America: Driving in Circles

Years ago, America was at the tip of technology and leading the world with innovation as the car became more and more popular. Unfortunately, today that is not the case. America is caught in the past and unable to move forward, yet that is exactly what we must do in order to improve transportation and ultimately our society. Our country is too focused on cars, mainly because that is what it was built around, yet we have the opportunity to look towards other European countries and cities for assistance. These countries are already more dependent on public transportation and are continuing to move in that direction. Here, we have the choice to leave our car-ridden lives and improve public transportation by following their lead.

It has become apparent throughout this course that America relies on cars for transportation but it is now time for the country to move away from this form of transport. America is stuck on cars. They were a booming industry and were beneficial to this country for many years, but are now becoming a burden. As seen in Blueprint America: Beyond the Motor City, Detroit is a great example of how cars have led to the downfall of city life. With more and more highways interrupting communities and separating neighborhoods, those without cars are left behind. Not only that but people who live in suburban areas rarely have any option aside from owing a car. This trend has only led to poor transportation and more social and health problems due to inequity, construction, pollution, and separation of communities. America used to be on top due to cars and because of that we have not moved away from them even though they are now detrimental. One reason for this could be that many of our cities have developed around the idea that cars are the main form of transport. For instance, Detroit is the “motor city” and eventually got rid of nearly all of its public transportation and focused just on the automobile (Blueprint America). It is time for America to begin a new era focused around public transportation just as our European counterparts are starting to do.

Overseas, many communities have much more effective public transportation and are still developing plans which America should model to improve our mobility issues. Europe never became quite so car dependent as America is which may be a very viable reason as to why it is much easier for them to map out the future of their public transportation systems. However, they have still had much greater public transport for a long time, especially their metro and train systems. Spain is in the midst of developing a cutting edge, high-speed train arrangement that extends to within reasonable distance of 90% of their population (Blueprint America). This increases the productivity and mobility of a large amount of residents since the trains are affordable and convenient. In addition to all of this, it also increases the connectivity between communities and the country, as a whole. Many transportation experts from around America have already begun to research this idea and investigate the logistics behind it and I believe that is a great step towards advancing our own transportation.

In conclusion, our nation needs to take a step back and realize that we must leave our past accomplishments behind and build off of new and advantageous ideas. Cars have been a growing affliction for too long now and it is time to rely more upon public transportation. In order to accomplish this our infrastructure would need various changes to be made and a reliable place to start for that is Europe, since their public transportation is thriving compared to America’s. The main goal, as seen in Spain’s new train system, is to accommodate as many people as possible and in the most efficient way. Public transportation is definitely the way to accomplish this. America just needs to quit this tendency of depending on automobiles so that this country can truly grow.

Resources:

Blueprint America: Beyond the Motor City. Dir. Aaron Woolf. Prod. PBS. 2010. Film.

Transportation in a Superpower Country

You may ask what makes a country a superpower. There are many scholarly definitions, but the general answer is always the same: a superpower is a country that has a growing economy and keeps progressing in technologies. These countries are an exemplary model for other growing countries. A country like this will influence the thinking and actions of other countries for the betterment of their own nation. Today, the United States is a superpower. Tomorrow, another country will take the title. The United States also has many cities with a mediocre transportation system. Not only do these cities have transportation systems that do not reach the suburbs, but they might also be very limited in accessibility. By limited accessibility, I mean that equity is not present in the system and very few people have access to it. Another way in which transportation is detaining the United States from progressing is that other countries are now competitors in the transportation system.

First, we must begin by looking at the accessibility of transportation in the United States and specifically in the city of Atlanta. Atlanta is one of the most active cities in America, and it also contains the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. When thinking about the airport in Atlanta, foreigners and out-of-state people might think that Atlanta’s transportation system must be incredible. However, the opposite is true. The city’s well-known Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) system is, perhaps, the worst transportation system in any city of America. Not only does it not extend to the suburban communities, but there is very little accessibility. The system’s layout is in the shape of a plus sign. There system only meets at one intersection. My first impression when riding MARTA was that very few people were using it relative to population density. Another important observation is that the vast majority of the people taking MARTA were minorities, mainly African Americans. There were very few business people. Only the populace living within a mile of the stations is able to use MARTA without the use of another mode of transportation. The horrendous transportation system is slowly declining Atlanta’s progress.

