United States Department of Transportation. “Biden-Harris Administration Announces More than $380 Million in Grants to Modernize Ferry Services, Reduce Emissions, and Connect Rural Communities.” U.S. Department of Transportation, 26 Jan. 2023, https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/biden-harris-administration-announces-more-380-million-grants-modernize-ferry. 

This small summary of 23 grants given by the Biden-Harris administration explains the significance of ferries, and why these grants, some focused mainly on the maintenance and upgrades of existing ferry systems. These grants were given in 11 states and the U.S virgin islands. These systems also were granted money as a means to improve reductions on carbon emissions in the United States, as part of the grants were provided exclusively to invest in hybrid-electric vessels. The article also outlines that these ferry grants will help improve transit and quality of life for the many areas of our country that rely on waterways for transportation, such as Michigan with the Great Lakes, and Alaska. 

As long as low-carbon transportation is being promoted in the United States, we are moving in the right direction. Whether this is high speed rail, electric cars, or the often underlooked ferry, we are making a conscious effort to reduce our countries carbon emissions, and that is needed now more than ever. While the amount of money that the Biden-Harris administration may not be enough to see a direct, large change in the amount of emissions we produce, it is better than what has been previously put into the issue of climate change, which has not been much at all. It is great to see a federal administration using public funds to make an effort against climate change, as the Biden-Harris administration has been proving to do throughout their time in office. 

Futrell, Crystal. “Widespread Us Rail Strike Averted, but Concern Looms.” WorldGrain, World Grain, 8 Dec. 2022, https://www.world-grain.com/articles/17828-widespread-us-rail-strike-averted-but-concern-looms. 

This article gives a detailed overview of the past potential threats of the rail strike that was very closely averted in early December of 2022 by the federal government. It describes the requirements of rail unions for their appeasement, as well as attempts by the federal government to calm the problem without giving the rail workers what they ultimately wanted, which was paid sick leave. While they ended up receiving this (not quite as much as was initially requested), at the time in which the federal governments’ first bill was rejected, a $2 billion hit off the GDP every day of the strike was estimated, if a sufficient bill was not created before a specific date. 

While the rail strike of late 2022 was more about freight trains transporting cargo than people, it still correlates with transportation. In my opinion, it should have been a lot easier for rail workers to obtain significantly more than 1 more day of paid sick leave, as the national average for paid sick days is 8. While I understand the federal government’s concern, as 15 days of paid sick leave was requested, they should have given initially 8 in total, at least. This creates a portrayal of the federal government as exploitative, as they were obviously exploiting their rail workers in the first place to put them in a situation to strike, so continuing to be stingy about paid sick leave leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

Zipper, David. “Why US Traffic Safety Fell so Far behind Other Countries.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 3 Nov. 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-11-03/why-us-traffic-safety-fell-so-far-behind-other-countries. 

This article highlights the contrast between the growing rate of road deaths in the United States with the plummeting rate of road deaths in other countries. David Zipper attributes this to a slew of reasons. One that he focuses on is the federal encouragement in countries such as France of smaller, safer cars through taxes on the weight and size of a vehicle. Another reason is just the overall reduction of cars on the road and safer, slower roads in most other countries. This article goes over possible typical American counterarguments and why they do not make sense. One of them being that what works in foreign countries does not necessarily work in the United States, but Zipper disproves this by citing certain similarities that work in both countries regarding traffic. 

Zipper brings up excellent points throughout the entire article. The argument that the United States needs to be analyzed completely separately from other countries is totally invalid, especially when the recommendations from abroad are potentially life saving. In such a disparate issue such as this one, it is important to look at what is different about the roadways and vehicle safety between the countries that are struggling and those that are exceeding. This is exactly what Zipper does. He makes it clear that something needs to change, and then exemplifies what makes their streets safer compared to ours, and how ours are unsafe compared to theirs. The American tendency to ignore all other ideas from abroad as a form of nationalism is extremely immature and in this case, fatal. 

Pope , Carl. “New York, Washington and Boston Look at Free Public Buses. as They Should.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 29 Dec. 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/new-york-washington-boston-look-free-public-buses-transit-rcna63670. 

