A Bus a Day
Posted by Fred Jandt
Editor, Mass Transit
We’ve all probably heard the quote an apple a day keeps the doctor away (although I am particularly fond of P.G. Wodehouse’s “an apple a day, if well aimed, keeps the doctor away”). I’m not one to believe that eating a single apple every day will keep you all that healthy, but there is something to be said for living a healthy lifestyle.
That said, there are definite health benefits associated with public transportation. Other than the obvious benefits of extra walking involved in getting to your local transit stops, there are other not so obvious health benefits you can receive from using mass transit.
Take air quality for example. Despite the ingrained image (thanks Hollywood) of buses pulling away from a stop in a cloud of exhaust, public transit does improve air quality. For one, it can mean less cars on the road. For another, many forms of public transit, especially electric rail, have no emissions at all. And buses have never been better for air quality with them running ULSD or having hybrid engines or even fuel cell power.
And then there is the extra benefit of the stress reduction from not fighting through traffic behind the wheel of a car. Many people I’ve spoken with say transit is quite relaxing, and having joined the nodding off club several times on a bus and train, I can attest to that.
There is also the idea that if you don’t have that car available, you’ll change your philosophy when it comes to just “running out” and picking something up for lunch. You could pack a lunch instead of whatever the local burger barn or taco palace has on special. And if you do have that hankering for some fast food, at least you walked part of the way to get there.
We often look at how transit can benefit a region, a state or a city. It isn’t often that we look close enough to see those benefits to the people using it other than, “hey you don’t need a car.”
On another note, we’ve updated the Mass Transit Web site with a slightly different look making it easier to get to the news and we’ve added forums. Just click on the “Forums” button in the upper-right hand side of the home page to check them out. We know our readers value what others in the transit industry have to say, so please give your input and see what others are saying on a variety of topics.
Thanks for reading the MT Position, updated every Friday.
September 28th, 2007 at 10:08 am
A good summary of the benefits, Fred. I’ll really confirm the stress reduction aspect, even if I have to contend with Red Sox fans getting to Fenway Park when they’re playing at home.
But I can’t let that remark about electric rail issuing no emissions at all. Of course they do, but the emissions are at some distance from the result. Central power plants create very significant emissions of pollutants, and the CO2 emissions clearly contribute to global warming. That said, centralizing these emissions makes them much more amenable to capture and treatment to render them less harmful than having thousands of individual cars on the road, looking for a place to park.
September 28th, 2007 at 10:10 am
Good article — but you cannot say that rail has “no emissions at all”. Indeed, depending on the electricity source (coal, anyone?), it may have higher emissions than a low emission bus fleet. Rail (or other electric vehicles) have no tailpipe emissions, of course, and that can be valuable in some areas. But please don’t encourage people to think that they’re getting emission-free transport!
September 28th, 2007 at 10:57 am
This article is well overdue. I for one, as an employee of our transit system have been a regular rider for at least seven years now (in a city that though is somewhat impoverished relative to a huge portion of the population) and is somewhat under utilized by its residents, not to mention many of its transit employees.
I would like to point out that transit is not feasible for everyone; however, there are many that do live near transit stops that are within walking distance or Park-N-Rides (usually for no fee, which is another financial benefit if you travel to areas where you may have to pay for parking) and don’t take advantage of the many benefits of transit. It may just require a little planning and scheduling. Additional benefits may include stress relieve for those many individuals that may consider remaining at work longer than is really necessary (yes, for those of us workaholics that don’t have better quality of life priorities) and tend to linger at work, sometimes needlessly. Use the transit schedule to your advantage to be at work only the required time; and besides, I’ve usually done work to and from work while riding, so transit time has become value-added time in contrast to non-value added time for those that drive to and from work; therefore, my overall work day is shortened, and I still get the job done.
To get started riding transit, consider doing it one day a week. You may be surprised that the effort is well worthwhile economically, environmentally, and mentally and physically healthy. For those that don’t ride transit, at least occasionally, you really don’t know what you are missing (figuratively and literally). The reduced stress alone is more than worthwhile, but you won’t realize this until you experience it over several trips.
I also concur with the two previously submitted comments about the statement that electric rail (especially) has no emissions at all.
September 28th, 2007 at 11:11 am
That sounded a little snarkier than I intended. I thought it was a good piece overall! And re the Red Sox, unfortunately, that may be one example where public transit is just as stressful. Taking the Green Line is usually unpleasant, but triply so when there’s a Sox game on…