New Argument for Public Transit: Better for Texting?

In a recent piece in Wired, Clive Thompson suggests that the solution to the problem of texting while driving is not to stop texting, but to stop driving. The popularity of texting is a good reason to support public transit.

March 17, 2010, 1pm PDT | Tim Halbur

"From 2003 to 2008, the number of texts sent monthly by Americans surged from 2 billion to 110 billion," Thompson writes. Given how ubiquitous texting has become, he argues that it is futile to attempt to ban the behavior while people are behind the wheel.
Instead, we should promote safer texting with safer travel, discouraging driving and encouraging public transit use. Comparing American travel patterns to those in other tech-friendly cities, he notes, "You don't endanger anyone's life while quietly tapping out messages during your train ride to work in Tokyo or Berlin."

He concludes:
"Texting while driving is, in essence, a wake-up call to America. It illustrates our real, and bigger, predicament: The country is currently better suited to cars than to communication. This is completely bonkers."

Thanks to Anna Brawley

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Clive Thompson to Texters: Park the Car, Take the Bus

Published on Monday, February 22, 2010 in Wired Magazine