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The impact of modern transportation
The impact of modern transportation
The impact of modern transportation
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Many growing cities of the twenty-first century have a common problem: the overwhelming favouritism of cars over other, more environmentally friendly and less congestive methods of travel. Cars in large numbers cause traffic issues, accidents, and pollution [1]. The bicycle is among the most popular solutions to these problems, as bicycles are cheap for the user, healthy, and are a form of sustainable transportation. The two primary things to consider when encouraging bicycle usage are the cost and viability of implementation and the overall effectiveness of the solution [2, 3]. Considering this, the most influential factors affecting the bicycle’s modal share seem to be infrastructure and public initiatives to encourage bicycle use; of these factors, the most successful and cost-effective ways to encourage bicycle use are those that make cycling safer and more convenient for cyclists.
If the potential power of the bicycle was ever in doubt, a cost-benefit analysis was done in large Chinese Cities [2] to express the effectiveness of alternative modes of transit. In the study, bicycles were always found to be more cost-effective than rails, and in only some cases less effective than buses. Indeed, there are many benefits with few downsides; in the face of increasing evidence of the utility of the bicycle, “many government agencies and public health organizations have explicitly advocated more bicycling as a way to improve individual health as well as reduce air pollution, carbon emissions, congestion, noise, traffic dangers, and other harmful impacts of car use”[2]. It is clearly in the interest of the government to encourage bicycle use, especially to the detriment of single-occupancy vehicle usage.
Infrastructure is by fa...
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...rease bicycling: An international review," Prev. Med., vol. 50, Supplement, pp. S106-S125, 1, 2010.
[4] J. Dill, "Bicycling for Transportation and Health: The Role of Infrastructure," J. Public Health Policy, vol. 30, pp. S95-S110, 01/01, 2009.
[5] Anonymous "Review of studies on pedestrian and bicyclist safety, 1991-2007," Ann. Emerg. Med., vol. 60, pp. 495-496, 10, 2012.
[6] J. Kim, S. Kim, G. F. Ulfarsson and L. A. Porrello, "Bicyclist injury severities in bicycle–motor vehicle accidents," Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 39, pp. 238-251, 3, 2007.
[7] J. D. Hunt and J. E. Abraham, "Influences on bicycle use," Transportation, vol. 34, pp. 453-470, 07/01, 2007.
[8] P. Rietveld and V. Daniel, "Determinants of bicycle use: do municipal policies matter?" Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, vol. 38, pp. 531-550, 8, 2004.
In the July 1997 issue of Commentary, James Q. Wilson challenges the consensus among academia’s finest regarding the automobile in his bold article, Cars and Their Enemies. Directed towards the general public, his article discredits many of the supposed negatives of the automobile raised by experts, proves that the personal car is thriving and will continue to thrive because it meets individual preference over other means of transportation, as well as presents solutions to the social costs of cars. Wilson emphasizes that no matter what is said and done in eliminating the social costs of the automobile, experts are not going to stop campaigning against it.
Society loves to join in on and enjoy all the new trends that arise, even if they may be flawed, expensive, or even silly. People just desire to fit into society and be like everyone else. We’ve grown up hearing “don’t do something just because everyone else is”, but the reality is that we can’t help it, it’s just how humans naturally flow. The latest trend that’s happening is the bike-share program, which allows folks to check out a bike at one service station and return in to another. Bike-share programs are quickly growing around the world and the latest city to adopt this new trend is Los Angeles, California. Justin Clark expresses very strong opinions about this new and environment friendly program and what L.A isn’t doing right. He tells
A good chunk of people in the Big Apple (New York City) feels that the MTA makes their ride efficient, cheap, easy, and convenient way of getting around town. On a scale of 1-10, N...
Millions of people all over the United States choose motorcycles over automobiles for the thrill, speed, and high performance capabilities. On the other hand, motorcycles are not at all the safest way of transportation. Motorcycles do not provide the passenger with the outer protection that cars provide, therefore, when one crashes, the results are usually much more serious. Injuries to the head are responsible for 76% of fatalities when dealing with motorcycle crashes many of which could have been prevented had the rider been wearing a helmet. For this reason, many states have adopted the motorcycle helmet law. The law states that every passengers must wear a helmet at all times when riding on a motorcycle. This law has created a great deal of controversy. One side supports the law, believing that it protects motorcyclists from danger and saves the economy a great deal of money. The other side argues that the law is unconstitutional and it violates our right to freedom. However, statistics show overwhelming support in favor of the motorcycle helmet law. Although wearing helmets cannot prevent motorcycle crashes, they can greatly reduce the number of deaths caused by head injury as well as lowering taxes, insurance rates, and health care costs. Therefore, the helmet law should be put into effect in every state across the United States.
Irvine; Gregory.... ... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited CDC - Injury - Teen Drivers: Fact Sheet." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
8.) Great Britain. Department for Transport. London. Relationship between Speed and Risk of Fatal Injury: Pedestrians and Car Occupants. By Richards. Transport Research Laboratory, Sept. 2010. Web. .
