Home > Personal Transport > Public Transportation

The Benefits of Public Transportation

Public transportation is appealing to a great deal of people these days. Due to traffic congestion, gas prices and parking difficulties, public transportation can be helpful and even a stress reliever.

Types of Public Transportation
Public transportation can include buses, trains, airplanes, ferries and even taxicabs. Most involve scheduled stops at predetermined locations, but that is not a necessary feature of all public transportation.

A public bus generally has a route that circles a given area and arrives regularly at specified times. Public trains and airplanes are also scheduled, but they do not generally return to their original location, or at least not promptly. Trains and airplanes also do not usually have as many daily trips as buses and often cover far more ground.

Ferries are most often used to transport people over a short distance of water and simply go back and forth to and from their destination.

Subways are systems of rails located below street level. Cities typically have multiple subway lines that intersect at certain stations to allow for transfer between lines. Because they are underground, they do not get stuck in traffic like buses.

Taxicabs are considered public transportation, even though they do not possess many of the qualities of most types of public transportation. They do not have a set fee, route or destination, and are not used by a large number of people at a time; generally only one person or party at a time utilizes a taxi. Taxis can also be called to any location.

Some forms of transportation never require a reservation, like buses and ferries, while for some it is generally necessary to get tickets ahead of time (like trains and airplanes). Most of the time, trains and airplanes are more expensive than buses and can fill up quickly, depending on the destination and time of year.

Why Use Public Transportation?
Public transportation has a great deal of benefits for the traveler. Airplanes and trains are faster than personal vehicles and do not get stuck in traffic. Public transportation can relieve people of the stresses of driving, including remembering directions and planning how long the trip will take. Public transportation gives the burden to someone else, while you can just sit back and be taken where you need to go.

Public transportation is generally cheaper than personal transport, when the cost of gas and maintenance is taken into consideration. A bus, train or plane ticket can save people a great deal of money, especially when they are traveling for extremely long distances.

Public transportation also provides easy access to jobs and boosts real estate prices in cities it serves. Communities that have efficient public transportation are more livable and convenient. People and communities can also save money if public transportation is utilized.

However, public transportation can have its downfalls as well. People who use it have to plan around the posted schedules and routes of each type of public transportation and thus can have more difficulty arriving at a destination when they need to, especially in cities where there is a general lack of public transportation, which can mean riders must switch buses or go far out of their way to actually reach their destinations. Buses, subways, and trains can be very crowded at rush hour, so much so that you might have to stand for the entire ride.

Cities with Well-Known Transportation Systems
Most major cities offer several forms of public transportation. Here are a few cities that offer their citizens quality public transportation:

• Chicago: Chicago boasts the second largest public transportation system in the nation. The Chicago Transit Authority serves the city of Chicago and 40 suburbs with its extensive bus routes and train lines, including the famous El train.
  
  
• London: London's transportation system features buses, a subway known as the Tube, trains, and a light railway.
  
  
• New York: Many New Yorkers don't own cars because traffic is too heavy and the cost of parking is too high. Instead they opt for the city's subway system and buses. Commuters who work outside Manhattan can also take trains.
  
  
• Paris: Public transportation in Paris includes the subway system (Metro), trains, and buses.
  
  
• San Francisco: The San Francisco Municipal Railway or Muni provides public transportation within the city and county. With the Bay Area Rapid Transit or BART, and Muni together, it's easy to get around this big city without owning a vehicle.