Public Transportation May Not Even Be Worth It

Public Transportation May Not Even Be Worth It

I’ve been riding DART back and forth to one of the park and ride centers. My father does it on a regular basis, and it would save time and gas for my mother rather than having to make her drive on the opposite side of town just for one class. I remember the first day I rode it; I was so frustrated! I had to present my ticket to DART police about 5 times in one ride. I considered that overboard, especially when one incidence was back to back just because another officer entered my side of the cart. I remember looking at my schedule on the train, trying to see what time I would reach my connection. Something caught my eye; there was no common time when the train would run. Meaning that I wouldn’t be able to say that a certain train runs every 10 minutes because their trains run anywhere between 5 minutes to 20 minutes apart, and even their buses can be seen to run anywhere in between 10 minutes to 1 hour apart. But those two things didn’t even perturb me the most, those are manageable. I began getting restless realizing how the slow the train was going. DART trains travel at an average speed of 25-35 mph, says DART’s website. Then the travel time it took for me to reach destinations started to make sense. The ride reminded me of being in the school zone. But then I took a step back to really examine the problem I was having; I was used to being spoiled by the London Underground (a system that has the world’s fastest 4-rail train going 70 mph on average) and the Paris Métro. The London Underground’s and the Paris Métro’s average speed is 25-50 mph. Having the ability to go 15 more mph can make a major difference in time travel. Also, did I mention that the prices between all three of these train systems about the same, seeing that the dollar doesn’t deflate against the pound and euro anymore? Am I really getting a bargain for my money when other train systems have a more timely method? Therefore I came to the conclusion that the only way public transportation is worth it here in Dallas, is because it’s helping save the environment via carpooling.

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