Around the World: Italian Public Transport

If you're from the United States like me, you may have a lot of grievances about cars. Problems like massive traffic jams, frequent delays, and costly maintenance fees are inconvenient for drivers who just want to travel from place to place. On top of this, cars are also known to have many negative environmental effects, such as high carbon emissions and rapid oil consumption.

During my time in Italy a few weeks ago, I noticed something out of the ordinary: there were nearly no cars on the roads, yet everyone seemed to move efficiently and get wherever they wanted to be - easily and without personal vehicles. How do they do it?

In cities like Florence and Rome, I got to appreciate the ease of taking public transport in a non-car-oriented urban landscape as I traveled from one famous landmark to the next. Whether it was riding the trams that connect each neighborhood to downtown or catching a bus to the Colosseum, it was clear to me that the efficiency and accessibility of the public transport is what makes Italians not even need cars.

An electric bus in Rome, Italy

On the environmental side of things, riding public transport drastically reduces one's carbon footprint in contrast to personal vehicles, whose emissions can smog up the city air, making it unsafe to breathe. Additionally, many public transport vehicles such as buses are engineered with sustainability in mind and run on electricity, which is miles better than burning nonrenewable fossil fuels that release harmful greenhouse gases.

I believe that advocating for more reliable and efficient public transport in car-oriented regions will encourage people away from using personal vehicles, ultimately making their lives greener and making their carbon footprint smaller.

Stay tuned for the next Around the World post, where we'll explore how China is exploring alternatives to nonrenewable energy. Until then, so long Earth lovers!