As a contrast, Spain is the leading country in light-rail transportation. In fact, six of the eight largest light-rail companies in the world are located in Spain. Until the 1980s, Spain used the transportation systems in the United States as a model. Now, Spain has advanced much further than the United States in transit system development. Of course, other countries are also progressing, but Spain is the leading country. It is expected that by 2020, the United States will no longer be a superpower. Growing countries such as Brazil, India, Russia, and China have a great possibility of surpassing the United States transportation system.

Although the United States is a country superpower, its transportation system is not close to that of Spain. Instead, it is slowly declining and worsening. In a superpower country, it is expected that there is an exemplary transportation system. This statement was true before the 1980s; however, with an economic depression omnipresent, the already ordinary transportation systems are dying. So how can we better the transit system in America, and in what ways should be imitate Spain’s system?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Blueprint America: Beyond the Motor City. Thirteen, 08 Feb. 2010. Web. 18 Sept. 2011 <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/reports/beyond-the-motor- city/video/939/>

Better Public Transportation in Atlanta

        Atlanta is one of the few major American cities that does not have an extensive mass transit system. There is MARTA, a small rail system and lots of bus routes, but it is not sufficient for daily use. Many people who need this transportation to be able to provide for themselves do not have access to it.  Atlanta not only has a large traffic problem, but the air quality is terrible because of so many cars giving off harmful gases. Atlanta needs a larger public transit system because it will help bring equality to Atlanta, it will improve our air quality, and it will also lower the daily commute time.

A bigger, more efficient transit system would help bring more equality to Atlanta. In Robert Bullard’s introduction to Sprawl City: Race, Politics, and Planning in Atlanta, he states, “All communities are not created equal. Apartheid-type employment, housing development, and transportation policies have resulted in limited mobility, reduced neighborhood options, decreased residential choices, and diminished job opportunities for African Americans and other people of color who are concentrated in cities” (3-4). African American residents of metro-Atlanta are at a severe disadvantage because they were pushed out to the suburbs by the creation of interstate highways throughout Atlanta, they cannot afford to cars to drive on these highways, and they are out reach of public transportation. By expanding Atlanta’s public transportation system, it can begin cater more to the people who need public transportation rather than the people who have cars and can afford to live in the areas that Marta serves. Furthermore, the people living in the suburbs are also suffering from pollution do to being surrounded by highways. 

A study in the Journal of Asthma, written in 2002, suggests that children who live in areas with more smog are more likely to have asthma. The danger that the use of cars is imposing upon children is not right or necessary. If Atlanta had a better transit system, and more people used it, the smog level would decrease dramatically and make a safer environment for people to live. Also, in Sprawl City, it is written, “Atlanta’s smog is also hurting its image as an attractive business climate” (52). Many businesses don’t want to move to Atlanta because they feel that it is an unhealthy work environment, and this feeling hurts the Atlanta job market. In conclusion, by improving the mass transit system in Atlanta, the city can have healthier people and a healthier economy. As well as improving air quality in Atlanta, having a better public transportation system also would make daily commute time in Atlanta decrease. 

According to a study done by the Texas Transportation Institute in 2010, Atlanta drivers spend forty one hours a year stuck in traffic. These forty one hours are in addition to the normal time it takes to commute to work without congestion. If Atlanta had a better public transportation reaching more places in less amounts of time, this time stuck in traffic would go down significantly and people would have more time to do other things, rather than sit in their cars. Because that public transportation system is so inefficient and infrequent, there are many more people on the roads which causes this gigantic traffic jam. Atlanta needs a better way to travel than gridlocked interstate systems and a good public transportation system would be the way to do that. 

It is incredible how long Atlanta has survived without an adequate public transportation system, though it is definitely hurting the community that they don’t have one. If Atlanta put it a larger, more efficient public transit system it would bring equality, improve air in the community, and it would reduce travel time in Atlanta significantly. Atlanta is overdue for significant change is mass transit. 

