M3.5: Transportation

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Transportation is a love-hate relationship. I used to walk to school and take public transportation until I was about 18 years old. I would love taking public transportation because I could go to bed earlier and work on my homework on the train or bus. I wouldn't like taking the bus and/or train because of the reduced frequency at certain times and I would have to endure 2-3 hour rides for one way just to get home. The people on public transportation never bothered me. As someone who rode on the buses to go to dentist and medical appointments, I was used to seeing new faces. 

Now, I use my own car to commute. There are a number of reasons I need to commute with my car such as: working at multiple sites in a day, having work and school on the same day, and limited public transportation options when I'm on different sides of the Bay Area. I drive roughly 8-12 hours a week with my car - pretty much another part-time job. I understand there are health implications not only for me, but for the communities around me, as well. 

For myself, spending so much time driving in the car can lead to a more sedentary life. In addition, I eat while I'm driving so I don't pay much attention to how much I'm eating which can lead to an increase in obesity levels. Lastly, by spending so many hours working, going to school, and driving, I can potentially become an unsafe driver to myself and other drivers if my tiredness gets the best of me. 

According to the American Public Transportation Association, public transportation produces 95% less carbon monoxide, 92% fewer volatile organic compounds and 45% less carbon dioxide compared to private automobiles. Thus, if I were to return to public transportation, it would benefit the communities that live close to the major highways and improve air quality by having one less person emitting 8-12 hours of emissions a week. If multiple people took public transit, it would almost be guaranteed that our air quality would improve along with health outcomes for vulnerable populations like people of color, and those with conditions such as asthma. 

One of the biggest barriers is not having centralized public transportation and/or not having enough public transit modes that range through various regions. For example, on a typical day I would be in the East Bay (Union City) and then would need to go to San Francisco. I can take BART, however the time it would take to ride via public transit versus my car is about the same. I would have to take an additional ride through BART at night when I could be driving back home and making it 45 minutes earlier. Once again, the frequency is reduced the later it gets at night and on the weekends. In addition, only Caltrain makes it to Morgan Hill, but it is limited to the last ride at 5:30pm to Morgan Hill starting at San Francisco, which doesn't meet my transportation needs. Thus, it is very difficult, especially when jobs are so far away from our homes and schools, to think of alternative methods to get to places. There would need to be major changes in our transportation system to improve public health for all.

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 14, 2018 at 9:19 PM

    Hi Daisy,
    Thank you for sharing your experience with driving and public transportation. I use my car so frequently, because I have to drive out of Half Moon Bay, go to work in Menlo Park, and then drive to school in SF. Doing that through public transportation would be a nightmare, and I feel like most people would agree. Making a more frequent schedule with more stops could help alleviate that problem. However, when you live in a place like Half Moon Bay, you would get an uproar from locals about how you are disturbing the natural environment. Which is actually a decent point when you think about it. I always tell people, I have a love hate relationship with public transportation and I feel like I am not the only one.
    Thank you for your great post!
    Kera

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 16, 2018 at 8:44 PM

    Hi Daisy,

    Like yourself, I practically live in my car as well! Haha It's so tough having to drive a long commute to get to work and school. However, I think that if public transportation systems were easily accessible and convenient (like, let's say, within a few blocks away from work/school), I may consider switching to public transportation. Thanks for sharing!

    Carmen

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownSeptember 19, 2018 at 11:15 AM

    Hi Daisy,
    Thank you for sharing your experience with public transportation and driving. Great point you make about how driving can lead to a more sedentary life. It seems like you have a far commute throughout your week and I can imagine getting tired from driving and also eating and snacking more while driving. I also agree that if more people took public transportation air quality would significantly improve and that the barriers we have include lack of a centralized system. And also true that our current system that gets us throughout the bay area is limited on time and availability which makes driving a more reasonable option. Great post!

    ReplyDelete

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