User:SouperAwesome/My sandbox

More people should use public transportation and governments should encourage it more. Promoting public transportation and having many people travel by a single bus or train rather than individual cars would be beneficial. It would help people save money, reduce risk of accidents and with the population growing and more cars being manufactured, lessening the number of cars would also contribute to decreasing pollution.

Using public transportation can be less risky and safer than using your own car. All around the world car accidents result in 800,000 permanently handicapped people. With public transportation there is a lessened threat for crashes, since less people are driving vehicles, and those that are do it as their job keeping to a specific schedule and rules with no incentive to speed. Several types of public transport, such as trams, are also safe because they run on set paths without the need for people to steer them. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that in 2003 about 17,000 people died in alcohol related injuries; being 40% of total traffic deaths for that year. When there is a certified bus driver doing his job, there is very little possibility of drunk driving accidents. Besides being beneficial safety-wise, public transportation can be economically more convenient.

When travelling by bus or train there is no need to pay for gasoline. As the prices for oil are rising, it can be advantageous to prefer public transport rather than having your own car. It is stated that the prices are 32% higher than they were a year ago, and the price of standard crude oil on the New York mercantile exchange was under $25/barrel in 2003, over $60/barrel 2005 and in 2007 $83.9 per barrel. As well as not having to pay for the gasoline when travelling by train, it can have easier or quicker routes than cars like a German magazine found. Even more important than the prices that can be problematic for us, cars produce pollution that affects the whole planet.

Travel by public transportation rather than personal car produces less pollution. There are over 600 million cars in the world, and a book from 2001 said that if present trends continue the number will double in 30 years. The manufacturing and use of these cars produces 20-25% of the carbon dioxide contributing to global warming. If people were to use public transportation there would be less need for cars and less pollution, as one public vehicle carries numerous people in contrast to a personal car that might be transporting only one individual.

Even though some dislike using public transportation because of the costs, it could actually be cheaper than owning a private car. As well as having to pay for petrol, buying and maintaining a car is expensive. If people used public transportation they wouldn’t have to take a loan to travel, and no extra money would have to go for gas or repairs. If there were more people travelling by bus for example, the prices could also fall.

In conclusion, using public transportation would be beneficial, as it is more profitable when it comes to safety and air pollution as well as money issues. Travelling by public transportation should be promoted more than using a private car. �Works Cited:

Number of Cars. 2003. Hypertextbook. Oct. 2007. <http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/MarinaStasenko.shtml>

Oil Rises as U.S. Inventories Lag Last Year, Stocks Increase. 26 September 2007. Bloomberg.org. Oct. 2007. <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602013&sid=aKuLV.K_Mc5w&refer=commodity_futures>

Some Statistics. 16 October 2006. World Carfree Network. October 2007. <http://www.worldcarfree.net/resources/stats.php>

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/TSFAnn/TSF2004.pdf