The importance that transportation has to the society is quite immense. There are a lot of issues that it helps to take care of, most of which would be quite difficult to execute in its absence. The importance of transportation is underlined by the Supreme Court proponent that recognizes the right to travel among the citizen’s fundamental rights. These rights are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. This aspect triggers policy makers to gain an interest when it comes to transportation policy. There are battles from time to time revolving around which transportation projects to undertake, where they are to be located among other issues (Oswald & Mohammed, 2016). Civil rights history shows some evidence on the importance of transportation to the people. Transportation policy enables access to opportunities and places since Americans have become more mobile and increased their reliance on automobiles to meet the desired travel needs. Despite the prospects of transportation improving the lives of people, it has also put them at some risk thresholds given the environmental risks that are usually involved. The transportation policy has worked towards improving the traveling prospects of all the citizens, but it also results in negative environmental impacts.

Transportation policy aims at improving cargo management and agency freight and enhances effective, sustainable and efficient transportation operations. The efforts of the transportation policy include assisting in the advancement of transportation guidance, policies and improved management practices. Transportation policy also aims at developing training to enhance improvement of transportation competencies. The policy also makes it possible for agencies to report key performance indicators and transportation expenditures to help benchmark against top-level performing organizations. Transportation policy also enhances efforts in collaborating and communicating with interagency and federal executive transportation committees. Transportation policy also serves as a federal liaison in the transportation industry (Oswald & Mohammed, 2016).

These aspects help in improving the transport industry in different ways. There is a smooth flow of operations, and projects that are usually instituted suit the needs of the people. When the nature of infrastructures that are in operation are not at par with the current requirements, it becomes difficult to fulfill the needs of the people. This results to redundancy in the efforts that are usually instigated by the relevant authorities in this sector. The Supreme Court recognizes the right to travel as a fundamental right for every citizen in the country (Banister & Schwanen, 2011). This is meant to ensure that every citizen has access without being discriminated against for varied reasons that might be there.

Transportation is highly recognized due to the role that it plays in the lives of people. It has been an integral and imperative element in civilization. An irrational transportation system can be harmful to the well-being of the society. Trade tends to be vital for economic vitality, and transportation is also vital for trade. This is to say that without efficient and effective transport systems it would be difficult to realize effective trading aspects (Hull, 2008). This would result in stagnation of economic proponents hence making the lives of people unbearable. It is through economic prosperity that people can actualize things like food security, better health care, improved literacy rates among other things. All trades of productive labor and wealth usually involve transportation. This is regardless of whether it is all about movement people from homes to workplaces or movement from homes to their shopping places or movement of goods (Banister & Schwanen, 2011). This is to say that without transportation it will be difficult to execute viable trading aspects. On the other hand, it would be impossible to execute complex trade without the presence of modern, mechanized transportation.

Transportation also plays a vital role in the interaction among people from different diversities. This is because it makes it possible to move from one region to another. These regions usually have people encompassing varying beliefs and perceptions about life and other things that revolve around human beings. As a result, people interact with people that think quite differently from them as they travel from one place to another. This is a favorable aspect for development as people get the chance to learn things that they did not know initially. This acts as a catalyst for growth since there are several aspects that are triggered in the positive direction. Aspects of creativity and innovation are usually favored since there is the concept of combining knowledge whereby people absorb concepts and way of doing things from the people they interact with and combine it with whatever they knew initially (Banister & Schwanen, 2011).  This results in the development of superior systems that help in making the world a better place to be.

Globalization has also been made possible by way of effective transportation systems.  There is no country that is self-sufficient, and this aspect necessitated the need for globalization. Through globalization, countries are able to self excess produce that they have and acquire those that are in limited supply in their country. This level of interdependence has brought nations together and helped in working in partnership while trying to solve problems that are prevalent and are difficult to solve on oneself. Something like the airplane has ensured that long-distance transportation has become a reality for many individuals (Oswald & Mohammed, 2016). This aspect of being able to traverse boundaries has made it easier to actualize the proponents of globalization.

The history of civil rights in the United States gives a hallmark to transportation mobility with regards to equity. Initially, there were challenges that revolved around segregation and racial discrimination. These aspects resulted in discriminatory practices that limited the mobility and transportation access to the people of color. The limited mobility resulted in the development of de facto segregated housing and schools, ghettos and community isolation. This why the enactment of the transportation policy bears great importance to people of color and other minorities in the country at present (Schiller et al., 2010). Apart from trade, people depend on transportation to obtain medical care, get to school, attend religious services among other things. The way communities develop tends to dictate the type of transportation that will be actualized. The transportation options in the long-run tend to influence the patterns of development.

Despite the positive prospects associated with transportation policy, it also culminates to some negative environmental impacts. Varied transportation projects usually result in significant impacts on the environment; some of which are remediable while some are not (Yedla, 2015). Among the environmental impacts, there are biological impacts, urban runoff, air pollution, noise impacts and aesthetic impacts among others. The good thing is that despite the detrimental effects that these impacts cause, there are strategies that can be devised to help mitigate them.

Transportation acts as the single largest source of pollution within the United States. Until now, transportation is contributing to more than half of the nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, and nearly a quarter of the hydrocarbons that are being emitted to the air. The emission takes place through refueling, vehicle operation, disposal and manufacturing. There are additional emissions that come with refining and distribution of fuel. The major pollutants that are involved with transportation include particulate matter, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and hazardous air pollutants among others (Banister & Schwanen, 2011). These pollutants tend to affect the quality of air in the atmosphere. When the air deteriorates, there is a likelihood that the people breathing it will develop varied respiratory disorders. The health complications that arise usually emanate to death or disability of varied forms. The affected parties also tend to spend a lot of medical bills as they try to rectify the damage that has been made. The government also has to spend substantially on health care to mitigate the negative effects that arise as a result of air pollution. These are funds that would be used in other developmental projects if such instances did not arise.

