No Downside to Mass Transit

Mass Transit RoundelThere’s no downside to more mass transit. Yeah, it costs money to build in the short term, but it’s an investment worth making. Despite the sluggish economy, America would benefit from more trains and buses. Building new train lines sounds expensive, but it’s an investment in our future. Investing in public transportation creates jobs and stimulates the economy. I’ve seen that happen in Dallas. Whenever they open a new train station here, it’s often followed by a shopping center, office space, or mixed use development.

Improving our transportation infrastructure also reduces pollution and traffic, since people will drive less when presented with a reasonable alternative. Furthermore, the increased use of trains and buses promotes health, since taking a bus or train requires more walking than driving does. Best of all, mass transit is an investment that builds upon itself. A single rail line is only good for people going from Point A to Point B, but as you expand the network and connect it to nationwide infrastructure, it becomes more useful to more people. When it comes to train systems, the more you put in, the more you get out. It may cost more money in the short term, but in the long term, there’s no downside to mass transit.

Steve Lovelace

Steve Lovelace is a writer and graphic artist. After graduating Michigan State University in 2004, he taught Spanish in Samoa before moving to Dallas, Texas. He blogs regularly at http://steve-lovelace.com.

You may also like...

5 Responses

  1. April 24, 2013

    […] someone who loves history and public transit, one of my favorite things to do in Dallas is to ride the streetcar. The McKinney Avenue […]

  2. April 26, 2013

    […] and I got off the subway and walked back above ground. I was expecting a large expanse of grass, but instead I saw a dense […]

  3. February 12, 2014

    […] Public transportation has made a comeback in recent years, but this newfound renaissance is just a drop in the bucket. After a hundred years of planning urban areas around automobiles, our cities are too spread out to make effective use of public transit. The DFW Metroplex is a good example of this. While the expansion of the light rail system has made it possible to live car free in the City of Dallas, there is still far too much suburban sprawl to give up automobiles altogether. […]

  4. February 6, 2017

    […] you ever taken public transit to work on a regular basis? How do you think it compares to commuting by car. I’ve done both, […]

  5. February 16, 2017

    […] made our society was it is today. Steel and concrete make our cities grow taller while cars and trains make them wider and better connected. The internet allows us to communicate and pharmaceuticals […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.