Transit Dependency in Riamo

Transit Dependency is a situation by which a resident of a city is directly, or indirectly, forced to make use of urban transportation in order to participate in social gatherings or take active part on the societal activities encompassing daily life.

People in the transit-dependent market have no personal transportation, no access to such transportation, or are unable to drive. Included are those with low incomes, the disabled, elderly, children, families whose travel needs cannot be met with only one car, and those who opt not to own personal transportation.

Being one of the beacons of rail development in the world, Riamo has provided important technological advancements to the wider rail industry, with world leading companies such as United Trenchways having been the nucleus of riamese culture since the dawn of the first steam machines.

It has been this cultural devotion to rails, in part, that has contributed so much to the now common phenomenon of Transit Dependency seen across the country. Troughout Riamese History, many politicians and monarchs have incentivised this transit initiative, not only providing a pillar to the economy but setting the stage for a long-lasting dependency on public transportation to come.

Nowadays, it is widely accepted that transit Dependency has been a consistent problem in the last half century, providing a stable pillar to the growing riamese economy while also being the originary of many societal issues across the nation.

Associated Issues

The situation of transit dependency has become a long-lasting issue engrained deep into the Riamese society, specially with the popularization of the Ferrier System of urban development that came to be popularized across the Riamese Empire and afterwards. The model, which initially started as an attempt to seek greener, less poluted, walkability-friendly cities, at cost of expanding transit authorities to cover more than just the direct operations of the urban transit, eventually morphed into a buy-cheap-rent-later business model.

The model, which was quickly popularized across the nation because of its initial marvelous benefits, would derive into widespread urban housing issues across Riamo and even former colonies like Gassasinia which adopted the system.

Numerous studies have been made on the topic, most of which place the blame on 3 places:

• Political: Lack of automobile-friendly policies throughout Riamo, and as well as its propagandistic association with ecological transition as something benefitial for the nation
• Cultural: Generalized disgust towards the smell of naphtha and cultural association of daily commute with productivity and/or relaxation.
• Historical: Early adoption of railroads as a pillar of the riamese industrialization, the appearance of several movements, fields of study and philosphic schools of thought surrounding transportation, and the inclusion of the urban railroad as an aspect of the modern riamese city in achitecture and urban design.