Author: Justin Lin

With the increased focus on rising gas prices that are currently affecting the American population today, now is a perfect time to advocate for moving away from the car-dependent infrastructure that affects almost every aspect of American urban planning. American cities are designed with the vehicle in mind. This reflects the American culture of rugged individualism and much of the freedom of movement that comes around with owning a vehicle.

However, we can see today that such a car-heavy culture and urban design is not sustainable for a better future, as more cars mean increased congestion on the highway and higher carbon emissions. In the cases when gas prices rise, driving can be damaging to the wallet of everyday working Americans who depend on their vehicles for their commutes. This is not the case in many parts of Europe and Asia. Many European and Asian countries have walkable urban cores within their cities, as well as extensive public transportation networks. Transit use remains much higher in East Asia and Western Europe than in the U.S. They account for up to 20% of trips there, compared to only 2% in the US. In Switzerland, one in five trips are completed by transit, the country which also has the densest railway coverage. 

 I was born in Shanghai, China, where a large metro system was constructed from nothing within the last 28 years. It’s now the world’s biggest public transportation system by line length, totaling over 498 miles of stations and trackage. As a young child, I would go to Shanghai to visit my extended family over the summer and was impressed by the sheer size and density of Shanghai, but more importantly, how nobody I knew owned a car, yet, you were able to reach every corner of the city from a combination of walking, biking, or taking public transportation. This was a stark contrast to Los Angeles, where we had to drive everywhere, and where the public transportation was a few infrequent metro lines and buses that ran few and far between. The convenience of being able to just walk to the nearest metro stop or bus stop and travel everywhere around the city is a kind of freedom that you can never get in an American city, especially when you don’t own a car. 

Another thing to consider when investing in transit is the need to electrify our railway lines. In countries such as Switzerland, Japan, and the Netherlands, over 75% of their railway lines are electrified. The United States only has 0.92% of its lines electrified. This results in the usage of slow and inefficient diesel locomotives, which are far worse for the environment than electric trains. This can be witnessed firsthand in the United States by riding Amtrak anywhere outside of the Northeast Corridor, which stretches from Boston to Washington D.C. Amtrak outside the Northeast is slow and inefficient, and is often beholden to slower freight trains whose freight companies own the trackage rights. To make matters worse, most of our electrification comes from the late 1920s, when the Pennsylvania Railroad first electrified the Northeast corridor, which means the infrastructure is aging, and not much is being done to further electrify more lines. Not only would electrifying mainlines result in improved Amtrak service, much of the commuter railways such as the MBTA, NJ Transit, and MARTA which operate on Amtrak lines would also result in improved service, resulting in much higher ridership, and therefore, an increased incentive for investment into infrastructure and service improvements.

I write this as currently many people are experiencing inflated gas prices and divestment from fossil fuels is a huge talking point in the media. I am lucky to be living in Boston, where it’s a very walkable and bikeable city, as well as having generally good transit connections. The MBTA is also constantly looking to improve, with many projects centered around transit such as the Green Line extension, as well as the improvements to the regional rail system. The rest of the United States isn’t so lucky, however, as places such as Houston continue to build massive highways around the city, contributing to unsustainable urban sprawl, which destroys and splits neighborhoods and communities, as well as increasing carbon emissions contributing to anthropogenic climate change. Much of the United States’ urban design is especially detrimental to those who cannot afford cars, or physically incapable of driving. What can we do? We need to vote pro-transit politicians into office, as well as support massive investments and improvements to upgrade existing infrastructure while also building new infrastructure. Such improvements will benefit everyone, regardless of whether you drive or not.