After reading many compositions describing how destructive certain modes of transportation and infrastructures can be, it is clear that something must change. Cars are a rapidly expanding issue in America today because our public transportation system is not sufficient in our society. Cars disrupt our environment both socially and environmentally. With continual traffic problems, dangerous accidents, and pollution, cars are quickly losing their status as the best mode of transportation. However, I cannot blame society for using cars so often since our public transportation is hardly helping the situation. The structure of our society does not allow for fair and efficient public transportation. There are many people who live in suburbs or on the outskirts of a city and have no option but to use a car to get through their daily activities. Cars will continue to cause more and more issues as long as this situation persists.
Many Americans today either own a car or ride in one regularly as a fast and easy way to get to various locations, but cars cause many of the economic and social issues we have today. One obvious problem is traffic. Rush hour has become an accepted evil in today’s society, with many people even planning their days around the traffic patterns. This traffic congestion is not decreasing even with the government adding more lanes and roads. In Robert D. Bullard’s “Anatomy of Sprawl” he discusses the cost that these traffic problems are causing the American people and he also says, “More highways translate into more cars. More cars mean more congestion…” (13). A common notion is that if only there was more room for the cars then the traffic would lighten up, but this is not the case. Adding more lanes only contributes to the problem because then more people decide to drive. I found this fact very interesting since I have had that exact thought before, myself. Another main complication of cars is health problems. Cars pose dangerous situations to those who choose to walk or bike. Context of Urban Travel mentions the alarming fatality rate of pedestrians and bicyclists. Not only are cars a direct threat to our health but their pollution harms our environment as well. The government did begin to intervene and attempt to relieve some of the issues of pollution with the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Intermodel Surface Tranportaion Efficiency Act yet these problems still exist (Hanson 24). In the end, public transportation is safer and more organized.
Public transportation is definitely the best mode of travel but our access to it is very limited making it difficult to use effectively. For those who live in the city, public transportation is often ample and very successful, however most of the population does not live in a city. Trains and buses rarely make their way out to the suburbs and even if they do, their schedules would most likely benefit very few residents. The idea that our society is no longer based around the cities is discussed in Susan Hanson’s Context of Urban Travel yet our public transportation has not evolved to accommodate to this change. Not only is public transportation inconvenient for those outside of the city but it also is not equal and fair to others. Low-income households, single parent families, and the elderly are all discriminated against when it comes to transportation. Because there is little public transportation outside of the cities, those with not much money to spare have no choice but to reside in the city and often must stay there to work. There is also an increase in the number of elderly residents living in the suburbs. These citizens have very few options for their transportation since they cannot drive and there is not efficient public transportation for them (Hanson 8). Eventually the organization of public transportation needs to change in order to have the most prosperous transportation.
As mentioned earlier, cars are problematic and dangerously increasing in numbers but that does not mean that I believe they should be cut from society. I merely think that we should not depend on them as much. In the ideal society the public transportation would take the place of many cars on the road today. It would extend to the suburbs in an efficient manner, allowing for more equity between different incomes and ages. The readings assigned the past two weeks have given me new insight to how our society operates today and how it should operate in the future.
Works Cited:
Bullard, Robert D. “Anatomy of Sprawl.” Sprawl City: Race, Politics, and Planning in
Atlanta. Eds. Robert D. Bullard, Glenn S. Johnson, and Angel O. Torres.
Washington D.C.: Island Press, 2000. 1-20.
Hanson, Susan. “The Context of Urban Travel.” The Geography of Urban
Transportation. 3rd ed. Eds. Susan Hanson and Genevieve Giuliano. New York:
I agree that cars are bringing more evils along with them into today's society and that something needs to be done out them. Traffic (especially Atlanta, which is rated the 8th city with the worst traffic by the Texas transportation Institute) has become outrageous and a time consuming part of many people's daily commute. i find it interesting that you feel that public transportation could be/is the best form of transportation. If there was a substantial change to the way that public transportation functions, then I could definitely see this becoming true. Right now, many areas of cities are left out of public transportation routes and these people have to find other ways to travel to their destination. If public transportation could become more prevalent and more accessible, then that would definitely cut down the amount of cars on the road and hurting thing around them. I like your perspective!
ReplyDeleteThe Texas Institute of Transportation, Texas A&M. "Top 10 Worst Cities for Traffic." The Weather Channel. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Sept. 2011. .