With modern technology, cars and trains are not the only option for getting from here to there. The most well-known and commonly used transportation in urban areas are underground railway systems, such as the metropolitan railway (metro) and the subway. The metro system is more commonly used in the D.C. area while the subway is the most used transportation in New York City.
“I do drive everyday,” confirms Mr. Penn, Business Education teacher here at KHS.
While Mr. Penn drives to work, there are some people that may rely on public transportation. Ubers are super expensive to use every single day and there isn’t a metro system available in Virginia Beach. A couple years ago the light rail in Downtown Norfolk was trying to expand to Virginia Beach, but it got shot down quickly.
But “it’s not like we’re in the city like DC where you can hop on a train and be somewhere thirty minutes away.” Mr. Penn stated. “I think too many people in the area drive, and I don’t think our population’s big enough for us to need railway transportation.”
The current population of Virginia Beach rests at 457, 672. While the Big Apple’s population is roughly 8.468 million! That’s a drastic difference between the two. New York City has millions more people to cater to transportation wise while Virginia Beach citizens rely on their own vehicles to take them places.
“Another piece too is, where would you put it, and so underground’s the easiest answer and above ground, I don’t know. I don’t know if there’s a right answer for that,” Mr. Penn adds.
Even if the city of Virginia Beach needed a railway system, as Mr. Penn said, where would we put it?
It’s actually a lot easier than you may think. It’s said that monorail systems don’t require much footprint so “they are soon as more attractive than conventional elevated rail lines and block only a minimal amount of sky.” If a monorail system were to be built, at least the citizens of VB wouldn’t have to look at some bulky, ugly structure and homes won’t have to be torn down.
New World Encyclopedia found that “straddle monorails wrap around their track and are thus not physically capable of derailing, unless the track itself suffers a catastrophic failure, which is why monorails have an excellent safety record.”
While there are great safety features for monorails, the accessibility for handicapped people is a bit tricky when it comes to these types of transportation systems, both needing a well thought out plan to give access to these passengers. Metros need a way to bring the handicapped passengers down to the station and back up to ground level, whereas monorails, since they’re raised above ground, have to figure out a way for their passengers to reach the height (Newspire).
If Virginia Beach were to build a railway system of some sorts, the monorail is the best way to go. According to The High Road Foundation, monorails can travel up to sixty-five miles per hour and the long-term costs are cheaper since these trains are less likely to be vandalized based on the design and the engines and guardrails last longer. Monorails also have very little storm water footprint and its long span provides plenty of hiking/biking trail space. This railway system runs on electric motors which cause the least environmental disturbances, even during the construction process.
Stated by New World Encyclopedia, “In an emergency, passengers may not be able to immediately exit because the monorail vehicle is high above ground and not all systems have emergency walkways.”
Safety is the biggest priority when it comes to public transportation, I can guarantee that the City of Virginia Beach would not favor a lawsuit because someone was unable to get out of the train in an emergency.
Downtown Norfolk is the closest to being a city so it makes sense to have a light rail system there, but Virginia Beach is more of a suburban city and the city barrier stretches out to rural communities such as Pungo. Railway systems are beneficial elsewhere, but are not necessary forms of public transportation in Virginia Beach; there aren’t enough people clumped together to need public transportation other than buses and Ubers already provided. Who knows though, maybe sometime in the future Virginia Beach will be the next New York City and we’ll be subway surfing too.
