Free Public Transportation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Free Public Transportation - Essay Example As a preliminary matter, the public is turning to public transportation as an alternative to private transportation. As noted by the American Public Transportation Organization, "Steady increases in transit investment have dramatically improved and expanded public transportation services, attracting record numbers of riders on state-of-the-art systems in metropolitan, small urban and rural areas alike" (2008: n.p.). These are fee-based public transportation systems, but the data demonstrates that extraordinarily large numbers of the public are choosing public transportation and that this trend applies equally in both heavily and less populated areas. The demand, in short, is both strong and demographically diverse. In addition, the data has linked a number of benefits to public transportation. For instance, there has been "improved mobility, safety, security, economic opportunity and environmental quality" where public transportation systems have been implemented (The Benefits of Public Transportation, 2008: n.p.). These benefits do not apply only to a narrow segment of the population; quite the contrary, they benefit individual workers, families, businesses, governmental units, and even national goals such as energy conservation and the health and security of citizens.