While I was in Germany for a trip recently, I was able to see and experience many interesting things, which I will be sure to touch upon in quite a few future columns. One of the things I couldn’t help but notice in my observations were some of the differences between the United States and Germany. Chief among these is the state of public transportation.
In the United States, outside of major cities, we seem to have little to no public transportation opportunities. Besides the Metro Bus in St. Cloud and the surrounding area, and the North Star Link going from Big Lake to the Twin Cities, we in central Minnesota experience the same absence of these services.
Germany is the opposite. Public transport is everywhere, from the bustling metropolis of Berlin to even small towns of a few thousand. Everything is very efficiently run and crossing a major city or taking a ride to visit relatives in a nearby town takes only minutes. I can only imagine what such systems would look like in Minnesota.
Many would argue the United States is too spread out to make public transportation worth the cost, and before now I would have to say I agreed with that notion. However, upon seeing the German system and the way it’s set up, I now believe a strong public transportation network would be a great investment for our country both now and in the future.
In terms of immediate benefits, if we could build a system of efficient trains, buses and trams linking our towns and cities together, then cars would not be the essential piece of equipment they are now for American households. Automobiles are essential to American life not necessarily because we have everything far apart in distance than that there is no good alternative way to travel. With working public transport, it would be easier and cheaper for people to use these services instead of cars, freeing up roads at busy transit hours.
Public transportation would also bring great environmental benefits. Taking cars off the road would massively decrease the amount of air pollution and thus increase air quality and reduce smog risk in large cities. Additionally, since buses and trains often run on natural gas and electric power respectively, these forms of transportation would be emitting little or no pollution themselves.
Advantages could also be found in infrastructure maintenance. Every year, millions of vehicles drive over Minnesota roads and wear them down. So imagine if less vehicles were on the road every day because of mass transit. This could result in longer road durability and allow for resources to be used to keep more roads in good shape rather than having to constantly repair major thoroughfares as is now the case.
The big problem, though, would be the upfront cost of creating a strong public-transportation network. It would most likely run into the billions of dollars for Minnesota alone. I think, though, we need to look at the problem from a long-term perspective. As Minnesota’s population continues to grow, more strain will be placed on our existing road infrastructure. Public transportation would shift some of this burden away from our most maintenance-intensive highways and bridges. When President Eisenhower proposed the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s, it also looked like an expensive and daunting project, but we as Americans now enjoy its benefits every single day.
I would encourage our state and our country to look into public transportation and mass-transit options as a way forward in meeting the travel and movement needs of our citizens. I truly believe if an efficient, working system can be built and put into service, it will be used and it will pay for itself. We just need to take that step forward to turn it into reality.
Connor Kockler is a Sauk Rapids-Rice High School student. He enjoys writing, politics and news, among other interests.
