Public transportation is an important aspect many people look for when they move to a new city, especially a metropolitan area. Throughout Collin County’s rapid growth, it still has not implemented public transportation in many of its cities, including the more major ones, such as Allen, McKinney, and Frisco. To find out if citizens of these cities were bothered by the lack of public transportation available to them, I interviewed three people: one high school student, one college student, and one full-time businessman.
I found that, despite their different lifestyles, each of my interviewees had the same opinion; public transportation should be implemented in Collin County. The high school student I interviewed said she was disappointed in the area’s amount of public transportation. She is not old enough to drive, so she has to rely on her family to provide her with rides everywhere she needs to go, and they are not always available. She also mentioned that public transportation would make her feel more connected to her community.
The college student I interviewed is old enough to drive, but does not yet have her license. She mentioned that she has noticed she doesn’t see any bus stops in most of Collin County, and attributes that to the reason why she frequently still needs to rely on her parents for transportation.
The businessman I interviewed has his license and a car to get around in, but mentioned that he would still frequently utilize public transportation if it were an option. While he can drive, he prefers not to, and believes that public transportation would help to make cities more accessible to those who cannot or even don’t want to drive. He mentioned that he has always found the lack of transportation frustrating.
According to several different members of my community, an accessible mode of public transportation would do wonders. Not only would it make the citizens happier, it would help to stimulate the economy and job accessibility. According to the Tourism and Transport Forum or TTF, “the economic benefits of public transport flow from three key areas: (1) the efficient connection of wealth and labour to the marketplace; (2) the removal of productivity bottlenecks; and (3) maximising opportunities for individuals, business and government to increase income and asset value (TFF). This is especially evident, as the younger people I interviewed mentioned they would be able to more frequently go out to buy things on their own, or meet up with friends at cafes and restaurants.
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