Transportation is considered to be among the major industries around the globe. It is one of the most expensive and burdensome areas not only for citizens but for the government as well. Nevertheless, it is well known that dependable transportation allows people to travel throughout the country and to live comfortably in whatever area they like. However, in this field, sustainability is a big concern.
Although there are several means of available transportation, it fails to meet community needs such as convenience, financial costs, and environmental friendliness. The main goal for public authorities is to produce a reliable transportation system that meets such demands. For example, adding new means of transportation or expanding already existing ones would be effective in an economic sense as it would provide more financial benefits.
As for America, where most of the population use their cars to get to whatever place they need, vehicles have a big influence on society. First of all, road safety is the biggest concern, as car accidents, minor and major, have become a daily occurrence. Either reckless drivers or unfortunate circumstances cause damage to the automobiles, constructions, and even death of drivers, passengers, or pedestrians. Moreover, the number of car owners continues to grow every year, so local governments have to take action by building new roads or improving the old ones. This method is a straightforward way that can facilitate easy transportation. However, it encourages people to buy more cars, which can lead to bigger traffic congestion.
Heavy traffic is a severe issue which not only annoys ordinary drivers but presents a danger for public health and safety. On roads, which are full of buses and private cars, emergency vehicles, such as ambulances or police, cannot access the destination in time. Unfortunately, the issue of congestion cannot be terminated by constructing more driveways and
bridges or increasing the capacity of already existing roads. Major efforts have to be taken by the officials to control transportation and to promote the use of public transport. While considering the ways to do it, it is vital to remember about Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT), the metric that is growing continuously every year. There are several ways to reduce VMT, including implementing VMT taxes, new parking pricing policies, and offering alternatives to private vehicles such as public transport. The amount of car ownership needs to be controlled, too, for example, by raising the financial burden or placing restrictions over usage of cars per family.
Nonetheless, several countries have already found ways to redesign transportation for the better. In their study, Anciaes and Jones agree that “there is a movement away from ‘car-centered’ policies and a stronger interest in developing healthy, equitable, and sustainable transport systems that enhance liveability” (Anciaes & Jones, 2020, p. 159). For instance, China established customized buses, or CBs, as a groundbreaking update for public transit services.
According to various researchers, “a major feature of CBs is that they have exclusive bus lane rights” (Ma et al., 2017, p. 3). It provides a big advantage for passengers during rush hours because exclusive bus lanes guarantee the reduction of traveling time when the traffic is highly crowded with private vehicles. Moreover, in New York, there is an accessible system of subway trains, which operates daily, providing citizens with the fastest way to travel around the city for a low price. Luxembourg has advanced even further, making all public transport free of charge. It was the first country to remove transportation fees to make it easier for citizens to travel around the city, thus encouraging them to give up private vehicles.
In addition, the rapid development of technologies allows the production of new sophisticated engines, which enable more safe and efficient traveling. For example, connected cars that have been in development for past years ensure road safety. According to Fahnand and Kockelman, “autonomous technology is improving quickly, as some automated features are already on current models” (Fagnant & Kockelman, 2015).
They also believe that new machinery should reduce road accidents and lessen traffic jams. Furthermore, ATs are to improve fuel conservation, lower parking problems, bring mobility to disadvantaged people who are unable to drive. Powered by an electric engine, a self-driving car can significantly reduce gas emissions, as well as labor costs and infrastructure costs. Although they are not yet financially available for the general public, in the long term, ATs increase the security and efficiency of a country’s transportation system. When taking account of all the benefits of autonomous vehicles, it is possible to say that they eventually will revolutionize travel in the following years.
As the impact of transport on the environment and public health is a major concern for communities, several methods have been applied to study and to improve transportation planning. One of such ways is The Integrated Transport and Health Impacts Model. Such a model has been employed all over the world to analyze changes in the health of the population that come from the implementation of programs that promote active travel. The results from several studies demonstrate that “the fundamental insights of ITHIM can be applied to different racial and ethnic groups” (Wu et al., 2019, p. 539). Thus, ITHIM offers the authorities all the information necessary to direct policy interventions and to accomplish certain goals for underprivileged populations.
