by Zach Bigalke

Created on: June 13, 2007

In cities across the United States, there are vast networks of public transit to cheaply, efficiently and effectively transport people to work, school and pleasure. Whether in the form of bus systems, subways or above-ground and elevated trains, these transit networks have the potential to transmit a person across far reaches of urban areas as quickly as possible. Yet Americans, weaned on automobiles and the lure of the open road, refuse in great numbers to utilize these measures. Instead, traffic congestion and environmental pollution run rampant because too many Americans refuse to "stoop" to taking public transportation.

Where it is provided, the citizens of this nation should be guided toward public transit options rather than continuing the cycle of degradation and inefficiency that characterizes our highways and byways. Unfortunately, too many areas provide either no public transportation or unreliable forms of transit. Routes are abbreviated, money earmarked for public transit projects stagnates and is funneled to other areas, and vast parts of the country are without such choices. If we were to create mandatory public transit corridors in our metropolises, the benefits would extend from coast to coast.

Money currently spent on road improvements would instead be able to create faster, more reliable forms of public transit. Areas such as Los Angeles, where traffic jams keep people in their automobiles - neither at work nor at home - for hours on end, would experience lower instances of air pollution and greater public morale. The money saved in responding to the thousands of automobile accidents each year could instead go toward extending the transit grid, providing more opportunities for Americans to get where they need to go.

With the rising costs of petroleum and the unwillingness of the auto industry to create affordable alternative-energy vehicles, it is high time that Americans send a message that we care about where our time and money are being spent. Public transportation benefits everyone: from prince to pauper, everyone is welcome on the bus or the metro. Yet it is this innate belief that Americans are entitled to their pollutive, inefficient ways which perpetuates the stigmas unfairly placed on public transportation. Only by enforcing its use can America take a step in a more-sustainable, less-pollutive direction.

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