Ability or Social Status- Lucia Gravel
Transportation in Morocco has been something I've noticed since the first day in Casablanca when a jam-packed light rail train passed our group on a busy walking street. In Morocco, many people rely on shared taxis, buses, trains, biking, or walking. In the U.S., car ownership is often seen as a necessity and a status symbol, with big differences between driving an old car, a luxury vehicle, or using public transit (which often carries a stigma).
I've given several passionate lunchtime rants by this point about trains and city accessibility, specifically. In urban areas, trains provide economic growth, connectivity, and environmental benefits, yet cities like Atlanta have yet to invest in the concept (Yes, there's MARTA…but don’t get me started on its lack of reach, underfunding, and general inefficiency). Casablanca has over 29.5 miles of effective modern tramway lines. The system connects residential neighborhoods to commercial centers, universities, hospitals, and the historic city core. It’s affordable, clean, and widely used.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., public transit is often seen as a last resort. If you’re riding the bus or taking a train, people assume you can’t afford a car. That mindset, alongside decades of underfunding and poor urban planning, has left many American transit systems behind. In Morocco, you see all kinds of people on public transit. In the US, it is quite the opposite. Our transit systems reflect our inequality; who they serve, how they’re funded, and how they’re perceived. In Morocco, because people from all social classes share public transit, transportation doesn’t necessarily show one's social status. In the U.S., transportation modes are definitely social markers that signal economic status and carry different social meanings.
This is definitely a great take, and kind of sad that something that could benefit so many people carries any type of stigma in the U.S. Apart from accessibility and convenience, public transportation offers reduced pollution and traffic in major cities, and should be considered a more critical infrastructure as populations and temperatures rise. I hope in the future our country can invest in public transportation and work to fight that stigma because it is an essential way of life for many other countries, and we can definitely learn from places like Morocco.
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