Transportation has near-total dependence on petroleum fuels. As a result, transportation is responsible for around a third of the country’s climate-changing emissions. This is because automobiles are responsible with the emission of a substantial amount of green house gases in their daily usage. As more automobiles grace the respective systems, pollution through greenhouse emissions levels are increasing drastically. There is a need to implement strict emissions-reduction policies and fuel economy policies in order to salvage what if left of the world’s climate(Banister & Schwanen, 2011). Continuous emissions might result to the development of a world that is inhabitable.

For the people living in cities, near major roads, under flight paths and rail links, there is another by-product of transport that they are likely to endure; noise pollution. The impact of noise pollution is not being viewed as the apocalyptic projections of unabated global warming. However, it is not limited with regards to annoyance. Research has revealed that transport noise is likely to result to elevated hormone levels, cardiovascular diseases, psychological problems, sleep disturbance and even premature mortality (Schiller et al., 2010). Studies have also shown that children can end up developing cognitive impairment, diminished quality of life and worsened behavior as a result of noise pollution. This form of transport pollution has received minimal public attention as people tend to focus more on the impacts of air pollution. If people gave it a closer look, they would see the dangers that linger ahead with regard to this respect.

Transportation is also associated with varied community impacts. This is more on impacts that emanate from transportation projects. The impacts are normally felt by the communities or neighborhoods that are adjacent to these projects. The projects tend to affect the quality of the local environment for the people who live or visit these areas. A good example is how a new transit terminal tends to block the view and reduces sunlight for the relevant neighborhood. A new highway interchange also affects business and households as it requires some to be relocated. A wider or new roadway on its part creates a barrier to cycling and walking hence increasing the need to drive, something that works towards increasing environmental pollution (Schiller et al., 2010). Transportation projects also have the effect of changing the land use patterns in certain areas based on where they are located. These changes occur since the land that was previously in use is taken by roads, supporting vehicle storage, transit stations and maintenance facilities among others.

Despite the environmental effects that are caused by the transportation policy, there are actions that can be taken in order to mitigate them. Among them is trying to reduce the number of vehicles in the roads. Reducing the number of vehicles on the road will help in reducing both air and noise pollution. This aspect can be achieved successfully by encouraging people to use public means of transport such as buses and trains (Yedla, 2015). It would also help to encourage people on embarking on cycling and walking when they are not moving for long distances. In order for the relevant authority to encourage people in adopting public transport as opposed to private transport, there ought to be various incentives that will act as a motivating factor. Among the incentives there is reliability, frequency, low pricing, speed, access, comfort and convenience among others (Redman et al., 2013). If the public transit can offer these proponents, people would get the motivation to move towards consumption of public means of transport.

Encouraging people on the usage of eco-friendly cars would also go a long way into reducing the environmental impacts that are prevalent with transportation. The public ought to be educated on the benefits that would accrue with the usage of such vehicles in order to encourage their usage. Showing people how they will save on gas while protecting the environment will help them to think of embracing such cars. Giving tax incentives for people buying hybrid cars will also help to encourage them to adopt this ideology (Rudolph, 2016). This might come in terms of IRS’s Clean Fuel Vehicle Deduction.

The transportation policy also needs to put an emphasis on public participation on varied transportation projects. There is need to involve the public before the commencement of any transportation project in order to ensure that everything is in order. The public should be given an opportunity to voice any concerns that they may have since they are the ones to be affected by these projects. As a result, the decisions made should put into consideration the needs and preferences of the public in order to ensure that they actual substantial benefits (Schiller et al., 2010). Public involvement should start as early as possible in order to ensure that the relevant stakeholders make informed decisions. This would help in eradicating most of the community impacts that are associated with transportation projects.

In conclusion, the importance of transportation policy in the society cannot be understated. Transportation enables people to execute different activities that would be difficult in its absence. That is why the right to travel has been protected by the Fourteenth Amendment in the Constitution. However, despite the importance that the transportation policy has to the people, it also results in varied negative environmental impacts such as biological impacts, urban runoff, air pollution, noise impacts and aesthetic impacts among others. The good thing is that these impacts can be mitigated hence ensuring that their effects are not detrimental. Different stakeholders from different sectors are required to join hands in order to ensure that the mitigations that have been instituted work positively.

References

Banister, D. & Schwanen, T. (2011). Transportation and the Environment. Annual Review Of Environment And Resources, 36, 247-270.

Hull, A. (2008). Policy integration: What will it take to achieve more sustainable transport solutions in cities?. Transport Policy, 15(2), 94-103.

Oswald Beiler, M. & Mohammed, M. (2016). Exploring transportation equity: Development and application of a transportation justice framework. Transportation Research Part D: Transport And Environment, 47, 285-298.

Redman, L., Friman, M., Gärling, T., & Hartig, T. (2013). Quality attributes of public transport that attract car users: A research review. Transport Policy, 25, 119-127.

Rudolph, C. (2016). How may incentives for electric cars affect purchase decisions?. Transport Policy, 52, 113-120.

Schiller, P., Bruun, E., & Kenworthy, J. (2010). An introduction to sustainable transportation: Policy, Planning and Implementation. London: Earthscan.

Yedla, S. (2015). Urban Transportation and the Environment: Issues, Alternatives and Policy Analysis (1st ed.). New Delhi: Springer India.

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