The following situation and accompanying question were posed in a recent class discussion: Two commuters are both traveling to the same workplace. Gerald takes a light rail commuter train and experiences a travel time of 30 minutes. Gregory drives a personal car and experiences a 10 minute travel time. Is this fair?
In my opinion it's not a matter of fairness, but simply a matter of differing situations. There are many reasons for which this scenario may be occurring. Perhaps Gerald does in fact own a personal car but he chooses to take the bus to save money that would otherwise be spent on gas. Or maybe he enjoys reading the paper during his commute in the morning, and not having to operate the vehicle in which he's riding allows him to do so (I realize some commuters attempt to read the paper as well as drive their own vehicle but that's a topic for another discussion).
Perhaps one day a massive car accident blocking all lanes occurs on the main road which Gregory travels, and rather than the 10 minute drive he's used to he's stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for an hour and a half. As he sits frustrated watching the clock on his dashboard, Gerald swiftly passes him by on a quick and reliable train ride to work.
If Gerald doesn't own a car but wishes he did so that he could shorten his travel time, then perhaps he should start saving for a car, or cut spending in some other area of his life so that he may afford one. It's not as though he is for some reason forbidden from choosing to drive his own car. I realize some people may not have the financial means to purchase a personal vehicle and that scenario may be viewed by some as unfair. But the fact of the matter is, we live in a world with a wide-ranging socioeconomic scale and there are amenities that are attainable for some and unattainable for others.
Because there are those who may not be able to purchase or operate a personal vehicle, it is important that we provide safe and reliable transportation alternatives. By making these systems (bus, rail, etc.) as efficient as possible, the difference between Gerald and Gregory's travel times may be reduced. And again, I don't believe this is making the situation more or less fair for anyone, but I do agree it's a step in the right direction for making all transportation systems/modes efficient and effective.
My uncle has a BMW M series with sensing technology or whatever and it automatically keeps pace with the car ahead (i.e. can brake and accelerate on its own) and he sometimes reads the paper and lets the car do the driving (presumably this is on straightaways). Self driving cars could become more prevalent and then we could all read the paper on our drive to work!
ReplyDeleteWow Janka I've never heard of this technological capability before but it's really interesting! And if a commuter did indeed enjoy reading the morning news on his/her way to work then a BMW M series would be a much more luxurious option as opposed to a public bus.
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