Bullard, Robert D., Glenn S. Johnson, and Angel O. Torres. Sprawl City: Race, Politics, and Planning in Atlanta. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2000. Print.

"Commuting and Traffic Congestion Fast Facts | Clean Air Campaign." Home | Clean Air Campaign. The Clean Air Campaign, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2011. <http://www.cleanaircampaign.org/For-the-Press/Press-Kit/Commuting-and-Traffic-Congestion-Fast-Facts>.

Williams, Barry . Traffic Along Interstate 75/85 in Atlanta. 2005. Getty Images, Atlanta, Georgia. NY Times. Web. 20 Sept. 2011.

Kashiwabara, Kosuke, Hirotsugu Kohrogi, Kosuke Ota, and Toshihiro Morio. "High Frequency of Emergency Room Visits of Asthmatic Children on Misty or Foggy Nights Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1081/JAS-120015794." Journal of Asthma 39.8 (2002): 711-717. http://informalhealthcare.com. Web. 19 Sept. 2011.

Public Transportation is Ineffective for Atlanta

Public Transportation is Ineffective for Atlanta

The public transportation in Atlanta is usable at best. The Metro-Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) was implemented to better help the residents around Atlanta to get to where they need to be via public transportation. However the lack of initial support and lack of continued integration throughout the city has caused MARTA to be ineffective for its cause. The limited integration of MARTA throughout Atlanta and the continued growth and sprawl of the city has continued to decrease the effectiveness of using MARTA.

When the MARTA system was initially started, support was limited. Of the 10 counties that MARTA was proposed to, only 2 counties (Fulton and Dekalb) wanted the proposed system. This lack of support would be continued as the city grew as well. After these initial adoptions, other counties such as Cobb and Clayton have created bus systems of their own with limited connections to MARTA. However, this is not a real substitute for having an integrated bus system. These stations are few and far in between. This has caused large travel times, and inefficiency of movement around Atlanta to their workplace or home. As time has passed this has gotten “better”, but only due to the sprawl of Atlanta.

Since the city of Atlanta was created, it has experience constant growth of at least 2.9% per year. And due to the lack of natural barriers around the city, Atlanta has simply sprawled outward in an uncontrolled growth (Bullard 5). Due to the sprawl, the MARTA system has had trouble keeping up with the growth and has had trouble servicing all new areas. The problem really rears its head near the outskirts of the city. Some riders have to walk to only one of two trains (N-S or E-W) then take bus upon bus to get just 15 mins down the road. Other areas with public transportation have much better access and service throughout their city such as Denver-Aurora, Colorado; which is listed as the number one city for public transportation according to the U.S. News (Kurtzleben). Just looking at their system map compared to MARTA’s you can see how organized the RTD is compared to the random sprawl of the MARTA lines. This leads to less wait time for citizens of an organized system, and better accommodation for riders stop locations. Unfortunately the lack of continued integration and support for MARTA ha led to the opposite: longer wait times and poor accommodation of stops for riders in the outer sprawl.

MARTA - ATLANTA

RTD - Denver-Aurora

The MARTA system is sprawled out to the extent of its use being useless. When first implemented it was there to serve as a way to commute around the counties and city, but with the lack of initial support that happened in a limited manner. As time went on band the city grew in an uncontrolled manner, the state of the system declined. The sprawl of Atlanta coupled with the lack of organized integration has left Atlantans with a poor excuse for a public transit system.

Kurtleben, Danielle. “10 Best Cities For Public Transportation”. U.S. News. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/02/08/10-best-cities-for-public-transportation

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.

Then and Now on Public Transportation

Many people will argue that public transportation played a major part in the civil rights movement and before I watched Freedom Riders, I most likely would have disapproved of such an idea and not thought about it again. However, my perspective has changed dramatically. Public transportation is an essential piece of society and acts as a vital role in discrimination as well as equality. It has been used in the past at a social and political tool, directing the public’s attention towards a cause and acting as a symbol to the rest of society. Public transportation is still active in affecting the community and civil rights today in a larger way than may people may realize. And it can still be used as a political tool just as it was used in the past.

