Cars have advantages. They are convenient, ready at all times, and can almost always carry the driver and their occasional passengers to the immediate desired location. No extra walking required. When I bring up public transportation, I usually hear these responses:

• “Busses are gross and dirty”
• “The trains are never on time”
• “The trains never get me to exactly where I need to go”
• “They are so inefficient and expensive”
• “It is impossible to modify our current life for trains”

Most of us refuse to consider that the reason public transportation is so insufficient in United States of America because we refuse to make it a priority. The majority of qualms people bring up about non car-dominated transport is a direct result of funding. Only the last point “It is impossible to modify our current life for trains (or any public transport)” is directly a result of inadequate funding, as 50 years of infrastructure development has revolved around cars.

Easy examples of adequate funding can be seen in countries such as Japan, France, and the Netherlands, where public transportation is not exclusively used to haul suburbanites into the city.

Lack of efficient public transportation is a disservice to our community in multiple ways. What we tax-paying civilians fail to realize is the very roads we drive on every day is subsidized by the government. The roads are a huge maintenance to all levels of government, and cost large amounts of taxpayer dollars to maintain.

Efficient public transport distributes travelers on many different paths, saving time and money when the road fails. As of June 5th, the Sumner Tunnel in Boston is closing for temporary maintenance. The city is projecting up to 2 hours of increased traffic time due to this closure. If only there was a viable alternative….

Finally …

If cars (which is the usual case) are the only means to travel to and from destinations, cities prioritize car transportation and storage, which is a waste of valuable real estate, both economically and environmentally. The economic reason for this is its own post. Environmentally, zoning codes mandate large amounts of parking for cars, which create massive parking lots. These massive parking lots become literal hot spots for the surrounding area, while bringing in nothing but emissions.

Learn More: The Suburbs Are a Scam