Once we sat in traffic, now we sit in gardens.
We reclaimed the road to serve the community instead of the individual, transforming our formerly clunky public transportation into a latticework of access and adventure. A prosperous system of bike paths, pedestrian bridges, light rails, local buses and trains reconnected us to the cities, and each other. Roads became mutually supportive subsystems, green pathways built for strolling people again instead of speeding vehicles.
Before we reclaimed the roads from the cars, an overdose of monstrous car-based consequences dominated our lives. Traffic jams snaked for miles, stole hours, weeks, even years off our lives. Animals were sacrificed, branded ‘roadkill’ instead of ‘carkill’. Road rage seeped out daily, our frustrations turned to hostilities and aggression. The smog of noise from engines, horns, alarms became another pollution impossible to escape.
Our dark skies disappeared under the glare of headlights, freeways, and giant billboards designed for speeding cars. Car exhaust and oils leaked into our waterways, poisoning everything it touched.
So, we changed it.
We added a bench at every bus stop. We stopped expanding, tore up the asphalt and rolled back sprawl. We built communities instead of freeways, and used the power of proximity to create urban density instead of sprawling self-replicating strip-malls and suburbs. With shorter distances everything became walkable, bikeable or a short and comfortable commute.
Bus stops became touchstones of neighborhoods, with accessible seating (gone were the days of hostile architecture benches) rooftop gardens for pollinators, free wifi hubs, and was completely free and accessible to the public.
Public transportation saved our environment, the city, and ourselves.