Psychological Impacts

Many factors contribute to the personal decision riders make about using public transportation. Some include compatibility of the transportation on one’s personal traveling schedule for either pleasure or for work and perceived safety of the transportation because of infrastructure and the types of other riders. These factors can affect riders’ psychology and go into the decision of a rider deciding to use public transportation or not. We will dive into some of these factors more specifically and find out how they affect Philadelphia riders and Freiburg riders differently.

In general, SEPTA regional rail trains run about once every hour, and there are large distances between the rail stops on the way into the city. In Freiburg, as our Climate 360 heard from the Innovation Academy, their tram system runs about once every 7.5 minutes per each stop, on average (taking into account the average of busier and less busy periods of the day). There is one tram arriving at the center of the city every minute with a capacity of 200 riders per train. This is a big change from what we see is typical in American cities, such as Philadelphia. There is a lot to lose in terms of time if one misses the train they were supposed to be on since they run about every 50 minutes to an hour. As we heard from the Innovation Academy, the fact that the tramways run so frequently takes out the stress of catering one’s schedule to public transportation. It makes daily living more compatible with public transportation, and therefore easier to integrate into one’s specific personal schedule on a daily basis. Increased frequency in public transportation options increases its usefulness to passengers and therefore, its use by them.

The ability to feel safe on public transportation is a large factor in determining if one will use said transportation. As the Innovation Academy discussed with our 360, the city of Freiburg has been diligent about making sure the trams and other alternative transportation is safe. For example, the trams in Freiburg run almost 24/7, from about 5:30AM to 2AM, whereas SEPTA regional rail trains only run from about 6AM to midnight. Freiburg has a “last mile” service for riders as well. This service is a 3 euro taxi to bring you home if the trains are not running. Philadelphia does not have a service that is similar, which leads many people to be wary of taking the trains at night.

There are also safety concerns about bikes and bike lanes that differ between the two cities. Many bike lanes in Philly are not well marked, faded, or not respected by the cars on the road. In our 360 trip into Philadelphia, we saw drivers drive over bike lanes whether they were well marked or not. We also noticed the great inconsistency in bike lane markings in the city; some lanes are well marked and others are not, even if there are clearly those who need to use the bike lanes in that area. The uncertainty about having bike lanes be respected by drivers likely scares a good amount of potential bikers out of choosing to bike, and instead those who can afford to drive or take the subways or trains choose that instead.

In Freiburg, as we learned from Steffen at the Innovation Academy, many people in Freiburg are encouraged to bike and the city has made a big effort to make biking safe for cyclists, cars, and pedestrians. They have changed the layout of the bike lane to be separated by trees from pedestrians and to go along with car traffic in well marked lanes. Because there is more respect for bikers and car drivers know they are not the central focus on the roads, everyone is more wary of bikers and they stay safer. Certain bike-only bridges also encourage positive reinforcement of biking, so biking feels good because you know you are making use of the bridges and you also know you are not contributing emissions of cars.

On a more positive note, the psychology around transportation extends beyond just what one thinks about while choosing transportation and while on that transportation. The psychological impacts on transportation also cover how people feel more invested in transportation if they have a stake in its success, and are invested such as what happens in Freiburg. Many ordinary people are stakeholders in public transportation, which has far more than financial implications. This connection to the transport is more of a belief in the system, and almost a personal duty to participate and use public transportation. In Philly, the city council and transportation departments are generally the ones making decisions about how to run SEPTA, and there is little deciding power held by the people.