A First Look: Transportation in the South

Beneath the surface of progressive urbanization taking place in Southern US cities lies a pressing issue that looms large – the lack of adequate transportation systems that hinder public access to essential resources such as housing, jobs, and, ultimately, quality of life.

Oftentimes, the grass seems like it’s greener on the other side, doesn’t it? Maybe you find yourself thinking of Europe or parts of Asia as the "gold standard" for alternative transportation. In those places, individual dependence on cars is often viewed negatively, especially when more equitable modes of travel are prioritized. Meanwhile, in North America, particularly in the United States, those alternatives often feel like an afterthought.

Maybe these thoughts start to come across your mind when you’re stuck in traffic, sitting at a red light on a city street, trying to avoid the chaos of a nearby freeway on your commute. While sitting there, you glance around and notice a few people on the sidewalk- someone waiting for a bus, another person riding a bike along the edge of the street. It’s in these moments that you start to wonder how much harder their journeys must be compared to yours. You’re in your climate-controlled car, music softly playing, all while contributing to the congestion and emissions that fill the air. That’s a topic for another time, but this might give you pause as you start to think: how privileged am I, really?

You might catch yourself complaining about the traffic you’re actively contributing to, but then stop and ask yourself: what if I didn’t have this car? If you had to walk, bike, or wait for a bus, how long would it take you to get to work? Probably far longer than the 20-30 minutes, or however long it is, that you spend griping about while driving.

Of course, not every place is like this, not even in the United States. Cities like New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., offer real alternatives to car ownership. In those cities, public transit and walkable infrastructure make it easier to get where you need to go. But those places are exceptions, representing only a small slice of the country. Outside these dense urban areas, you’re faced with sprawling suburbs and rural expanses.

Historically, older cities in the North and East grew during earlier periods of population growth, long before cars dominated the landscape. But across the South, Texas, and California, cities boomed much later, during a time when the car had become king. As a result, those places were built with wide roads, disconnected sidewalks, minimal crosswalks, and hardly any bike infrastructure. The design isn’t about moving people; it’s about moving cars. And that focus has certainly left its mark.

If you live in a rural area, this kind of planning might make sense. Fewer people and greater distances between places make owning a car largely necessary. But when you apply that same car-centric design to cities and suburbs, problems arise. You get traffic jams, roads that seem overwhelmed by volume, incomplete transportation alternatives, and, ultimately, less safety for everyone: pedestrians, cyclists, and even drivers.

And then there’s the bigger issue of how often public funds are withheld or redirected away from being used for public transit infrastructure projects. When you begin to pause and think about it, even just for a moment, the transportation landscape that we find ourselves living in starts to make sense. But you may also be left wondering: what will it take to start making a real change?

Image: A vibrant, urban neighborhood block disjointed by controlled-access freeway on and off ramps, likely cutoff from similar, adjacent neighborhoods when these freeways were built.