Impact

Most transportation planning relies on models to predict traveler behavior, traffic congestion, and future demand. Real-life transportation experiments are rare. But when they occur, they can be an important means of testing the predictions of transportation models.

It could save you money. Catching public transport may be up to four times cheaper than travelling in your car (according to RACQ research using a journey of 12km to the Brisbane CBD). It can also save you the cost of buying, maintaining and running additional vehicles.  

Using public transportation instead of driving alone in your car is good for the planet and good for your budget. So why don't more Americans use it?

Those who choose to ride public transportation reduce their carbon footprint and conserve energy by eliminating travel that would have otherwise been made in a private vehicle. The result is fewer vehicle miles of travel and reduced emissions.

Public transportation provides many mobility, safety, and economic benefits to people and businesses. Beyond those key benefits, it also offers significant environmental advantages that contribute to a better quality of life.

Public transportation, while maybe not as enjoyable as commuting in your own personal vehicle, does ease congestion, reduce emissions. Need more convincing? Here's more info about public transportation.

Imagine any major city of the world without a public transport network. How do people travel to work, to school, or to see friends and family? What are the effects, if the only transport choice available to a city's four million citizens is by car? The answer is chaos.

It's been proven that taking public transportation saves people time and money. When the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) studied urban areas such as Austin - where both bus and rail service are available to commuters - they observed the following:

Bus related accidents have one-twentieth the passenger fatality rates of automobile travel. Car accidents are responsible for approximately 40,000 deaths (and many more injuries) per year, making them one of the largest causes of death for people aged 1-44.

Carpooling, using public transit, walking or bicycling just one day a week for a year can save you more than $500 in total driving costs.1 But alternative transportation does more than help your pocketbook-it helps the environment, public health, the economy and your community.

Public transportation in the United States is a crucial part of the solution to the nation's economic, energy, and environmental challenges - helping to bring a better quality of life. In increasing numbers, people are using public transportation and local communities are expanding public transit services. Every segment of American society - individuals, families, communities, and businesses - benefits from public transportation.