During the height of the civil rights movement in America, a plan was devised to attract the attention of the public and the government to the increasing issue of inequality and discrimination. This plan revolved around public transportation and was called the Freedom Rides. Public transportation at this time was separate but certainly not equal, reflecting the reality of society. As seen in Freedom Riders, various civil rights activists fought for their right to sit on a bus yet this simple act was really a protest on the ideals of the world around them. This is a perfect example for how essential public transportation was during this period. It represented the segregation and discrimination that were present and was a very effective tool in catching the attention of the nation. However, the buses that the were used in the Freedom Rides and other civil rights protests also came to represent equality, or rather the fight for equality. Public transportation today can be seen as a representation of social problems still, but can also be seen as the cause for many of these issues.

Public transportation directly affects the surrounding community. People are segregated due to the construction of interstates as well as the scarcity of trains and buses in more suburban areas. Though the discrimination is not primarily due to race, it is still an issue of civil rights. In “Dismantling Transportation Apartheid”, the authors discuss the equality of transport: “Some communities accrue benefits from transportation development projects, while other communities bear a disproportionate burden” (Bullard 45). Here they are talking about how separate areas receive varying amounts of attention from the public, including the government. This type of public problem is eerily similar to the kind that the Freedom Riders were drawing attention to half a century ago. Today, the issue is slightly different since it is no longer about race but economic standing and accessibility to public transport, which unfortunately can still be directly related to racial dilemmas. Public transportation is meant as a way for people to mix equally and often yet it has acted as a separation between different populations instead.

In the end, it is clear that public transportation is extremely important in determining and embodying the views of society at the time. It can be used as a tool to help change the way the world works or how people may see the world. Or it can be used as a wall put up between different economic classes and preventing true equality in cities and suburbs. Either way, public transportation shapes the society in which it is encompassed and has the power to make the difference and change that people want.

Citations:

Freedom Riders. 2010. PBS. Web. .

Bullard, Robert D., Glenn S. Johnson, and Angel O. Torres. "Dismantling Transportation Apartheid." Sprawl City: Race, Politics, and Planning in Atlanta. Washington, D.C.: Island, 2000. Print.

Discrimination in Housing and the Effects on Public Transportation

Local governments need to do more in terms of making public transportation more accessible for everyone, no matter what the social status, race, or economic class. In my hometown of Columbus, Georgia, the public transportation system is almost non-existent. The buses that do exist only travel in the downtown district, which means that the only people who are in walking distance of the bus stops are the people in public housing systems, hospitals, or lofts. The majority of the people living in these areas generate low income and more often than not struggle economically. As a result, the bus system contains the members of this low socioeconomic class in the downtown area and rarely carries them outside of the downtown area, which is only a small fraction of the area in which businesses operate in the city. This situation in the small city of Columbus is reflected in many other cities, where public transportation is not supported because most of the financial backing goes to the suburban areas.

In America, many modern day suburban areas seem to be separated by race due to various types of urban sprawl. As a result of the various types of urban sprawl, neighborhoods and communities seem to be segregated strictly along racial lines. Robert Bullard discusses these neighborhood discrimination situations in “The Anatomy of Sprawl”, stating “apartheid-type employment, housing, development, and transportation policies have resulted in limited mobility, reduced neighboring options, decreased residential choices, and diminished job opportunities for African Americans and other people of color who are concentrated in the cities.” The style of many of the neighborhoods today are a result of these 'apartheid' policies. The higher income neighborhoods and gated communities contain mostly white people, these neighborhoods mostly created as a result of urban sprawl by white people from other areas, when black people started moving in. This 'white flight' has lead to the constant expansion of suburbs, while public housing and inner city housing is mainly African American. These suburban communities are made almost exclusive to white people because of discrimination in the housing market. White landowners will sell to white people at cheaper prices than colored people, leading to less black people in certain areas. Because of the 'apartheid' policies in modern America, there are many issues in terms of racial equality in public transportation.

