Public transportation is often called mass transit or urban transport, including town buses, light railway, passenger trains, trolleybuses, underground transit, and ships. These days, investments in efficient and sustainable transport networks will help stabilize the global energy market and reduce public transport’s impact on environmental pollution. It also supports economic growth and the quality of life in cities due to reduced traffic congestion and free movement. It is critical to analyze the benefits of public transport usage as it concerns all parts of society.
Overview
In urban areas, airlines, public vehicles, and tracks dominate public transit. These days, high-speed rail channels are developing in several sections worldwide. Most mass transit systems run along established paths with fixed embarkation circumstances to a prearranged schedule. The latter combines the most regular duties operating to headway, for instance, every fifteen minutes for any particular period of the day (Chang et al. 115). However, most mass conveyor journeys involve other modes of transport, such as tourists driving or grabbing van services to reach rail stations. Shared taxis allow on-demand assistance in various areas of the globe, operating within established public transit routes or complementing them by delivering passengers to junctions (Hensher 137). Public transit is required by individuals needing door-to-door service, particularly in rural areas.
History of Public Transportation
The initial public transit system was water transport with the usage of boats. With regard to the first transportation services, in Newton, Massachusetts, trolley cars were suggested for mass hire as the first ships (Dai et al. 1090). Concerning ground transportation, citizens mainly walked or rode various animals to reach the destination (Dai et al. 1090). Some traditional forms of mass transportation combined the stagecoach, driving a fixed path within coaching hotels and the horse-drawn vessel transporting (Dai et al. 1090). Such ways were a part of European carriers regarding seventeenth-century sources.
The channel represented the foundation measures; for instance, Egyptians used a canal for cargo shipping to circumvent the Aswan waters (Hensher 50). Moreover, Asian people constructed gutters for conveyance during the warfare in ancient China, which started in the fifth century BCE (Zielińska 848). There is no data on the purpose of these channels (Zielińska 848). The impressive gutter in China served basically for the cereal shipment (Zielińska 848). Another example is Paris, where the omnibus was the first coordinated public transportation system in a city during the seventeenth century. English channel was introduced in July 1829 (Hensher 54). Therefore, the primary way that connected various areas was water transportation. Throughout the history of public transit, it served the needs of national economics.
Referring to horse-drawn carriages, the first one originated in the nineteenth century. It is dated around 1806, operated between Swansea and Mumbles in southwest Wales, United Kingdom (Manetti et al. 1000). Locomotion was constructed in 1825 by George Stephenson for the Darlington and Stockton Railway in northeast Britain (Manetti et al. 1000). The initial flourishing electric vehicle was manufactured for twelve miles track. It served as the connection commuter railroad in Richmond, Virginia, in the late nineteenth century (Shen et al. 130). The situation with heavy passenger baggage was resolved due to magnetic trolleys (Soehodho 77). Its development decreased expenses and spurred more comprehensive transportation use (Soehodho 77). After the Richmond victory, over thirty-two thousand dynamic trams gained popularity in America.
The development of electric trams also contributed to the first railroad system in the country. Before electric trams, steam-powered railroads were established in the US (Hensher 73). However, most people believed that passengers would avoid the haze-filled train tubes from the vapor motors (Tyndall 529). In 1894, Boston built the first railroad in the United States, an electrified vehicle line of a 1.5-distance under Tremont Street’s local region (Hensher 73). Different centers such as Chicago promptly succeeded, assembling numbers of miles of railroad in the subsequent centuries.
A Table of Some Examples of Public Transit Methods and Their Efficiency
Benefits of Public Transit
Efficient Transit Method
One benefit of public transit is that it is a considerably effective shipping system. Hence, this suggests that it can sustain heavy loads and a significant traveler flow in every channel. Compared to private cars, it is much more practical since it involves fewer discharges per traveler (Watanabe et al. 19). Public shipping is better from a financial perspective because it is more reasonable in terms of transportation of several passengers in one bus.
Limited Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Public transportation is also environmentally friendly instead of private cars producing a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Since global warming has been becoming a danger for the planet, individuals need to diminish carbon discharges (Welch and Widita 810). Globally, emissions of harmful substances from the transport sector are growing significantly faster than in other economic sectors. For instance, automobile transport currently accounts for 74% of all transport emissions (Welch and Widita 810). Thus, people could reduce glasshouse emissions by utilizing mass transit; therefore, it mitigates climate change to a particular level. This will also help to minimize outcomes of pollution such as severe diseases such as cancer.
