The importance of mobility

Whether it is by foot, car, bike or public transportation, we are all everyday commuters. Morning commutes become a routine and second nature, so most of us don’t spend any time analyzing our commute. However, reading the article by Greenwald and the chapter by Montgomery really opened my eyes and reminded me of the issues affecting our mobility today.

Beginning with Greenwald’s article, I never put much thought into the reason as to why it is so difficult to get from Queens to Brooklyn. I simply assumed it was another fault of the MTA and their inability to solve some major transportation problems. Learning about this monopoly conspiracy was very interesting and something I have not heard of before. It’s a shame that the situation turned out this way because had we have had a trolley system today, it would have been really convenient and interesting to see how the connection would have remained today between the two boroughs. With the removal of the trolleys and the implementation of buses, everything went downhill. The buses today are not as good as they should be, are often unreliable, and sometimes very inconvenient. I agree with Greenwald and hope to see some form of reconnection via trains running between Queens and Brooklyn.

The next article by Montgomery, Mobilicities, was also a great read. Montgomery brought up a lot of interesting points. There is such a stark contrast between transportation in great metropolitan areas, versus suburbs. For most New Yorkers, public transportation is their mode of transportation, while majority of America uses private cars to get around. As New Yorkers living in the city, we have the opportunity to walk to a store, train, bus, etc. and that increases our overall health, and even happiness. While dragging groceries might be inconvenient, it’s so much better than driving miles to the nearest store. And recently, to improve and increase commuting options, we have seen this wave of biking throughout the city. Citibikes have taken over the streets and while it might be an occasional issue with pedestrians and/or vehicles, it’s overall really good for our residents. It promotes healthy habits and exercise. As we can see, lack of exercise is plaguing our country, and small things like walking and biking each day battles that.

Additionally, Montgomery brings up the issue of young adults not wanting to get their licenses. On average, fewer New Yorkers have licenses as compared to midwestern residents. Recently, there have been more people not getting their licenses as the reliance for public transportation increases. Many of my friends that live in the city don’t have their licenses and don’t see the point of getting one because NYC has one of highest insurance rates and then street parking becomes a nightmare. The ”cool’ thing as a teenager is usually to get your license and get a car, but I feel that in NYC it’s not a norm. It’s extremely easy to get to majority of the city via the MTA, and the popular places in the city are easily accessible without a car.

With it’s flaws aside, the MTA is one of the largest and better forms of public transportation around the world. Basically all of America lacks this huge network of trains and buses.  In the heart of NYC, people can rely on it to get to wherever they may need to be. Unfortunately, the more suburban boroughs such as Staten Island and even parts of Queens lack this tight grid of trains, and it directly increases car reliance in those neighborhoods. Hopefully in the future, the MTA will expand it’s subway lines and better their bus services. Overall, I think New York  has a handful of major factors for rejecting the reliance on cars due to the growing population, street congestion, and the accessibility to the MTA.