get to work, go to school, visit friends, or go to a doctor’s office, provides access to job opportunities. It saves fuel and reduces congestion, provides economic opportunities and drives community growth and revitalization. Statistically, every $1 invested in public transportation generates approximately $4 in economic returns, every $10 million in capital investment in public transportation yields $30 million in increased business sales, every $10 million in operating investment yields $32 million in increased business sales, and from 2006-2011, residential property values performed 42 percent better on average if they were located near public transportation with high-frequency service. Public transportation saves money and reduces gasoline consumption. According to APTA’s transit saving report, a two-person household can save, on the average, more than $10,174 a year by downsizing to one car. Public transportation use in the United States saves 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline annually and households near public transit drive an average of 4,400 fewer miles than households with no access to public transit. Public transportation also reduces the carbon footprint in that its use

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.

Evidence: A study presented by the white house on its website reported that 65% of roads rated in less than good condition. 25% of bridges require significant repair or cannot handle today's traffic. Also because certain roads cannot be used there is more traffic. The Texas Transportation Institute estimates that American commuters in urban areas collectively lost 5.5 billion hours stuck in traffic in 2011, meaning the average commuter lost nearly a week to traffic. their calculations further suggest that traffic congestion caused American commuters to purchase an extra 2.9 billion gallons of fuel, costing them more than $120 billion in added fuel costs and wasted time.

Transportation is an everyday occurrence in today’s society; it takes you where you need to in a timely manner. In the article “The Bus, a Modern Panacea” by Lester Detroit, he explains that taking the VTA is a “cure-all” solution. Detroit notes that the VTA is convenient because students do not have to drive around to find parking space. He revels that students can save money with the free Echo Pass that is provided with registered SJSU students. He also notes that taking the VTA helps with the environmental problems because it solves traffic congestion, rising oil consumption, and carbon pollution.

Since the beginning of the United States the American people have been on the move. Public transportation has played a major role in the development of this nation and in bringing its citizens together. In the book “Divided Highways”, author Tom Lewis takes the reader on a journey of the building of the Interstates and the consequences(good and bad) that came from them. Lewis believes that the Interstates are a physical characteristic of America and that it shows “all our glory and our meanness; all our vision and our shortsightedness”(xiv).

The 21st century has begun with one of the most challenge security threats to the United States of America have had to face. The perils of climate change have the ability to impact the national interest concerning power, prosperity and peace. The continued challenges around the world, and domestically, it is critical the US implements a comprehensive grand strategy. Cooperative security gives the US the best possibility to achieve the goals that will lessen the effects and place the US ahead of the international agenda. Combating climate change will require successful policies such as international climate pacts, collective-action and cap and trade initiatives. In the past, we have seen the US shy away from such accords worried about the

Farmlands are being lost for the creation of new highways, fringe industrial parks and sprawl housing developments. The loss of farmland would minimize our capability to grow fiber and food. The increase in property tax due to the pressure of urban development has forced farmer to lose their business. They inevitably have to sell their farmland for different type of housing development. U.S. Census of Agriculture reported a decline in farmland acres from about 938.3 million in 2002 to about 922.1 million in 2007, a loss of 1.7 percent. The loss of farmland would reduce the quality and quantity of food supply due to the possible shortcoming

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.