Late last month I attended the National Association of Independent School’s Institute for Leadership in Sustainability. As part of the conference, most of the attendees stayed at a hotel near the airport which had a shuttle back and forth to the airport. In addition, the host of the institute – Woodward Academy – provided a bus from the hotel to the school each day. As an exercise in public transportation and sustainable development, I purchased a 7-day pass on Atlanta’s mass transit system (MARTA). Staying in one of the cities many suburban neighborhoods, my goal was to take MARTA’s train to the airport or the East Point station near the school and either catch a bus or walk to the campus. With the conference starting each morning around 8am, and staying in a part of the city (within the perimeter freeway – I-285 – which surrounds Atlanta) that MARTA’s bus line does not service, arriving on time was not feasible.

Why is it so difficult to find one’s way around using public transportation? Funding for public transportation, as well as citizen support, has not been a top priority. As the culture of the car and suburban sprawl took over American cities outside of the northeast corridor, bus, train, and light rail lines were either underfunded, paved over (in the case of trolley lines in Los Angeles), or neglected by the riders. However, riding public transportation – whether it’s the MTA in New York or Los Angeles’ Rapid Bus Transit – allows for riders to work on any number of projects while they commute. Sustainable development depends on so much more than just transportation, but ridership is a key to making sustainable cities work. Until Americans take the extra time and effort to make decisions using a sustainability paradigm, sustainable development will be a buzzword, not a reality.

- Eric Wilson

[image source: FreeFoto.com]