Without a doubt, public transportation is an essential part of life in every community, especially for disabled people. Sabella and Bezyak conducted an online survey that was disseminated to contacts of the National Network of ADA Centers, and 4,161 individuals responded (Sabella & Bezyak, 2019).
The results emphasize major obstacles for people with disabilities who usually travel by public transportation. As a result of their study, the researchers recommend modifications to the physical environment for the disabled as “barriers to these transit systems are physical in nature” (Sabella, S. A., & Bezyak, 2019, p. 185). Such modifications include providing training for designers and engineers to cater to the needs of the disabled, as well as raising awareness among them to make transport facilities disabled-friendly.
Nowadays, communities are facing a great issue in the shape of climate change and air contamination. Environmentalists, climatologists, and other researchers are underlining the fact that the best option to withdraw the danger is to replace personal cars with public transportation. Their findings suggest that “public health programs could reduce commuters’ lifetime exposures through education directed toward actions people can take to reduce daily inhaled doses of air pollution” (Chaney et al., 2019, p. 14). The reason for this may be that the general public does not realize the reasons that impact daily air pollution levels during traveling.
While talking about the environment, one cannot forget about the issue of greenhouse gas emission. The mission of reducing them to the level that the concentrations in the air stop growing is a major global problem. Aside from environmental outcomes, negative health impacts of car gases are serious and dangerous. In order to meet this objective, it is crucial to reject traditional means of fuel in favor of electricity, as it does not provide carbon emissions. There is a number of reasons, including social, environmental, and economic, to go further with actions to decrease combustion exhaust.
One cannot talk about interventions in the transportation system without also thinking about drivers’ psychology. The training of candidates plays a big role in their behavior on the road. There is a matrix which “summarized essential elements and hierarchical levels of driver behavior to make driver education more effective” (Kiss, 2016, p. 3822). As an example, it would be critical for future car drivers to know about the time limitations for driving and the selected route.
The Goals of Driver Education matrix offers a good foundation for the evaluation of driver training. It highlights the vital aspects that should be stressed in drivers’ education. They involve such things as sensation seeking, the perception of possible risks, the effect of drivers’ motivation on their road decisions, and self-critical thinking. After training, traffic laws should regulate drivers’ behavior. There is a possibility that implementing more harsh punishments for driving violations could reduce car accidents. However, although the strict laws and huge fines seem to prevent a lot of people from offending the traffic rules, some reckless drivers still break them.
In conclusion, it would appear that defining a balanced transportation system is a complicated task. Nevertheless, this issue is not impossible to solve, as each community must admit their own opportunities and limits. On top of anything else, community leaders are the ones who have the potential to work out the right financial and legal decisions to achieve the desired transportation system.
References
Anciaes, P., & Jones, P. (2020). Transport policy for livability – Valuing the impacts on movement, place, and society. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 132, 157-173.
Chaney, R. A., Montgomery, H. D., King, J. H., Hendrickson, N. R., Sloan, C. D., & Johnston, J. D. (2019). A Comparison of Perceived and Measured Commuter Air Pollution Exposures. Journal of Environmental Health, 82(4), 8–14.
Fagnant, D. J., & Kockelman, K. (2015). Preparing a nation for autonomous vehicles: opportunities, barriers and policy recommendations. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 77, 167-181.
Kiss, D. S. (2016). What kind of steps shall we implement from the GDE matrix into driver education of Hungary to decrease risk of accident among novice drivers? Transportation research procedia, 14, 3821-3828.
Ma, J., Yang, Y., Guan, W., Wang, F., Liu, T., Tu, W., & Song, C. (2017). Large-scale demand driven design of a customized bus network: A methodological framework and Beijing case study. Journal of Advanced Transportation, 1-14.
Sabella, S. A., & Bezyak, J. L. (2019) Barriers to Public Transportation and Employment: A National Survey of Individuals with Disabilities. Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, 50(3), 174-185.
Wu, Y., Rowangould, D., London, J. K., & Karner, A. (2019). Modeling health equity in active transportation planning. Transportation research part D: transport and environment, 67, 528-540.