Why is public transportation effective?

Public Transportation Reduces Air Pollution Approximately 85% of the greenhouse gas emissions that come from transportation are due to day-to-day commutes. By leaving the car at home, a person can save up to 20 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions every day.



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New or expanded public transportation options can improve health and health equity by reducing traffic crashes and air pollution, increasing physical activity, and improving access to medical care, healthy food, vital services, employment, and social connection.

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Access to public transportation may also reduce health disparities and promote health equity by increasing access to healthier food options, medical care, vital services, and employment for communities that do not have equal access to these fundamental daily necessities.

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A person on a bicycle is the most efficient form of travel on the planet. No other living creature expends so little energy related to the distance traveled. Bicycles are able to convert about 90% of effort into forward kinetic energy.

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Investments in public transportation have potential traffic safety, air quality, active transportation, and accessibility benefits, thus improving associated personal health outcomes. Public transportation has substantially lower crash rates and lower crash severity than automotive travel.

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Standards of living of people around the world radically increased because for the first time trade was easier, safer, faster, more reliable and convenient. Goods could be shipped around the world and traded for other products.

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Transportation moves people and goods to different neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries; and it allows people in those various places to trade and do business together.

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Along with reducing air pollution, public transportation is also more fuel efficient per passenger mile, which contributes to an overall decrease in the amount of energy necessary for transportation. APTA states that public transportation in the US is responsible for saving 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline each year.

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An average transit bus can fit up to 42 people, which means a full bus can remove 42 single-passenger cars from the road during a commute. A handful of full buses running every 15 minutes or so along one commute route can take up to 168 cars off the road each hour, including those cars' emissions!

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