By Horatio Glover ’26
Imagine a world in which we bring down obesity rates, boost the economy, and improve public transportation experiences while doing it all in a eco-friendly way. This dream can come to reality; with the right support of the US Government, we can have a state of the art public transportation that can rival our Eurasia counterpart.
With all the talk on global warming and how the Earth is rapidly heating due to greenhouse gasses trapping radiation from the sun, public transportation can help reduce our carbon footprint. According to Citizens For Modern Transportation, “Public transportation produces 95% less carbon monoxide, 90% less volatile organic compounds (vocs) and about half as much carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide per mile compared to private vehicles.’’ Even if one out of ten American uses public transportation, it will decrease our reliance on fossil fuel usage and decrease US reliance on foreign oil by 40%. This would provide a significant positive impact on the climate crisis.
Public transportation also helps with our health, and Americans have a high obesity rate. According to The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, “around 1 out of 11 adults have serve obesity an 1 out of 16 and adolescents ages 2 to 19 (6.1%) have severe obesity.” According to the CDC, at least 22 minutes of moderate physical activity per day to reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity, stroke and diabetes. By walking or biking to the bus stop or MetroLink, it’s easier to meet or exceed this goal.
Why would we invest in a high speed rail while we have cars, boats, a train system and even airplanes? Trains have lost their popularity over the last few decades and a new high speed rail system could bring that back. After WWII, the automobile became more popular to American citizens and with the creation of the Interstate Highway System and the introduction of airlines it took away a ton of passengers from traditional rails. One of many advantages to the high speed rail is that it would be eco friendly due to it being electric, which would help bring down our climate crisis, according to the American Public Transportation Association. It would also help create more jobs for people and with “every $1 invested creates $4 in economic benefits.” High speed rails would also give more options of transportation to get to further away places in the US without using cars or paying for a expensive plane ticket.
Public transportation is one of main ways people get around and traverse their city, however, according to US News, around 13 to 14 million Americans don’t have access to reliable transportation. With increase funding we will boost our economy, improve transportation, and create more jobs for people and families.
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