Today APTA (the American Public Transportation Association) released a study stating that the average household saves over $6,000 annually by utilizing public transportation and reduces American gasoline consumption by 1.4 billion gallons of gas a year as opposed to an average household that would use private transportation (their own automobiles) to get to work and around town.
While I find the premise of the study rather easy to understand I admit that the scope of fuel and money savings was a surprise to me. I have been able to use public transportation to commute to work now instead of having to drive myself which does equate to some tangible monthly savings, however since I still own a car (and use it sparingly when I have to) I am not achieving my full savings potential. I surmise that since I spent some time growing up in the suburbs that were totally inaccessible by public transportation and extremely unsafe for bicycle riding (although that didn't stop me all that much) I haven't quite moved past the American mindset that I need my car. It is getting easier each and every day to imagine how I would be able to live quite easily without it. Imagine the environmental good one person could do the planet and just how much extra income they would be able to utilize if one took advantage of public transportation.
Imagine it dammit!
Reference:
ICF International: Public Transportation and Petroleum Savings in the U.S.: Reducing Dependence on Oil
publictransportation.org
No comments:
Post a Comment