Access to Technology Key to Effective Transit Oriented Development in Essay

Access to Technology Key to Effective Transit Oriented Development in Urban Planning - Essay Example In the 20th century, commuters have preferred personalized modes of transportation over public transportation for numerous reasons. Public transportation meant that they had to compromise on privacy. People felt that public transportation was not an effective way of transportation. Private transportation gave them more freedom and gave them the privacy that was needed. Another important factor that went against improved public transportation is that the time spent in public transportation was waste of quality time and nothing productive could be extracted from it. Even though public transportation was cheaper when compared to private modes of transportation, people preferred private transportation over public transportation. Studies in the recent past have shown that trends are changing. There is a big segment of the urban population that is beginning to use public transportation more often because they are drawn towards a transit-oriented lifestyle. The majority of this segment consists of people under the age of 35, i.e. the Generation Y or Millennials. Joseph P. Schwieterman’s article â€Å"The Travel Habits of Gen Y† is focused on this. It discusses how the technology has changed the perception of the current generation towards public transportation and why more and more people below the age of 35 prefer public transportation over private transportation. The article identifies one of the main reasons for the newly found attractiveness in public transportation is the access to modern technologies. The current generation is highly hooked to electronic gadgets and prefers to stay digitally connected.