Bicycle commuters are a common sight on the streets of Boston. With the environmental, health, and monetary benefits, many bicycle commuters wonder why only .4 percent of the Massachusetts workforce ride their bike to work.
The great changes in American society that came with the introduction bicycle in the late 19th century are often overshadowed by the influence of the automobile in the following decades. Today, bicycles are often seen as an alternative mode of transportation - a cleaner and more environmentally conscious form of travel. Because of this, it may be difficult to realize the incredible modernizing effects that bicycles had on American society when they were first introduced. Manufacturing and marketing techniques introduced by the bicycle industry were massive steps towards modern industrial practices. In addition, by making individual travel available to many people for the first time, bicycles changed the speed at which life flowed in much of America. Bicycles granted a degree of personal freedom of mobility to many for the first time, and their effect on the women's rights movement of the time was notable. Bicycles were used in war, by police, and by the postal service, among others. In countless walks of life, the availability of personal travel offered by bicycles had an incredible impact on American society.
It needs to improve its areas of “walkability” and encourage health and environmental factors by adding bike lanes to the heavily biked Church Street. Its roads are not overburdened and its public transit systems are frequent, and highly accessible. One factor to be drawn from this conclusion is that Church and Wellesley’s overall transportation success is not indicative of the GTA as a whole. In fact, its success is the result of government policies that have abetted a focus on highly trafficked, highly populated, highly profitable areas such as the Downtown Core (Keil, Roger, Young, 2008). In the article, Urban Form and Travel Behavior as Tools to Assess Sustainable Transportation in the Greater Toronto Area, the authors conclude that the GTA is headed in a negative direction, and that the goal of sustainable transportation will not be met or improved in the future under the current policies and trends. Overall, the symptoms of Church and Wellesley, although beneficial to the BIA locals, could be seen as a symptom of an greater problem with the city’s transit system that needs to be addressed through political, bureaucratic, and organizational reform ((Zaidan, Esmat, Abdelgadir, Abulibdeh,
Have you ever known somebody who was injured in a car accident? What do you think his attitude about seat belts was after they saved his life? If you knew that a seat belt would save your life, you would buckle up! It took years of legislation and public awareness campaigns to make seat belt use mandatory. Now a new topic regarding public safety is coming to light: people are dying or becoming seriously injured in seemingly minor accidents on bicycles when the rider's head strikes the concrete. When the head is unprotected "the brain continues to move in a forward motion while the skull stops moving" (Macyko1), causing trauma. What is needed is a way to protect the brain "by absorbing the energy from the impact, buying extra time for the brain to slow down" (Macyko1). Bicycle riders need to wear helmets to protect their brains from injury, yet unfortunately the public is simply not aware of this need and many people will continue to die or be seriously injured unless something is done. Bicycle helmets save lives and should be required by Arizona State law for riders of all ages.
II. According to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, bicycle related crashes kill about 900 people a year and injure over half a million. Most bicycle deaths or accidents occur between 3-9 pm, and most often occur during the summer months. We can prevent these numbers by: wearing protective equipment, obeying the rules of the road, and being aware of your surroundings.
Amy Westervelt’s article “Bike Sharing Grows Up: New Revenue Models Turn a Nice Idea into Good Business” explains bike sharing programs that you could rent a bike for a day, take it anywhere you wanted, but return it to any bike station. Paris has started a bike-sharing business in 2007, they had cool bikes, reasonable prices, and good placement of the bike stations. The bike program has 50 million rides annually. In the United States launched a bike- sharing program in 2008 in Denver which lead to other cities launching programs in 2010. Washington D.C. created a new problem, they had too many riders and not enough bikes. Portland, San Francisco, and Chicago are planning on releasing a bike-sharing program. Over time the bikes got cooler and
The history of transportation in the United States has been unquestionably a story of advancement. From the Ordinary bicycles also known as the “high wheeler” to the electric starters for automobiles. Many advance innovations were produced to improve urban transit between the years 1860 -1930 in both Europe and the United States. Throughout the period of development, class, race, and gender mattered because everyone were being impacted by the new inventions. Each new mobility production brought new experiences and new means for traveling. Once bicycles and cars were invented, it was about speed, adventure and who was able to go furthest.
Should students take advantage of the public transportation more seriously than owning a car? The public transportation can solves to numerous problems; the bus transportation can be a universal antidote for bigger issues such as global warming. By taking the bus can save students’ time and money, rather than students who have a car have deal with traffic and expensive parking fee. Students who own a car might experience sitting in such a long traffic, where during the traffic cars may produce noxious gases relieving particle of air that can contribute the affect to human health. The public transportation is the best solution for an enormous population of students, so students’ needs to get on the transit a try. The transition system in the
Newman, P. (1999). Transport: reducing automobile dependence. In D. Satterthwaite (Ed.), The Earthscan reader in sustainable cities (pp. 67-92). London: Earthscan Publications.