Aboubakr Abdulsamed

Professor Skelly

English 11000

September 11, 2019

Source Based Essay Rough Draft

“You can’t understand a city without using its public transportation system.” Public transportation is a big part of our lifetime, especially in New York City. New York City is the most populous city in the United States. The New York City subway system or the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has become a part of our daily life since people are reliant on the subway system for commuting to different places within the city. The MTA train tracks and bus routes run through Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx, unifying all five boroughs and improving the lives of everyone. People have different opinions on the MTA since the subway system is broken. There are several delays with outdated  infrastructure and faulty technology. Which have brought the famed public transportation system to a grinding halt.

“NYC Comptroller: Subway delays could cost city $400M a year” is a magazine article written by Chip Barnet. In this magazine, Chip Barnet describes how delays of the subway can affect our economy. Chip Barnet mentioned “New York City’s economy could wind up taking an almost $400 million a year hit from subway delays, according to an economic analysis released by City Comptroller Scott Stringer on Sunday.” Which can create financial  problems in not only New York City but the whole country. Delays and wait times for trains can cost the economy a lot of money. The five subway lines that most negatively impacted economic activity are the 5, 7, A, F and 4 trains. The 5 train impacted the economy with an average of 21.8 million dollars annually; The 7 train impact the economy with an average of 21.35 million dollars annually; The A train impact the economy with an average of 19.8 million dollars annually; The F and the 4 impact the economy with an average of 19.1 annually. Combined the worst-case economic impact of delays on these five lines tops $140 million. That is a whole lot of money. They need to fix the subway to refine the quality of people’s life and the economy. It’s a must not a choice.

The author’s name is Chip Barnett and he is a journalist and an economists. He wrote this article for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, also known as the MTA . They own most of the trains and buses in NYC. The author wants to show the MTA how delays on train affect the economy badly. Which makes them the audience. The tone of the article is informative because the author included statistics information to back up his point. For example he said “the annual economic cost of stalled trains could reach nearly $400 million dollars under worst-case scenarios, with delays on the 5, A, 7, F, and 4 subway trains being the most costly, topping out at a whopping $140 million a year combined”. The purpose of the article is how public transportation can affect our economy. The genre is it is a magazine and the medium is a piece of article. The stance of the article is the author uses statistics information to persuade the reader about his argument as he mentioned “ delays impact on the city ranges from $170 million to $389 million. The language of the article is very descriptive because he uses real numbers to demonstrate his argument. 

“How investment in public transportation boosts the economy” is a news paper published by ULOOP Inc. This article talks about how public transit investment boost the economy . The local economy would benefit from a large scale transportation project in terms of thousand of construction and equipment manufacturing jobs. According to researchers, people spend 232 billion dollars over 10 years, eventually they will spend 928 billion dollars in economic activity over the next 20 years. Cities large and small rely on public transportation to help workers get to their jobs. According to the article, the growing number of workers in the United States needs an increasing capacity to get to work every day, and the less time spent on commuting, the more time is spent on work. So 1 billion investment in public transportation would result in more than 50,000 jobs

The publisher of this newspaper is Uloop. Uloop is a college classified and university news. They wrote this article for investors to open their eyes and see how public transportation is a big part of our daily lives and how it impacts our daily lives. Which makes them the audience. The tone of this article is impressionable and informative because they have done research about it and their information is trustworthy as the author stated “Research findings in the 2014 APTA publication, “Economic Impact of Public TransportationInvestment,”. The purpose of the article is to show ways how to benefit from New York City subways even tho they are broken. The genre is a newspaper article and the medium is an electronic article. The stance of the article is the publisher uses research methods to persuade the reader about the benefits of NYC subways. The language of this article is the publisher uses words to convince or persuade the readers or investors into how beneficial is to invest into New York City subways. 

