The benefits of a good public transportation system are numerous. It’s better for the environment, reduces energy dependence, and is a lot less stressful than driving during the rush hour commute. Several studies have concluded that people who take public transit are healthier than those who don’t; they walk much more between bus stops, metro stations and their homes or office.

According to Treehugger, “If just one in 10 Americans used public transportation daily, U.S. reliance on foreign oil would decrease 40 percent.” One would think a stat like that would inspire government to do whatever they could to enhance and/or develop public transportation within their centers, yet for the most part the status-quo of freeway commuting to and from work prevails.

With the exception of Portland, NYC and Toronto, most cities’ public transportation systems in North America are a joke, especially when compared with those of European cities.
In particular, the transportation system (especially the buses) within my hometown of Vancouver is abysmal. Buses are infrequent, often off-schedule and overcrowded. Not to mention that one can get anywhere in Vancouver much faster by car, so for the average commuter, public transportation doesn’t carry an incentive.

In cities like Paris, Barcelona, Bordeaux or Amsterdam, it’s the opposite. The public transportation systems are well-designed, convenient, and cheap to use. You can get where you need to go quicker than by car, which makes owning or driving a car unnecessary.

Paris

The metro in Paris is next level. Stops are located everywhere, and you never have to wait longer than five minutes for a train. As a result, everywhere in the city is accessible, a marvelous feat considering its massive size. In addition to the metro, community bike programs have been implemented citywide. Instead of taking a cab, bus or car, users of the service rent a bike from one of the multiple bike racks located throughout the city, then cycle to wherever they need to go. When the user is finished with the bike, they can return it to the machine from where it came, or to any other location around town. The bikes are hired out based on a subscription to the service, available by day, month or year.

Barcelona

Metro in Barcelona is free, and everyone seems to take advantage of it. Similar to Paris, stops are conveniently located everywhere and wait times for trains are short. Barcelona has also implemented citywide bike rental services. It’s eco-friendly, and provides practical and cost effective transportation to citizens. Bicing in Barcelona allows residents to access bikes for inner city transportation from over a 120 different rental locations for an annual fee of €24.

Bordeaux

The tram in Bordeaux is world class. It’s clean, comfortable and safe. Stations are sheltered, well lit and conveniently located. Bordeaux does not have a community bike program, although all the main roads have designated bike lanes. Racks for locking up your bike are conveniently located everywhere, and people young and old alike use bikes as their primary form of transportation.

Amsterdam

In addition to a good public transportation system, Amsterdam is the city of bikes: office-building parking lots have almost more bikes than cars parked, and rush hour in Amsterdam consists of thousands and thousands of bikes speeding past.