Throughout Pennsylvania, daily vehicle miles traveled
per person in the suburbs is about 50% higher than in urban areas. Furthermore,
the miles traveled in the rural areas is 150% higher than in urban areas.
The average suburban household spends about $1,500 more a year on transportation
costs than an urban family. The average rural family spends $4,600 more
per year than an urban household.
As a result of sprawl, money that would otherwise be spent fixing and
maintaining city roads, which are used by many people, is instead being
spent on building new roads to support a much smaller number of people
who live in suburbs.
Lehigh Valley transportation trends for 1990 show that over 200,000
people drive to work alone, while less than 4,000 people take the bus
or trolley. Public transportation is less efficient in suburban areas
since there is a lower density of people to make use of it. Because
of the larger area that public transportation has to cover in the suburbs,
buses do not run as frequently as many people would like. With extended
work hours, people do not work only from 9am to 5pm anymore and the
buses do not accommodate people's work schedules. Public transportation
companies do not have the means to keep up with these changes. They
must chose to run their buses where the demand is the highest rather
than attempting to serve people who live in the suburbs.
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