How a City Can Promote the Use of Public Transport System Essay

Transport systems are credited for the development of the world's modern cities. It is worthy to note that cities have a high population, a situation that leads to mass motorization which consequently results in both noise and air pollution. To avoid the implications of polluted cities, most people have moved to suburbs and established their residence. The government, in its bid to eradicate pollution effects, has encouraged people to use public transport. It is imperative to note that there are many private cars than public transport, a situation that makes private cars emit more pollutants than public transport. Typically, using strategies such as offering incentives to public transport, construction of a separate lane, development of mobile applications, developing fuel-efficient public vehicles, constructing accessible bus stops and Wi-Fi installation at bus stops and public vehicles will promote the use of public transport systems.

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Most cities have not fully exploited the benefits of the public transport system. In fact, most local governments lack the required resources to establish an efficient public transport system. There are various methods of promoting public transport system usage in cities. According to Nakamura and Hayashi (2013), one method is offering incentives towards public transport. London is an example of a city that utilizes this strategy to encourage public transport. It is prudent to note that it charges congestion fees, a move that encourages investment in public transport. Another city that effectively uses this strategy is Copenhagen that uses the revenue it generates from parking in the stabilization of public transport systems (Gossling, 2013). Governments should, therefore, invest in cost-effective methods that they can use to lure the public into using public transport systems. Some of the methods should include considerably reducing noise and air pollution as well as regulating fare charged in transport systems. The ramification for this will be more people preferring public transport system over private or personal transport.

Another strategy that the cities can use to promote public transport system is through the construction of separate lanes to be used for public transport. Wiesbaden in Germany is a good example of a city that has effectively used this strategy to lure people into using public transport. Graham-Rowe, Skippon, Gardner, and Abraham (2011) elucidate that under this strategy, public transport vehicles are given priority at the traffic signal to ease public transport as well as to act as bait for the public to use public transport system. Graham-Rowe et al. (2011) further suggest that city transport programmers should adopt e-ticketing platform to eliminate the time consuming available ticketing method that consumes too much time, hence unsuitable for a person in a hurry to be at a given place at a specific time. This strategy, e-ticketing, is meant to improve the passenger's experience which will, in turn, attract more individuals to consider public transport systems.

The management of public transport of the city should develop and encourage the use of mobile phone applications that give more information about the available transport system (Zhou, Zheng, & Li, 2014). Commuters will thus be equipped with the knowledge of the available public transport system. It is worthy to note that mobile phones are convenient and accessible to everyone. Therefore, people are able to use public transport systems that are convenient and favorable to them. For this reason, public transport systems will be more appealing to the public which will, in turn, lure more people into using them.

It is imperative for the government to educate its citizens on the negative effects of carbon emission into the atmosphere. The government needs to explain to its citizens that the higher the number of private cars, the higher the rate of carbon emission. Also, the public needs to be aware that carbon dioxide emission results into global warming that adversely increases the temperature of the world to higher levels that is unfavorable to both flora and fauna (Paterson, 2013). Thus, this will instill a sense into the public to consider using public transport system when going to work so as to minimize the rate of carbon released into the atmosphere.

Motor industries should manufacture public transport vehicles with increased fuel efficiency. This will be pivotal in reducing the cost of transport for the public transport system. As a result, more people will prefer public transport system due to reduced fare charges. In the US, the law requires car manufacturers to adhere to corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) for average mileage setting requirement. The law requires that for cars, the mileage should not exceed 27.5 while for light trucks, the mileage should be 207 (Dell'Olio, Ibeas, & Cecin, 2011). Indeed, shifting to public transport enables the use of few vehicles on the roads which subsequently leads to a decreased amount of carbon dioxide emissions.

The management of cities should ensure that bus stops or stations are accessible and attractive to the public. Nwachukwu (2014) notes that there should be comfortable seats and good lighting in the bus stops. Moreover, further improvements should be made on large stops. They should contain drink or food stalls to attract people into using public transport. Installing Wi-Fi connections at the bus stops and in public vehicles will further have positive effects on the number of people that use public transport system. Moreover, public vehicles should be kept clean at all times to attract more people into using them.

The city programmers need to establish electronic timetable boards that will be instrumental in notifying passengers of delays and times. According to Wagale, Singh, Sarkar, and Arkatkar (2013), passengers are comfortable if they are able to know the time they will take at the station waiting for the bus or the time they will take traveling to reach their destination. A regular time schedule will enable passengers effectively plan for their time and avoid any time wastage that results from poor planning. The ramification for this will be an increased number of those that use these systems for personal or business reasons.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a public transport is pivotal in reducing the emission of carbon into the atmosphere. Thus, city managers need to adopt strategic measures aimed at encouraging people to use public transport systems. Some of the strategies include, but not limited to, adopting an electronic timetable, installing Wi-Fi connections at bus stops and public transport vehicles, manufacturing fuel-efficient public transport vehicles, teaching citizens on the need to use public transport, and construction of separate lanes for public transport vehicles. Therefore, using these strategies will ensure that people abandon their private cars for the public transport system, a move that will ensure that global warming is minimized through a reduction in carbon dioxide emission from vehicles' exhaust system.

References

Dell'Olio, L., Ibeas, A., & Cecin, P. (2011). The quality of service desired by public transport users. Transport Policy, 18(1), 217-227.

Gossling, S. (2013). Urban transport transitions: Copenhagen, the city of cyclists. Journal of Transport Geography, 33, 196-206.

Graham-Rowe, E., Skippon, S., Gardner, B., & Abraham, C. (2011). Can we reduce car use and, if so, how? A review of available evidence. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 45(5), 401-418.

Nakamura, K., & Hayashi, Y. (2013). Strategies and instruments for low-carbon urban transport: An international review on trends and effects. Transport Policy, 29, 264-274.

Nwachukwu, A. A. (2014). Assessment of passenger satisfaction with intra-city public bus transport services in Abuja, Nigeria. Journal of Public Transportation, 17(1), 5.

Paterson, M. (2013). Global warming and global politics. Routledge.

Wagale, M., Singh, A. P., Sarkar, A. K., & Arkatkar, S. (2013). Real-time optimal bus scheduling for a city using a DTR model. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 104, 845-854.

Zhou, P., Zheng, Y., & Li, M. (2014). How long to wait? Predicting bus arrival time with mobile phone-based participatory sensing. IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, 13(6), 1228-1241.