21st century transportation, a new mentality

It was brought up in class a few days ago that the 20th century mentality towards transportation was to "enjoy your mobility." And now in the 21st century, this mentality has changed to "mobility is a responsibility." I think this is a very interesting change in attitude and it accurately represents the movement towards creating sustainable transportation networks throughout the world. 

The 20th century witnessed many transportation milestones such as the introduction of the automobile, the transcontinental railroad, and the airplane. This created high levels of excitement as people could now travel faster and farther, reaching places never before possible. This newly-found mobility was celebrated and encouraged and concerns with carbon emissions, congestion, noise pollution, etc. was not yet a widely held concern. Mobility was not to be kept in check, it was to be enjoyed.

Once the 21st century rolled around, our attitude towards the transportation systems we had previously used with complete freedom and disregard for the environment began to change. In today's world, with fossil fuels quickly running out and carbon emissions at dangerously high levels, there is much more effort to make our transportation networks efficient and sustainable. In our travels, we must be cognizant of these issues and employ methods to move responsibly such as carpooling, walking or biking when possible, and operating vehicles safely. 

Who is in charge of making responsible transportation decisions? The answer is, we all are. From government officials, to urban planners, to transportation engineers, to any person taking a trip, we must all work together to ensure that our transportation systems can thrive well into the future. We are quickly approaching a major shift in the way we move from place to place as oil depletion continues to worsen. Alternative fuels will undoubtedly become much more common and many adjustments and innovative technologies will need to be developed.