Air Pollution Decrease
With regard to urban areas, air contamination usually is a severe issue. Particularly in the US, there are large numbers of motorbikes and vehicles. However, these channels’ effectiveness in operating fossil combustibles suggests severe air deterioration (Soehodho 77). Aircraft pollution is quite dangerous, decreasing the average life span; moreover, it can also lead to severe health concerns such as asthma. Thus, using public transportation, the air pollution problem declines significantly.
Health Issues Resolving
The environmental deterioration is caused by private vehicles’ application, having significant adverse impacts on people’s health. Pneumonic and cardiovascular conditions have an upward trend due to vital air deterioration, which may intensely affect average life expectancy. Besides, getting to the workplace during rush hour increases the stress levels due to road accidents and traffic jams. Such circumstances may worsen people’s well-being since anxiety is a vital determinant in health difficulties (Bezyak et al. 55). Accordingly, by abstaining from traveling by car and applying public transportation alternatively, individuals might maintain a healthy lifestyle and minimize the possibility of suffering from severe health concerns.
Minimum Personal Responsibility
Another benefit of utilizing public transport is that there is a minimum personal responsibility. For instance, such vehicles’ usage does not require additional documents and obligations (Manetti et al. 1006). Moreover, the industry advances allow passengers to track the bus’s location in real-time or plan a trip (Manetti et al. 1003). Some applications help choose the best routes regarding time and cost (Manetti et al. 1003). Hence, by applying public transportation, the person can avoid all the repair concerns, administering personal funds and time for individual projects and goals.
Suitable for People Who Cannot Drive
Moreover, concerning the various parts of society, some people are individually not capable of driving cars. It can be considered from the health and documents issues. For instance, there is a considerable portion of people without a driver’s license. Moreover, referring to health obstacles, these may include trouble seeing and hearing loss (Bezyak 55). Consequently, public transportation may become an excellent way to reach the destination for this portion of society.
Conclusion
In cities with a prevalence of public transport, walking and cycling, transport costs may account for only half of those in cities where this share is low. At present, cities and governments have a unique opportunity to focus on economic development and prosperity. In terms of urban mobility, prioritizing public transport development will be more beneficial than building new highways and supporting the automotive industry. The latter’s further development can exacerbate the ecological challenges the society faces. Forward-thinking strategies can lead to a radical shift. As long as the public transport sector has a skilled workforce and a commitment to improving urban living conditions for citizens and business development, the tendency will remain positive.
Works Cited
Bezyak, Jill, et al. “Public transportation: An investigation of barriers for people with disabilities.” Journal of Disability Policy Studies, vol. 28, no. 1, 2017, pp. 52-60.
Chang, Zheng, et al. “Public transportation and the spatial inequality of urban park accessibility: New evidence from Hong Kong.” Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, vol. 76, no. 1, 2019, pp. 111-122.
Dai, Zhixin, et al. “Cheating in the lab predicts fraud in the field: An experiment in public transportation.” Management Science, vol. 64, no. 3, 2018, pp. 1081-1100.
Hensher, David A. Bus Transport: Demand, Economics, Contracting, and Policy. Elsevier, 2020.
Manetti, Giacomo, et al. “Stakeholder engagement and public information through social media: A study of Canadian and American public transportation agencies.” The American Review of Public Administration, vol. 47, no. 8, 2017, pp. 991-1009.
Shen, Yu, et al. “Integrating shared autonomous vehicle in public transportation system: A supply-side simulation of the first-mile service in Singapore.” Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, vol.11, no 3, 2018, pp. 125-136.
Soehodho, Sutanto. “Public transportation development and traffic accident prevention in Indonesia.” IATSS Research, vol. 40, no. 2, 2017, pp. 76-80.
Tyndall, Justin. “Waiting for the R train: Public transportation and employment.” Urban Studies, vol. 54, no. 2, 2017, pp. 520-537.
Watanabe, Takuya, et al. “Method for identifying “Bottleneck” stations on inter-regional public transport networks.” Quarterly Report of RTRI, vol. 57, no. 1, 2016, pp. 15-21.
Welch, Timothy, and Alyas Widita. “Big data in public transportation: a review of sources and methods.” Transport Reviews, vol. 39, no. 6, 2019, pp. 795-818.
Zielińska, Edyta. “Selected determinants regarding public rail transport.” AUTOBUSY–Technika, Eksploatacja, Systemy Transportowe, vol. 19, no. 12, 2018, pp. 845-849.