BioEverything
GreenWay article for Dec.05/Jan.06
submitted to
http://hazelwoodhomepage.com
hazelwoodeditor@yahoo.com
What Are Our Future Transportation Needs?
Jim McCue, composter and biotech researcher
With so much to be unsure about nowadays, how does a person make decisions? With so much up in the air, how does a whole city plan for it's future? The possibilities are endless and the dangers are all about. Every step taken toward one worthy goal seems a step away from some other. Will we someday be filled with regret that we didn't put our money down on some sustainable regional plan? Are we so busy with surviving the crises that we forget to dream and prepare for a better Pittsburgh to come?
Right now the debate in the area of transportation is whether public transit should be subsidized. To many, the idea that they as taxpayers should help pay for other people to get on the bus or trolley is unfair. Owning, keeping repaired, paying insurance on, and keeping fueled one's own vehicle is no small chore - why should the vehicle owner pay for others to get on the bus for less than cost? The question is similar to that of education, or funding for police and fire, or for the health department: Why should I pay for someone else's? But ultimately the answer lies in the fact that, like it or not, we're stuck with each other. Neighborhood to neighborhood, municipality to municipality, worker to employer - we need each other. It's silly to complain about taxes for education or disease prevention or a workable transportation system - everyone benefits directly or indirectly from these. Just as a single human body has many systems which provide services for that body as a whole, the public transportation system of a city is an essential part of it's core. If it doesn't do a good job, the whole city suffers.
It's necessary to our survival as individuals to recognize that we are in a whole system emergency. Investing in a better future is not impractical, as those who would make cuts in vital public services imply. Yes, we do have breathtakingly difficult budget problems; the way to solve them is to take a look at our priorities.
For instance, do we need sports players to be paid half a million dollars a year or more? Where is this money coming from? My fellow citizens - The money you are coughing up for sports is giving players and owners more money than they have the wisdom to spend wisely. Don't you think the old-fashioned stickball game in the back yard or alley or field provided the same benefits of learning teamwork, healthy exercise, and enjoyment of entertainment with other people?
As another example of misplaced priorities, has anyone considered how we have literally invested in our own ill health by our transportation and energy decisions? The replacement of the trolley as the primary mode of transport in American cities paid off well for those invested in industries related to manufacture of motor vehicles and the oil industry. But our skyrocketing asthma rates, and the increased time it takes to get from one place to the other now with so many vehicles on the road - among other drawbacks of a car culture - has more than made up for that financial benefit for some. Our failure to use energy efficiently, encouraged by some who profited by increased use, has polluted our cities and set us at odds with other countries who compete for the same energy sources. Had we continued to expand the trolley and railway sytem, by now the country could have been honeycombed with a delightful, comfortable, fast, clean, and inexpensive means of getting from one place to the other - for all, not just for the ones who can afford it.
Competition against public transit, often unethical and sometimes even illegal, made it possible for well-endowed corporations to knock smaller concerns out of the running - such as by forming subsidiaries to corner a market rather than make a profit. This is part of the history of the United States. The fact that we live in the country with the most extreme difference between poor and rich shows that there's something wrong with our system. This is not democratic free enterprise, despite all the hifalutin' talk. It's sometimes just cutthroat capitalism.
We need fast, affordable, safe, clean, efficient transportation. The only way to get that is to break through the mean dog-eat-dog atmosphere now prevailing in government and business. The number of people being thrown off the merry-go-round of spiraling costs and lowered incomes is increasing. As we rally to help each others get through these trying times, we need also to work together to put into gear future solutions that help everybody, not just certain groups. Displacing poor people and buying out small homeowners to add more complexity to the highway system is not going to make it better. We need a whole new way of thinking. More roads and vehicles is not necessarily better. More cooperation, such as being willing to car pool and take the bus or trolley, is what civilization is about. Being cooped up alone in your car in daily traffic jams is what you're asking for if you don't want subsidized public transportation, and more asthma and other health problems for you and your loved ones.
With advances in communication, it is possible to decrease the need for communication. The assumption that we will continue to need to have as many vehicles on the road as there are at present is incorrect. The word "telecommute" was coined because people realized there's no reason to drive to work when you can use the telephone and/or computer to accomplish the same thing cheaper and faster. If we're to get off our addiction to dirty power (fossil fuels AND nuclear - both currently subsidized), we need to make better use of our communication systems. We will always need transportation, but many things we travel for now are unnecessary.
Investment in renewable fuels, upkeep of existing roads, and public transportation should be where the money goes - not in another toll road, soon to be clogged and in need of repair as it pollutes the neighborhoods it has barged through. Energy for transportation and other uses can be produced locally, adding well-paying jobs rather than continuing warfare overseas for oil. Like the fossil fuels we need to transition away from, the idea of building new roads to handle traffic problems is a dinosaur that belongs in a museum.
submitted to
http://hazelwoodhomepage.com
hazelwoodeditor@yahoo.com
What Are Our Future Transportation Needs?