Discrimination by race has existed in the United States for many years, and many of the unbalances in public transportation are a result of the long history of discrimination. Andrea Bernstein and Nancy Solomon discuss a particular case of issues in Clayton County. MARTA, the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transportation Authority, does not include Clayton County because the county voted to not be a part of the system. Back then, Clayton county was majority white. Clayton County recently eliminated all bus service, but the demographics of the county have shifted to majority black people. Back in the 70s, when Clayton county made that decision, public transit was associated with crime and poverty. Many people associated black people with these same things today. Many people in Atlanta describe MARTA as 'sketch' or 'shady' because of the type of people who use the bus.

“Back of the Bus: Mass Transit, Race, and Inequality.” By Andrea Bernstein and Nancy Solomon. American Radio Works. WNYC, New York. Podcast.

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.

Expansion in Public Transportation Means a More United Country

Is segregation today the same as segregation in the 1950s and 1960s? Certainly not. Although de jure segregation is not alive today, de facto segregation clearly exists. By de jure, it is meant that even though schools and transportation are not legally segregated, there seems to be a pattern of subconscious segregation in the human mind. In a recent observation at the Georgia Institute of Technology, it is evident and common to find a group of friends that all share the same race or ethnicity, i.e. Koreans spend time with Koreans, Hispanics carry conversations with other Hispanics, and African Americans walk with other African Americans. Nevertheless, it is not rare to find a group where each member has a different background. This introduces us to a larger scale of segregation, which consists of transportation and housing patterns. Public transportation services must expand to the suburbs in order to help disrupt some of these patterns and, in this way, create more united communities. Otherwise, the communities could drastically diverge to the point where segregation seems present again.

On December 1, 1955 an African American lady named Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white American man. This event sparked great debate between the African American community and the white American community. At this time, public transportation was segregated by “white people” and “colored people” busses and trains. The African American community fought firmly for desegregation, but the political branch of the state created an even bigger gap than before when President Eisenhower signed a project to build a highway interstate system. Not only did they build this system by destroying the homes where many African Americans lived, but it limited transportation by car to only the middle- and high-class American community. According to the documentary “Back of the Bus: Mass Transit, Race and Inequality” only seven per cent of African Americans owned a car, while twenty-four percent of white Americans owned their own vehicle. Although expansion of public transit is needed, it must not come with such harsh and horrendous consequences. In fact, it is not only necessary that the public transportation system expand within the city, but it is crucial for it to expand out towards the suburbs to increase accessibility to many of the communities that are not able to easily commute to a job in the city.

This leads us to housing patterns. The term housing patterns is referring to the communities of people with the same race living in the same area of town or in a certain location of a city. The lack of public transportation in this towns and cities are making it nearly economically impossible for minorities to reach their destination. It is a fact that African American and Hispanic minorities earn a lower income than white Americans. Also, with the rising prices of housing in the city, these minorities are pushed to the suburbs, where they try to live as close to the transit stations as possible; thus, separating them from the American culture and communities. Such an example, which is also used on the documentary mentioned above, is MARTA, which only travels in two directions in the city of Atlanta. The association of African Americans with MARTA is becoming stronger since these communities are the ones facing more trouble and more need for a public transportation system. Of course, these claims are based on statistics and a more general view instead of concentrating on the small percentage of high-income African Americans.

In conclusion, an expanded transportation system will diminish the gap between the African American and white American communities, as well as the income levels within each race. If the transportation system continues as is, these cultures will keep isolating themselves to the point where the issue of segregation emerges again. Even though America does not hold any laws supporting segregation, de facto segregation is still flourishing as a consequence of the contracted, or minimized, public transportation system.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Yuen, Laura, and Casey Miner. Back of the Bus: Mass Transit, Race and Inequality. Prod. Andrea Bernstein and Nancy Solomon. Transportation Nation. WNYC, New York, New York. Radio.

Desegregating Public Schools. U.S. Postal Service, Celebrate the Century: Search the Web for U.S. History of the 1950s. Education World, 15 Nov. 1999. Web. 13 Sept. 2011. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson148. shtml.