Public Transport

Public transport comprises passenger transportation services which are available for use by the general public, as opposed to modes for private use such as automobiles or vehicles for hire. Public transportation can consist of subways, trolleys and light rail, commuter trains, van pool services, paratran (sit services for senior citizens and people with disabilities), ferries, water taxis, or monorails.

Means of Public Transport

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle capable of carrying numerous passengers. Buses operate with low capacity, and can operate on conventional roads, with relatively inexpensive bus stops to serve passenger. Therefore buses are commonly used in smaller cities and towns, in rural areas as well for shuttle services supplementing in large cities.

Coaches are buses used for long distance services. Trolleybuses use an overhead wire to get electric power for traction.

Rail

Passenger rail transport is the conveyance of passengers by means of wheeled vehicles specially designed to run along railways. Trains allow high capacity or short or long distance, but require track infrastructure and stations to be built. Urban rail transit consists of trams, light rail, rapid transit, people movers, commuter rail and funiculars.

Tram

Trams have higher capacity than buses, but must follow dedicated infrastructure with rails and overhead wires, limiting their flexibility. Light rail is a modern development of the tram, with dedicated right-of-way not shared with other traffic, step-free access and increased speed.

Rapid transit

A rapid transit system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with high capacity and frequency. Rapid transit systems are typically either in tunnels or elevated above street level. Rapid transit is faster and has a higher capacity than trams or light rail, but is not as fast or as far-reaching as commuter rail.

Heavy rail

Commuter rail is part of an urban area's public transport; it provides faster services to outer suburbs and neighboring towns and villages. Trains stop at all stations, that are located to serve a smaller suburban or town center. The stations often being combined with shuttle bus or park and ride systems at each station.

High-speed

High-speed rail is passenger trains operating significantly faster than conventional rail—typically defined as at least 200 kilometres per hour (120 mph). The most predominant systems have been built in Europe and Japan, and offer long-distance rail journeys as quick as air travel.

Water

A ferry is a boat or ship, used to carry (or ferry) passengers, and sometimes their vehicles, across a body of water. Ferries form a part of the public transport systems of many waterside cities and islands, allowing direct transit between points at a capital cost much lower than bridges or tunnels, though at a lower speed.

Air

An airline provides scheduled serves with aircraft between airports. Air travel has high speeds, but incurs large waiting times prior and after travel, and is therefore only feasible over longer distances or in areas where lack of ground infrastructure makes other modes of transport impossible.

Advantages of Public transport

Safety and security

Despite the occasional highly publicized incident, the vast majority of modern public transport systems are well designed and patrolled and generally have low crime rates. Good lighting, CCTV, mirrors to see round blind corners and ensuring that there are always a good number of other people around can be used to increase safety and create a feeling of safety. When compared to the private car, public transport is a very safe form of transport. The National Safety Council estimates riding the bus as over 170 times safer than private car.

Social

An important social role played by public transport is to ensure that all members of society are able to travel, not just those with a driving license and access to an automobile—which include groups such as the young, the old, the poor, many medical conditions or people banned from driving.

Economic

Public transport allows transport at an economy of scale not available through private transport. Through stimulating public transport it is possible to reduce the total transport cost for the public. Time costs can also be reduced as cars removed from the road through public transit options translate to less congestion and faster speeds for remaining motorists.

Environmental

Public transportation uses approximately half the fuel required by cars, SUV's and light trucks. In addition, the study noted that "private vehicles emit about 95 percent more carbon monoxide, 92 percent more volatile organic compounds and about twice as much carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide than public vehicles for every passenger mile traveled".