Public Transportation Sustainable Transportation and Modern Value

“A developed country is not a place where even the poor drive, but where even the rich take public transportation.” This analogy, which has been circulated for a long time but whose source is unknown, may be a bit dramatic, but it is basically true. Public transportation is really a progressive value.

Improve sustainable literacy

Modern public transport is very knowledge intensive. Users must be able to understand the usage methods, rules, rates, tickets, routes, dynamics and information systems of various means of transportation, plan transfer and backup plans, and enjoy the mobile experience. In contrast, people who rely on old habits of driving and riding motorcycles all their lives will gradually fall to the other side of the traffic literacy gap and become disadvantaged.

Modern people should have basic public transportation literacy. You have to be interested in the transportation system itself, but also be able to enjoy the experience of the process. The more careful the observation, the more knowledge is accumulated and the experience is richer. Don’t just use them as a means of transportation.

I heard about it recently and it happened to be a case. A few friends went to Alishan on a trip to Taiwan together. While waiting for the Alishan hotel shuttle bus at the Alishan transfer station, I was ridiculed by the driver of the white car to “take the bus to stay in such a high-end hotel.” As everyone knows, in the era of sustainable transportation, public transportation is a more “advanced” mode of transportation. This shows that there is a huge gap in sustainable literacy.

enrich life experience

If you drive all the way to a fixed point when traveling in China, the experience must be broken, and it is difficult to manage expectations. So it’s easy to feel “not fun” when you arrive at your destination. Only by using public transportation can there be a complete and continuous travel experience, as well as complete exploration fun.

Due to the lack of public transportation, people in the previous era could only rely on private vehicles, resulting in insufficient physical activity, poor experience, increased risks, and pedestrians suffered. If people in this era are not a little awakened, it is easy to repeat the same fate.

When I was studying human factors engineering in the United States, the professor liked to give an example: You buy insurance for various personal behaviors, and the premium for driving is the highest, because the risk is the highest. Even if the road design in Taiwan is perfect today, the risk will only be higher given the general quality of drivers and the number and density of cars and motorcycles. To reduce risk, choose public transportation.

Mainstreaming public transport

Many heads of government to this day believe that public transport is for the underprivileged. This is wrong. Public transportation should be the mainstream and the main mode of transportation for most people. In fact, our country is indeed moving in this direction.

The opening of the Kaohsiung MRT has also led to the overall improvement of the public transportation system. Fifteen years have passed and it has paid off. Based on my experience of taking the bus during off-peak hours on weekdays, it is not like the stereotyped disadvantaged groups in the early years. In fact, most of the passengers are young adults.

Once on the light rail, I heard a foreigner on the tram say that his city (didn’t hear the name) has crazy buses, taxis are too expensive, and there is no railway; he praised Kaohsiung for its convenient transportation. Kaohsiung’s public transportation has really improved a lot in recent years.

Public transportation is not something to be proud of. No matter where you live, don’t say that “the locals ride motorcycles and don’t take the bus anymore”. You should use public transport more actively (even if it’s not good enough) to know how to push local government to improve.

In the past ten years or so, I have traveled to many places by railway transfer. Outside the three major metropolitan areas, there are few bus and passenger trips, detours, and crazy drivers are common. But I still try my best. I will be aware of the many inconveniences that local people have been accustomed to. I will explore systemic problems and find channels to communicate. It’s okay to say it’s the justice of the people. But my main takeaway is the insight in the process. This is how my understanding and interest in public transport came about.

Public transportation is not just a means of mobility, but also the value, belief and practice of sustainable living.

further reading