Public Transportation

This is a topic in hot debate at the moment by government officials. For me, it's a no brainer. The United States has fallen so far behind in the area of public transportation that it is causing massive economic problems.

I've read a few blogs recently that offer some creative, and common sense, methods of helping offset the costs of revamping and upgrading America's public transportation. The biggest method is setting aside dedicated wind and solar power sources for public transportation. No fossil fuels required... Not to mention the maintenance costs are fairly low on those types of power generation. As long as it is done using a little intelligence.

I love cars. The idea of riding on a train everywhere is a little outputting. Seriously. But. I am not so stuck in my ways that I refuse to take note of a problem. Recently, I have been researching different areas of Japanese culture. I would bet most people would be shocked to find out that every real estate listing in Japan gives walking time to the nearest railway stations. Whether people have cars or not is beside the point. Whether people live in town, or not, is beside the point. Even in rural areas there are railway stops. Yes, it would cost a lot of money to set up this type of transportation system, but the benefits would far outweigh the costs.

In today's American economy, people are having to live further and further from their place of employment in order to make ends meet. Myself, prior to losing my job, I was driving 45 minutes one way to work. The price of fuel is so high I have had to get advances on my pay in order to just continue going to work. If there were a reliable public transportation system set up, those costs could be cut dramatically. With millions of people in American currently commuting from rural areas and from across town, the benefits to the American public, would be massive. I understand that most areas in towns and cities do not have the space set aside for stations. The space needs to be found regardless. This country is so far behind in public transportation, it rather makes me sick to consider the tax payers money that has been wasted. Instead of pulling up tracks over the last 30 years, the railway companies should have converted the old freight lines to passenger use.