The awkward sneezes. The disgusting seats. The claustrophobic spaces. Public transportation; the last resort of movement.

But should we really be so quick to judge a worldwide development with such few, personal and minor details? Will bumping elbows with somebody really be the reason you take your car? Will sitting next to the talkative person we all meet justify why you will never ride a bus again? The facts argue otherwise;

That extra 75 cents you spend will go to an industry that employs 400,000 people. Not worth it?

74% of that minimal portion you spent will support thousands of private sector jobs. Not good enough?

17 billion dollars of congestion costs is saved with public transportation. But how does it affect you?

As a kid, public transportation was of the utmost importance.
I used to be annoyed with the constant stopping, the continuous people leaking in and out of the bus, and the monotonous man saying, “stop requested”. I hated it. I despised it. I noticed how some people put up with this irritation every morning while going to work. Every single morning.
But then I noticed something else.
All people under 16 don’t drive. All people that can’t afford the expensive gas don’t drive. All people that can’t pay for a car don’t drive. Without public transportation, how would these people travel long distances?
From then on, I realized that what I used to be annoyed with was what made this development so convenient. Then I saw the time and effort put in to create such an organized system. And then I cherished it.

And I can also say that the money you spend in public transportation won’t go to waste.
With 1 billion dollars invested, the public transportation industry can create 36,000 jobs. On average, people board public transportation 35 million times every weekday. Public transportation saves the U.S 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline annually. 36,000, 35 million, and 4.2 billion, if numbers mean anything to you.

But I can’t say Public transportation isn’t popular already.

In 16 years, the people taking advantage of such a well developed way of mobility has risen 34%. But, keeping in mind that families that favor public transportation instead of cars save more than 10,000 dollars every year, it should rise even more in popularity.

Yet, with an increasingly lazy U.S., the ability to walk to the bus stop is becoming more of a justification to take the car.

It only takes people, on average, 19 minutes per day to get to and from transit stops. No doubt, cars are right by your home. And, because of its simple accessibility, people are willing to put this personal convenience in front of the necessities of their community. But what about the many times when it wasn’t right next to you? What about the many times that you didn’t bring your car because there was no parking? What about those times when your car broke down? These are the situations in which people all across the world have no choice but to take the bus. These are the situations in which we see how grateful we are to have a public transportation system. These are the situations that will decide what role the public transportation will take in the near future.

Miles Taylor, the founder of “Miles on the MBTA”, believes that the the time to come will have a positive impact on the public transit system. “The MBTA had a record-breaking year for ridership, and as it gets more efficient and expands (such as the Green Line to West Medford), more people are sure to use it.”.
He continues on to explain how new innovations may affect the popularity by saying, “There are already some really great innovations with public transit. The maglev, for example, is a super fast train that levitates above the track, which is made of magnets. The magnets ahead of the train attract it while the ones behind repel it. This makes it go very fast, and riders don't feel a thing. And looking into the future, there's the proposed "pod" tunnel between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It would whip people between the two cities at record-breaking speeds - a half hour between them! Innovations like these will increase popularity with public transit, I feel.”

If Miles Taylor is right, then the future of our mobility will be better than you ever imagined. But without people using this transportation system right now, this fantasy will never become a reality. Without people using it now, it couldn’t produce such a dream. Without people using it now, we would never know its true potential.

But with people like you using it, what could it become?