Public Transportation in California
There are many benefits to living in an area with public transportation, both for the community as a whole and for the individuals who live there. For example, men who commute to work are less likely to be overweight or obese. In fact, one study found that people who commuted to work instead of driving by automobile lost one pound of weight per six weeks of commuting. As for the community, public transportation makes the roads safer by decreasing fatal accidents. Additionally, it reduces social inequities by connecting diverse people and providing reliable access to resources. In terms of the environment, public transportation produces 95% less carbon monoxide and 45% less carbon dioxide when compared to automobiles.
California's public transportation efforts are proving to be relatively effective. Here is a partial list of rankings and scores:
- CA is in the 80th percentile for persons who take shared transit as a commute mode.
- CA is in the 89th percentile for persons who ride their bikes as a means of transportation.
- CA is in the 100th percentile for complete street policies.
- CA is in the 93rd percentile for miles of travel by walking.
- CA is in the 95th percentile for physical activity from transportation.
- CA is in the 89th percentile for traffic accident fatalities in an automobile.
As you can see, California has made significant strides in promoting the use of public transportation. Nonetheless, due to the sheer volume of people living here, many people still drive automobiles. This increases the risk for fatal traffic accidents (as seen in the above statistic). Additionally, California is a large state and not everyone has access to public transportation. More planning and infrastructure building should occur to ensure equitable access to all.
Hi Elena,
ReplyDeleteI am surprised by the % for traffic accident fatalities in an automobile. I also have long commute from Palo Alto to SF. One day, I did not sleep well the night before and had a class all day long in SF. On the way home from SF, I keep falling a sleep in the car while I was driving, which was very dangerous. However, I did no know what to do. Even though I want to take a nap on the shoulder, I did not feel safe either to do that.. So I tried to hard not to fall a sleep and made a home.. but I do not want to experience that anymore in my life. I wish there is a rest stop, so I can take a nap there..
After seeing many of these statistics, such as how much the environment can potentially benefit form people using public transportation, it has compelled me to look at it as a viable option. Currently, my wife and I commute into Seattle together, but it would be possible for us to use the bus to get into town. However, this would significantly increase our commute time, which is already very long.
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