This article takes a very strong pro-free-transit view, and goes over the multiple benefits of removing fares from buses, as well as the unfairness in charging fares for bus services. The article brings up the fact that in Massachusetts, only 8% of the bus systems revenue is made up of fares. This fact alone brings up a convincing argumentative question without much possibility for a reasonable answer: Why do fares exist if not to cover the cost of the bus system? The author then brings up the free parking subsidy, which reserves the space running along city curbs for parking spaces. It is mentioned that this subsidy costs significantly more than it would to simply remove fares from the bus systems. It is also brought up that the boost in ridership that comes from removal of fares in a bus system is balanced out with an overall boost in efficiency to the system, as no time will have to be spent collecting fares. 

I agree with the sentiments this article brings up. If the government can pay for our public parking and our highways, why can’t it pay for us to ride the bus? I also was in agreement about the ethical responsibility a city has to keep its citizens connected for free. It also must be considered by the cities that property values are significantly boosted as transportation is built, especially when these systems are free. Free public transportation is also a good method the city can take to prevent sprawl and keep their citizens close, a great way to keep emissions lower. 

Vielkind , Jimmy. “Public Transit Goes off the Rails with Fewer Riders, Dwindling Cash, Rising Crime.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 9 Jan. 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/subway-mta-bart-public-transit-new-york-boston-san-francisco-11673198418. 

Despite an overall downshift in Covid-19’s legal restrictions and societal impact, public transportation has not attained the same ridership that it had before Covid. In cities like New York and San Francisco, ridership is less than two-thirds of what it was before covid, worsening the growing budget issues in these public transportation systems. Both of these cities’ prolific public transportation systems (BART and MTA)  have had to rely on emergency government funds to keep systems running as usual. Despite this, MTA recently planned to cut back on Monday and Friday services due to a lack of ridership paired with a lack of budget resources. To summarize this issue, a lack of ridership causes an impaired service, which will further harm ridership, perpetuating the cycle. 

Due to the lasting implications of Covid-19, one of which being a huge rise of work from home, public transportation has been severely underutilized, even with Covid itself becoming less and less of an issue. However, I think that cutting back on these services entirely is the worst possible way to go about this. What dropping ridership should indicate to these systems, rather,  is that an improvement in service is necessary (as well as making fare evasion more difficult in MTA’s case) and these funds should be allocated by taxpayers. There will always be people trying to get around, but most of these people are currently driving cars. Making these systems more efficient and frequent will attract more ridership, which will then increase capital among these systems. Rather than continuing the cycle, these systems should break it through government funds. The government must realize the importance of efficient public transportation if our environmental catastrophe is going to be remedied. 

Kamisher, E. (2022, August 20). The Bay Area is giving unlimited transit to nearly 50,000 students. Do you qualify? The Mercury News. https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/08/18/new-program-offers-unlimited-transit-to-nearly-50000-bay-area-students-do-you-qualify/

The new clipper Baypass was just prototyped, and is currently being given out to 50,000 bay area college students and affordable housing residents. The short term benefits of this are that THAT many more people are taking advantage of a sustainable mode of transportation around the bay area, and the long term benefits are the possibility of the release of the Baypass, which could draw a lot more people to the transportation systems of the bay area. 

The implementation of this pass would be amazing for the Bay area. Creating a pass that works on every single bus, train and ferry in the bay area would lead to less cars on the road and more people traveling sustainably. While bay area transit systems are suffering in the short term, due to the unlimited ridership of the 50,000 people receiving this pass for free, the long term benefits will be more than enough to make it worth their while. While the clipper card as a concept is similar, the baypass’s convenience and reliability would attract a new crowd to public transportation. 

Newburger, E. (2022, April 14). California unveils proposal to ban new gas-fueled cars by 2035. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/13/california-releases-proposal-to-ban-new-gas-fueled-cars-by-2035-.html

This proposal, made by the California Clean Air Regulators is a 10 year plan to incrementally decrease the amount of gas powered cars on the market. This will force large car manufacturers to start thinking about electric vehicles, which will eventually lead to more electric vehicles on the market not only in California but the entire U.S. The proposal also mentions a complete ban on the sale of new gas fueled cars by 2035. While you can still own and resell fossil fuel powered vehicles, they will become increasingly rarer and overcome with the more sustainable option: electric cars. 

