by Sarah Donaghy

Created on: September 21, 2007

The USA is the most individualistic nation on the planet, consistently ranking number 1 in various sociological surveys. Nothing epitomizes this fact more than the American fascination with the automobile, and the general American disdain for public transport. Having a car means having it your way, whereas taking the bus or train means leaving your journey up to someone else.

Yet, even though it would be a drastic move given our culture, Americans should be forced to use public transportation. Forced is a strong word, but bear with me. If taking public transportation became a mandate, then local governments would be forced to provide the infrastructure. As it currently stands, the public transportation network outside of America's urban centers (New York, LA, Chicago) is sparse to non-existent. This would be a boon to the many Americans, especially young people, who are immobile without cars.

If this network were to grow and serve the majority of Americans, the knock-on effects would be huge. There would be fewer deaths from drunk driving, because people that had had a few too many could hop onto the bus instead of into their cars. There would be fewer deaths from inexperienced drivers, as young people would have the option of taking public transportation on longer trips.

Such a change would also be a boon to the legions of working poor in the United States. As it currently stands, in many parts of our country, in order to work you must have a car. For those working for at or just above the minimum wage, maintaining a car is an incredible burden. If there was a comprehensive and affordable public transportation network in every American state, we could help our working poor to climb out of poverty (which would have the knock on effect of helping to improve these people's lives and to reduce the tax-payers welfare burden).

Having a comprehensive public transportation network would also serve to strengthen our bonds as citizens. How many of us were taught in history class that the completion of the railway in America, stretching from East to West, united us and strengthened our economy in the mid 19th century? Having cheap and effective public transportation would allow more of us to explore our amazing country without the burden of the automobile. It would also make our country more accessible to overseas visitors, who often stick to the big cities for lack of transportation to the smaller towns.

All of this without even bringing up the environmental impact less cars on our roads would have.

So, while it might seem anti-American culture to bash the automobile in favor of public transport, the increased freedom that we would experience- freedom to explore our country at a lower cost, freedom from the fear of inexperienced or intoxicated drivers on the road, freedom to help all Americans reach the American dream... well, it doesn't seem that anti-American after all.

Learn more about this author, Sarah Donaghy.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.