One thing that made her life so difficult is the difficulty of getting to and from work.
It's pretty crazy that we spend nearly 15% of GDP on transportation costs. I mean sure, we can all reduce the expenses by buying a 10 year old Prius and get our travel costs down. but, a big part of the problem is that housing is always so far away from work. 500 years ago, people lived within a mile or less of their work places. now it's normal for people to live 20 miles or more away. we need to start building our cities with residential and work places closer by and hold employers accountable for where they create jobs. If you want to regulate it, then by all means regulate as follows: no job can be created unless there's an available residential place to live within 1000 feet of it. this would not only save people's lives, but also significantly reduce C02 pollution as transportation is a major source of c02.
A great short term solution would be to increase the investment in the local bus system. Full buses have a much better carbon footprint than single passenger cars.
The article highlights a real need for more bus stops and 24/hr bus service.
Enforced bus lanes would go a long way in getting people to use the bus, and if more people use it then maybe headways can get to a reasonable number.
I ride the second busiest bus route in LA. Its serviced by a local and a rapid route with less frequent stops, and only the double long accordion style busses are run.
You would think the ridership and equipment would make for frequent and reliable service. But sometimes the headways are 7 minutes, sometimes back to back, sometimes over 25 minutes, sometimes skipping the stop. There is no telling.
It's pretty crazy that we spend nearly 15% of GDP on transportation costs. I mean sure, we can all reduce the expenses by buying a 10 year old Prius and get our travel costs down. but, a big part of the problem is that housing is always so far away from work. 500 years ago, people lived within a mile or less of their work places. now it's normal for people to live 20 miles or more away. we need to start building our cities with residential and work places closer by and hold employers accountable for where they create jobs. If you want to regulate it, then by all means regulate as follows: no job can be created unless there's an available residential place to live within 1000 feet of it. this would not only save people's lives, but also significantly reduce C02 pollution as transportation is a major source of c02.