Transportation Is A Human Right

The U.S. transportation system has long been rife with inequality, making it more difficult for low-income people, people of color, and people with disabilities to get where they need to go. When Covid19 hit, ticket revenues shrank, workers got sick, and services were cut, even as low-income “essential workers” disproportionately depended on public transit to get to work as other Americans did, to get to grocery stores, food pantries and health services. In rural communities where public transit was already sparse and unreliable, owning a car literally became a matter of life and death. In this episode, Laura considers the history; a century ago, fears of a communicable disease helped turn the tide against public transportation for decades. Today the climate crisis requires that we not brand public transport unsafe for another generation. What alternatives exist? And what if we consider not just new ‘modes’ of transport and new infrastructure, but the principle of “mobility”. Could new technology and better information sharing solve our transportation challenges? Laura looks at existing models.  Music in the Middle: "Ride Ride" by Alexis P. Suter Band, from their “Hat Trick, The Essential Recordings” compilation.

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