Jim McCue, composter and biotech researcher
With so much to be unsure about nowadays, how does a person make decisions? With so much up in the air, how does a whole city plan for it's future? The possibilities are endless and the dangers are all about. Every step taken toward one worthy goal seems a step away from some other. Will we someday be filled with regret that we didn't put our money down on some sustainable regional plan? Are we so busy with surviving the crises that we forget to dream and prepare for a better Pittsburgh to come?
Right now the debate in the area of transportation is whether public transit should be subsidized. To many, the idea that they as taxpayers should help pay for other people to get on the bus or trolley is unfair. Owning, keeping repaired, paying insurance on, and keeping fueled one's own vehicle is no small chore - why should the vehicle owner pay for others to get on the bus for less than cost? The question is similar to that of education, or funding for police and fire, or for the health department: Why should I pay for someone else's? But ultimately the answer lies in the fact that, like it or not, we're stuck with each other. Neighborhood to neighborhood, municipality to municipality, worker to employer - we need each other. It's silly to complain about taxes for education or disease prevention or a workable transportation system - everyone benefits directly or indirectly from these. Just as a single human body has many systems which provide services for that body as a whole, the public transportation system of a city is an essential part of it's core. If it doesn't do a good job, the whole city suffers.
It's necessary to our survival as individuals to recognize that we are in a whole system emergency. Investing in a better future is not impractical, as those who would make cuts in vital public services imply. Yes, we do have breathtakingly difficult budget problems; the way to solve them is to take a look at our priorities.
For instance, do we need sports players to be paid half a million dollars a year or more? Where is this money coming from? My fellow citizens - The money you are coughing up for sports is giving players and owners more money than they have the wisdom to spend wisely. Don't you think the old-fashioned stickball game in the back yard or alley or field provided the same benefits of learning teamwork, healthy exercise, and enjoyment of entertainment with other people?
As another example of misplaced priorities, has anyone considered how we have literally invested in our own ill health by our transportation and energy decisions? The replacement of the trolley as the primary mode of transport in American cities paid off well for those invested in industries related to manufacture of motor vehicles and the oil industry. But our skyrocketing asthma rates, and the increased time it takes to get from one place to the other now with so many vehicles on the road - among other drawbacks of a car culture - has more than made up for that financial benefit for some. Our failure to use energy efficiently, encouraged by some who profited by increased use, has polluted our cities and set us at odds with other countries who compete for the same energy sources. Had we continued to expand the trolley and railway sytem, by now the country could have been honeycombed with a delightful, comfortable, fast, clean, and inexpensive means of getting from one place to the other - for all, not just for the ones who can afford it.
Competition against public transit, often unethical and sometimes even illegal, made it possible for well-endowed corporations to knock smaller concerns out of the running - such as by forming subsidiaries to corner a market rather than make a profit. This is part of the history of the United States. The fact that we live in the country with the most extreme difference between poor and rich shows that there's something wrong with our system. This is not democratic free enterprise, despite all the hifalutin' talk. It's sometimes just cutthroat capitalism.
We need fast, affordable, safe, clean, efficient transportation. The only way to get that is to break through the mean dog-eat-dog atmosphere now prevailing in government and business. The number of people being thrown off the merry-go-round of spiraling costs and lowered incomes is increasing. As we rally to help each others get through these trying times, we need also to work together to put into gear future solutions that help everybody, not just certain groups. Displacing poor people and buying out small homeowners to add more complexity to the highway system is not going to make it better. We need a whole new way of thinking. More roads and vehicles is not necessarily better. More cooperation, such as being willing to car pool and take the bus or trolley, is what civilization is about. Being cooped up alone in your car in daily traffic jams is what you're asking for if you don't want subsidized public transportation, and more asthma and other health problems for you and your loved ones.
With advances in communication, it is possible to decrease the need for communication. The assumption that we will continue to need to have as many vehicles on the road as there are at present is incorrect. The word "telecommute" was coined because people realized there's no reason to drive to work when you can use the telephone and/or computer to accomplish the same thing cheaper and faster. If we're to get off our addiction to dirty power (fossil fuels AND nuclear - both currently subsidized), we need to make better use of our communication systems. We will always need transportation, but many things we travel for now are unnecessary.
Investment in renewable fuels, upkeep of existing roads, and public transportation should be where the money goes - not in another toll road, soon to be clogged and in need of repair as it pollutes the neighborhoods it has barged through. Energy for transportation and other uses can be produced locally, adding well-paying jobs rather than continuing warfare overseas for oil. Like the fossil fuels we need to transition away from, the idea of building new roads to handle traffic problems is a dinosaur that belongs in a museum.
posted by St. Jim the Composter at 10:35 AM
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