No one should be greatly surprised that access to mass transit, such as bus routes, isn’t a particularly high priority for most residents of Chattanooga and the surrounding area.
Some people do find the CARTA system convenient, of course, and use it regularly.
But Chattanooga is a midsize city without the huge traffic jams common to larger cities. Many people enjoy downtown living, but we have a somewhat spread-out population, with many others preferring a bit of rural or suburban “elbow room.” Overwhelmingly, we like to get to work, shopping venues and so forth by car, and it just wouldn’t be practical to attempt to ensure easy access to mass transit for everyone in the Chattanooga area.
We were reminded of that fact after reading that the liberal Brookings Institution had ranked Chattanooga last among 100 metropolitan areas in terms of access to mass transit. Not surprisingly, cities such as New York, where population is highly concentrated and where operating a car is prohibitively expensive, ranked higher in mass transit access.
Brookings called for the government to step in to expand mass transit and persuade more people to live in cities and give up their cars. The organization said more taxes are needed to build more mass transit.