These extreme measures are just the right steps to creating a more sustainable future. While proposals like these are controversial, their future benefit is unmeasurable. 40% of California’s carbon emissions come from cars and trucks. Taking such a hit at this number will greatly reduce California’s total emissions, as well as lead to a far more sustainable future in transportation, one that we can live with guilt free. This proposal, should it pass, would be an amazing thing for our country and world. 

Lopez, N. (2022, August 2). Can Californians afford electric cars? Wait lists for rebates are long and some programs have shut down. CalMatters. https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/08/california-electric-cars-rebates/

While California is offering rebates on Electric Cars, the program seems to be dwindling as the waitlist can be as long as nine months, and prices on Electric Cars are increasing with the rebates. In addition, many of the cheaper options for Electric Cars are selling out, which is making the process harder for low income families. This article highlights the experience of someone who signed up for the rebate program, and by the time he was approved, the prices had increased so much that he could no longer afford the vehicles that had not sold out. 

I think that these rebates are a step in the right direction. However, implementing a service like this without sufficient funding is near pointless. Programs like this are very important right now in a time where unsustainable, fossil fuel powered vehicles are the primary mode of transportation for just about every Californian. If we continue down this path, the climate issue will only worsen. California should give its citizens an even larger incentive to buy an electric vehicle, and make it available to even more people. Electric vehicles would create a sustainable mode of transportation using the groundworks that are already available: roads and highways. It’s much easier to get people to switch from fossil fueled vehicles to electric than from cars to public transportation. We should take full advantage of this. 

Ionescu, D. (2022, May 31). Caltrain Electrification Project Faces Budget Shortfall. Planetizen News. https://www.planetizen.com/news/2022/05/117336-caltrain-electrification-project-faces-budget-shortfall

The Caltrain electrification project is another rail related project that will improve an already great system. However, it faces the same problem as CHSPR, a lack of funding. Caltrain has already begun their electrification process, replacing all of their diesel fueled trains with electric ones. Their goal is to be 100% electric by 2024. This project will greatly reduce carbon emissions and create a more enjoyable rider experience, with a long awaited greater frequency and improved interiors. It’s impossible to argue that this electrification would do any harm; however this operation is expensive. During the Pandemic, their project became a few hundred million dollars more expensive than previously expected, money they are currently looking to raise to finish the project. 

This project is taking an already sustainable approach to transportation and making it even more sustainable. Creating an all electric way to transport hundreds of people at a time to their jobs, friends, families, and wherever else is exactly the work we need to be doing right now. The money that they need to finance the project is the money we need to be putting into sustainable projects right now to combat our pressing climate issue. The frequencies being upgraded is an exciting update, considering that most people’s biggest (and only) complaint of the system is its lack of frequency, especially on weekends. Not only will electrifying increase sustainability, it will increase efficiency. 

Ohnsman, A. O. (2022, July 16). California Bullet Train Gets $4.2 Billion Green Light For First Phase While Bigger Challenges Loom. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2022/07/16/california-bullet-train-gets-42-billion-green-light-for-first-phase-while-bigger-challenges-loom/?sh=83cd06b25b13

The California High Speed Rail project, which has been approved for construction since 2008, is finally making a dent in construction, despite a probable lack of funding for the rest of the project. Construction in Fresno is in full swing, as well as track and infrastructure being laid in the central valley. This project is controversial, although most agree that the final project will be beneficial to California and the U.S as a whole, considering that the U.S has been an extremely slow adaptor to the global high speed rail frenzy that has been happening for 6 decades essentially everywhere else in the world. 

High speed rail is an extremely environmentally-preferable alternative to personal vehicles, and its lack of existence in the U.S is scary. Without a car in the U.S, it is almost impossible to live comfortably. This project would be extremely beneficial to commuters in California as well as people looking to travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles more quickly and efficiently than by car, without the price and inconveniences of plane travel. Having this train would also inspire more similar projects to begin in the U.S, which could, if done properly, create a sustainable alternative to car travel. I think that this project would open a lot of people’s minds towards high speed rail transportation, considering that it would shave more than two hours off of a trip to L.A from San Francisco, when compared to car travel. I also think that this would help connect all of California into a single community. Being able to reach friends and family in Southern California from Northern California through a day trip (considering the sub 3 hour ride time) would connect us a lot more than we are now.