Revise the proposal essay below and develop it into an argumentative essay.

There are many good reasons for setting up public transit in cities. Lower emissions, more power efficiency, and more convenience if done well. But how does the city convince its citizens to use it? Transit needs to address the problem of point A to point B with the easiest route possible. Public transportation does not need to replace the car. It only needs to be accessible, cheap, and efficient enough for people to prefer it. But, to promote the use of public transportation, cities should focus on a reliable, easy-to-use, wide-spanning network.

Every time a train or bus breaks down, it is bad advertising. Reliability is key to maintaining a good image of public transit. The trains are required to run on time every time. Buses cannot be seen on the side of the road or towed away. Breakdowns and delays will happen, but it must be the exception, not the rule. If a city transit system is plagued with delays and breakdowns, it will only reduce ridership in that city. "The potential users are normally the people that are most critical of public transport services" (Dell'Olio et al., 2018, pg. 185). When the citizens of a city cannot trust public transit, they will hop into their cars and head off to their destination.

Public transit must meet the demand to be considered reliable. As demand increases, the system may become overloaded. An overloaded system can cause long wait times to get on a bus or train and cause passengers to miss their ride completely. If the bus only comes every 20 minutes, the system leaves a very unhappy passenger thinking about why they even bothered to use it in the first place. "Passenger overloading in public transport is one of the most serious drawbacks stated by the traveling public in Sri Lanka. Lack of sufficient seating capacity on a given route, the resultant increase in waiting time, and the level of discomfort experienced by the passengers compel them to seek alternative modes of travel" (Saman, Juan & Kumarage, Amal. 2006). In the US, that alternative route is almost exclusively cars. For it to be considered reliable public transit needs to meet demand consistently.

Ease of use will make or break public transit. The convenience of a car has to travel from point A to point B with no stopping for passengers or being dropped off at the wrong place. Having a card or even an app, you must only scan once on entry and once on exit, no matter how many transfers, makes the process much simpler. It may be a pain to start, but a user will find it second nature after a while, much like using the keys to your car. Making fares free is an excellent promotion to increase ridership. No fumbling through the wallet, hoping you remembered your pass, or desperately searching pockets for the right amount of change. Just find the stop and get on. Public transit must be more frictionless, which should be the goal of any sound transit system.

Clear maps and directions are also crucial to public transit. Whatever stop you get on, it must be clear what direction and how far it is to your destination station. Using colors and simple naming with straightforward entry and exit points for terminals drastically reduces the stress of learning how to use public transit. Using a car is as simple as putting an address into google maps and following directions. A similarly easy app would significantly increase people's interest in public transit. Just plug in your address, and it will point you to all the stations. The more seamlessly integrated the transit is in maps and apps, the more likely people will consider the public route.

Public transit needs to serve as much of the city as possible as frequently as possible. The more points that do not connect to residential areas, the more people will be inclined to use their cars. "Houston, in the United States, re-specified their service after the LRT was put in place to reduce overlapping of these services and to ensure transit coverage in other areas of the city. This resulted in a 7% increase in ridership" (C40 Knowledge Community). If people can get too close to their destinations without wondering if public transit services that area, they will consider it a genuine option. Cities will not need to promote public transit if it is more convenient.

There are many ways to promote public transit in cities, from safety to cost to accessibility. Ensuring that the system is free from malfunctions and reliable no matter the capacity boosts confidence in riders. Paying should be affordable, easy, and frictionless, while the navigation should be simple. Access to stations close to both the start and end of journeys while being timely is crucial. Making public transit more straightforward, reliable, and accessible than a car will promote the switch to taking the train or riding the bus.

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