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Maggie Holm
Professor Whalen
ENGL 1301 Section 20002
12 November 2017
Making Life Simpler
There are many different modes of transportation that people use for either going to
work, traveling, or running errands. Some may be quicker than others, for example, a car may be
quicker than a bicycle. It all depends on where people live; whether it be in a suburb, in an
apartment complex, or within the city limits. When it comes to going places, people must
determine whether to use public transportation or their car. Some people live near a station that
has a public service for taking people places. Others may live either in the suburbs or a few
blocks away from work. No matter where they live, people should use public transportation as a
medium of going to work because it saves time, money, and it is convenient.
Before trains, buses, even cars, were invented, people got around by horse. Large coaches
were used for people to ride in and at the front was a person that made the horse move. This was
the most popular mode of transportation before the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century.
With the need for “an urban circulation system to transport people”, many cities began to build
what we now know as subways (“Public Transportation”). The first underground system of
transit was built in London in 1863. Soon after, Boston became the first city in North America to
have a subway system in 1897. Then, New York City built their subway system in 1904. During
the 1910s and 1920s, cars began to grow in popularity so much that the sellers went bankrupt.
People that wanted to buy a car had to use mass transit in order to get to work. The use of
subways was much more popular in North America, especially New York City, than it was in
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Europe. These days, the most used type of public transit is rail, or bus. The federal government
has taken action many times to improve the conditions of public transportation by allowing the
disabled to use the transit services, allowing intermodal transportation, and many other beneficial
programs for transit systems.
Public transportation outweighs the burden of car expenses. People that use public
transportation usually pay a small amount of money to buy a ticket to get to their destination.
This is cheaper than paying for gas or a taxi ride. With that being said, this is what the President
of the Institute of Transportation Engineers argues when he states that “many people in these
communities cannot afford cars.” (1). Meaning, that rural communities and other communities
with fewer resources cannot rely on public transportation. Therefore, it is important that other
forms of transportation are accessible to people other than walking or biking.
