Throughout the states, public transit is being habitually underfunded and as a result often receives inconsistent maintenance. With local reforms to our transportation services, communities that would otherwise have limited mobility would gain access to schools, grocery stores, healthcare, and career opportunities. Public transit reduces collective emissions created by the use of personal automobiles and the manufacturing of personal automobiles. Public transit conserves land consumption (deforestation, habitat destruction, displacement of both animals and residents, etc.) caused by the construction of roads and parking needed for the use of personal automobiles. Public transit is more accessible for broad ranges of community members than personal automobiles are and actively contributes to the socialization of communities. Communities, especially those that make up a national majority and whose diversity ranges over a plethora of ethnic, cultural and economic backgrounds, thrive on socialization. A truly ecological discussion about transit inequality cannot be limited to an argument in favor of improved public transportation vehicle systems however. As much a positive change more usage of buses or trains may have on our environment and everyday lives, they should not be the goalpost. We must dream of a society where local residents need not travel any significant distances at all to access what should equally be local resources such as food, reliable work, recreation and any other basic human necessities mentioned in the other pillars of environmental racism. Ultimately, this means that the solutions to address transit inequality must work in tandem with those addressing the bulk of these other pillars.
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