Public Transportation part 1

So most of what I've been blogging about has been focused on private transportation - basically methods that you use for moving yourself, and maybe a few others around. While the future in that aspect is strictly limited by availability of new technologies, lack of infrastructure to support radical changes, and finances, public transportation is a slightly different thing.

Truth is, options for public transportation are out there but they vary from country to country, state to state, city to city. Overall though, the most common, and usually cheapest form of public transportation are buses, which by all intents and purposes are just oversized cars. Universities often give college students a free bus system - Texas A&M is no exception, with the Aggie Spirit system.



The Aggie Spirit system is an example of one of the better bus systems out there, but only if you look locally just in the immediate area most frequented by college students. If someone wants to venture outside of the high traffic areas in College Station, you are out of luck. City buses run into the same problem, especially in large expansive cities. You can't ever hope to have a network that will cover the entire city really well.

This is where public transportation hits its limits. While it is relatively cheap, or free on a per-ride basis, it can sometimes by inconvenient. Trains are even worse in the convenience factor, as they better serve intra-city travel rather than inter-city travel - making day to day trips to the supermarket or work very much impossible using this method unless you have to travel a large distance.

However, even with those convenience factors one must take into account that these services run no matter how many people ride on them. They run on schedules, running their routes constantly to serve the people who do use them. If utilized efficiently, then the net outcome is that overall people are saving gas and natural resources.

Sure that an individual bus or train will use WAY more power and/or gas than an average car, but it's not just carrying 1-5 people. It's carrying dozens of people, and cities are constantly trying to be more environmentally friendly by using gas-alternatives. So just take a minute and weigh the ups and downs of public transportation.

Next time, I'll go into the air travel industry.