“Mass Transportation” is an article from the book “ The Gale Encyclopedia of Science” by David E. Newton. This article or book talks about the different types of  mass or public transportation system in each community. Examples of transportation are airplanes, railways, buses, and subways. Public transit system in urban areas connect to larger transit networks serving more rural outposts. There are various advantages and disadvantages for mass transit. One advantage is a subway track can transport over 80,000 passengers every hour with even less space than the highways. The disadvantages of Public or mass transit is it’s system can be expensive to build and/or operate. Every now and then, the system need to update or renew. There are different ways to benefit from public transit.

“Mass Transportation” is an article from the book “ The Gale Encyclopedia of Science” by David E. Newton. The audience of this article is the people who don’t use public transportation and telling how public transportation is better in different ways. The tone of this article is defensive and complex. The author uses different characteristics to defend the overall view of public transit and persuade people into taking public transit. For example, he talks about the advantages and disadvantages of transportation. The purpose of this article is to persuade or convince people to take public transportation instead of driving because it takes many people to their destination in less time and less space. The genre is a book and the medium is a piece of writing from the book called “ The Gale Encyclopedia of Science” by David E. Newton. The stance is the author uses two different characteristics, which are the advantages and disadvantages of transit, to provide us with two different views. The language of this article is the author also uses different characteristic to shows us the two sides of taking or investing in public transit.

“Public Transit Helps Lower Obesity Rates” is a scholarly journal written by Kim Krisberg. In this journal, Kim Krisberg describes how a new study found out that the more people use public transportation equals lower obesity rates. Statistically, a single percentage point increase in mass transit ridership was associated with a slightly lower obesity rate. “Our research suggests that investing in public transit can provide a more efficient transportation options that not only help the environment but may also offer public health benefits,” said study author Sheldon Jacobson, PhD, a professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, in a news release.” A college professor came with an idea that can make transportation more logical and with health benefits.

“Public Transit Helps Lower Obesity Rates” is a scholarly journal written by Kim Krisberg.  The audience of this article is the people who take the subway almost everyday . The tone of this article is informative as he states “Our research suggests that investing in public transit can provide more efficient transportation options that not only help the environment but may also offer public health benefits,” s. He used quotes and studies to prove his point. The purpose of this article is to persuade or convince people how public transportation affect obesity rate. The genre is a journal and the medium is a piece of an article that was taken from a journal. The stance is the author uses connection between public transportation and obesity rate. The language is the author uses studies and other researchers to prove or backup his point.

Overall, There are different ways to view public transportation. It is a good way to get around town without getting stuck in traffic. A lot of people use public transportation daily. On the other hand people hate using public transportation, especially due to delay and rush hour. The magazine “NYC Comptroller: Subway delays could cost city $400M a year” and the newspaper ““How investment in public transportation boosts the economy” have different aspects of public transportation. The magazine talks about how the public transportation lower our economy, whereas the newspaper shows how investing in public transportation is a good way to get money.  However, in “Mass Transportation” the article from the book “ The Gale Encyclopedia of Science” by David E. Newton shows how mass or public transportation affect its community. Whereas, the scholarly article called “Public Transit Helps Lower Obesity Rates” shows the more people use public transportation equals lower obesity rates. Every source have a different opinion over public transportation.

Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)

Barnet, Chip. “NYC Comptroller: Subway delays could cost city $400M a year.” The Bond Buyer, 3 Oct. 2017. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A507742257/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=ce02795c. Accessed 16 Sept. 2019.

“How investment in public transportation boosts the economy.” UWIRE Text, 1 Aug. 2019, p. 1. Gale Academic Onefile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A595157413/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=11e999d0. Accessed 15 Sept. 2019.

Newton, David E. “Mass Transportation.” The Gale Encyclopedia of Science, edited by K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, 5th ed., vol. 5, Gale, 2014, pp. 2702-2704. Gale Academic Onefile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3727801515/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=177026f7. Accessed 15 Sept. 2019.

Krisberg, Kim. “Public transit helps lower obesity rates.” The Nation’s Health, May 2019, p. 13. Gale Academic Onefile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A586902890/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=e8fb8fbd. Accessed 15 Sept. 2019.