Public transport
[1][2][3] There is no rigid definition of which kinds of transport are included, and air travel is often not thought of when discussing public transport—dictionaries use wording like "buses, trains, etc.
"[4] Examples of public transport include city buses, trolleybuses, trams (or light rail) and passenger trains, rapid transit (metro/subway/underground, etc.)
However, most public transport trips include other modes of travel, such as passengers walking or catching bus services to access train stations.
[5] Share taxis offer on-demand services in many parts of the world, which may compete with fixed public transport lines, or complement them, by bringing passengers to interchanges.
A number of sources attribute this trend to the rise in popularity of remote work, ride-sharing services, and car loans being relatively cheap across many countries.
Major cities such as Toronto, Paris, Chicago, and London have seen this decline and have attempted to intervene by cutting fares and encouraging new modes of transportation, such as e-scooters and e-bikes.
[12] Some historical forms of public transport include the stagecoaches traveling a fixed route between coaching inns, and the horse-drawn boat carrying paying passengers, which was a feature of European canals from the 17th century onwards.
The bus, the first organized public transit system within a city, appears to have originated in Paris in 1662,[14] although the service in question, Carrosses à cinq sols (English: five-sol coaches), which have been developed by mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal, lasted only fifteen years until 1677.
Proximity means how far passengers must walk or otherwise travel before they can begin the public transport leg of their journey and how close it leaves them to their desired destination.
In selecting between competing modes of transport, many individuals are strongly motivated by direct cost (travel fare/ ticket price to them) and convenience, as well as being informed by habit.
The same individual may accept the lost time and statistically higher risk of accident in private transport, together with the initial, running and parking costs.
Jet lag is a human constraint discouraging frequent rapid long-distance east–west commuting, favoring modern telecommunications and VR technologies.
[23] Certain types of buses, styled after old-style streetcars, are also called trackless trolleys, but are built on the same platforms as a typical diesel, CNG, or hybrid bus; these are more often used for tourist rides than commuting and tend to be privately owned.
A Guided bus capable of being steered by external means, usually on a dedicated track or roll way that excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of schedules even during rush hours.
A Translohr is a rubber-tyred tramway system, originally developed by Lohr Industrie of France and now run by a consortium of Alstom Transport and Fonds stratégique d'investissement (FSI) as newTL.
[28] Somewhere between light and heavy rail in terms of carbon footprint,[citation needed] monorail systems usually use overhead tracks, similar to an elevated railway above other traffic.
One might compare personal rapid transit to the more labor-intensive taxi or paratransit modes of transportation, or to the (by now automated) elevators common in many publicly accessible areas.
While historically associated with usage in ski resorts, gondola lifts are now finding increased consumption and utilization in many urban areas—built specifically for the purposes of mass transit.
Cycling infrastructure is normally provided without charge to users because it is cheaper to operate than mechanised transit systems that use sophisticated equipment and do not use human power.
Zero-fare public transport services are funded in full by means other than collecting a fare from passengers, normally through heavy subsidy or commercial sponsorship by businesses.
Private transport is normally subsidized indirectly through free roads and infrastructure,[36] as well as incentives to build car factories[37] and, on occasion, directly via bailouts of automakers.
[51] A 2014 study noted that "residents of transit-oriented communities have about one-fifth the per capita crash casualty rate as in automobile-oriented communities" and that "Transit also tends to have lower overall crime rates than automobile travel, and transit improvements can help reduce overall crime risk by improving surveillance and economic opportunities for at-risk populations.
Air samples were taken between 2 and 9 January, and then tested for methane, carbon monoxide, non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), and other gases identified as harmful to the environment.
A single person, 20-mile (32 km) round trip by car can be replaced using public transportation and result in a net CO2 emissions reduction of 4,800 pounds (2,200 kg) per year.
Despite high costs—about US$200 million per kilometer for construction—subways offer substantial co-benefits, such as reduced traffic congestion and improved public health, making them a strategic investment for urban sustainability and climate mitigation.
A 2018 study published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management concluded that expanded access to public transit has no meaningful impact on automobile volume in the long term.
[70] Above that, public transportation opens to its users the possibility of meeting other people, as no concentration is diverted from interacting with fellow-travelers due to any steering activities.
[71] The pandemic negatively impacted public transport usage by imposing social distancing, remote work, or unemployment in the United States.
To reduce COVID-spread through cash contact, in Nairobi, Kenya, cashless payment systems were enforced by National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia also had inadequate bus services relative to demand and longer wait times due to social distancing restrictions and planned to deploy more buses.
