Public Transit Appreciation Post
How studying abroad in a country with increased accessibility to widespread and efficient transit made a difference I never knew I needed
Pedestrian traffic (or as they say in NUMTOT, “peak transit”) doesn’t always cut it in the United States, where the distance between residential and business zones exceeds the logical time limit allotted to strolling (the infrastructure is made for cars, not people). The US (aside from a few cities in the north) doesn’t exactly stand out when it comes to transit systems, access, and funding. My hometown, Tampa, constantly ranks devastatingly low. Despite the fact that it’s one of the fastest growing cities in the nation, and constantly makes new developments for businesses and apartment or condominium complexes, time and time again, it fails to come up with a solution that can actually fit its citizens needs across a huge region.
Given, the rest of the states, especially other major cities, may be better. New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and DC are renowned for their systems (and their respective downfalls). Even in places where public transit isn’t well funded, or perhaps just poorly organised, private ventures into rideshare projects (uber, lyft, and others) have spread rapidly. Overall though, in a region as vast as the United States, there isn’t a more popular way to get around aside from interstate driving and air travel.
When I visited London for the first time in Summer 2017, I experienced a degree of freedom that I haven’t had in Tampa, or in the United States in general. The fact that I could get from place to place, not only by walking, but by any given array of publicly-funded methods (bus, underground, high-speed or light rail, among others) available to me, and still be comfortable, not have paid a meal’s expense out of pocket and arrive on time (despite a major transportation strike) was mind blowing. We could go on field trips simply by taking a train to the site in question, or connecting to overground service and going out of town.
(I say I love public transport sure but I got lost QUITE a lot--here is that face, when I got separated from my group after being pushed into a sardine-like underground car--it was ok)
(WHAT a platform amirite)
My love of public transit was confirmed when I visited Paris through @isaabroad-blog and Eastman School of Music the next Summer, in 2018--I was firmly reunited with a well-organised underground train system. I also realised a love of busses that I was perhaps too scared to find in London (double-deckers are intimidating, ok), and came to terms with 24-hour service transit, by taking the Night Bus (I don’t recommend, because ISA Paris didn’t recommend, but sometimes you miss the last train service by 30 seconds and are halfway across town from your apartment but the rideshare surge is on because everyone else is in the same situation, so now you’re taking the night bus). When you can get around town and commute to school, concerts, and dinner with friends on a fairly tight schedule, you kind of have more free time--to read on the metro, listen to new music, or relax. You don’t have to expend energy and alertness driving in stressful interstate lanes, only sit and wait for your stop to come. The tram tones are also ridiculously cute.
Aside from that mindfulness, I found that access to public transit brought me a greater sense of self-reliance, maturity, and responsibility. It allowed me to be independent, feel safe, and be aware of my surroundings and timeliness prior to going out in the world to which I was exposed. Even in comparison to the amazing things that study abroad experiences tend to give you (a better understanding of diverse opinions and viewpoints, political awareness, linguistic prowess) I’d consider the understanding of transit--and all that goes into it--paramount. Perhaps it’s just an excellent embodiment for all of those things.
Returning to Tampa, then, was a little bit disappointing. But with my newfound passion for transit, I was able to take part in conversations that my community needed around urban planning, and engage in discussions previously unbeknownst to me. I even got involved recently by sharing and encouraging friends to vote for an amendment for our county during the November 2018 general election called “All for Transportation”, encouraging a better transit system (for people, not cars). Its an odd takeaway from my study abroad experience, but a valuable one nonetheless.