The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

One of the most notable differences in my daily life in Belgium is how I get around. Though driving is forbidden by the laws of Rotary, it does not seem to me that being permitted this luxury would change my daily life by much. An aspect of the culture that I am really taking a liking to is the abundance of public transportation. During the day, it is possible to get almost anywhere in Belgium without stepping behind the wheel of a car. In addition, there are far fewer automobiles in this country than America.

For myself, there are several theories as to why this is so. One of them would be that the infrastructure of Belgium, and many other European Nations, is incapable of supporting the vast amount of roadways that the United States is capable of. America is a rather young country and being the age that it is allows it to have grown up in a time of adaptation to newer technology through transportation. Europe is thousands of years old, and when the narrow alleys and cobble stones were put in place, the idea of automobiles was not even a faint glimmer in the distance. Once they were a reality, there was not much done to re-invent every roadway in the country.This would be costly and incredibly time intensive.  In the United States roadways are fairly large with well developed highways systems that can take a person anywhere in the country. At the same time, there seems to be less of a need for that in Belgium because of the highly developed bus and train system that is in place.

The earliest trains were invented in 1550 in Germany. Made of wood, these "trains" were powered by horses and pulled along wooden paths that were created across the county. Years later, during the time of the Industrial Revolution he steam engine was invented and revolutionized the transportation of goods and services. It was through these inventions in Europe that the foundation of European transportation was created. Thanks to this early creation, nowadays one can travel almost anywhere in Europe by railway. I personally find this to be very convenient. For the most part it is much less expensive than the 152 dollars I could be spending to fill my gas tank once a week. Instead that price is reduced to roughly 55 dollars a month to travel through the country! Moreover, the transportation system is rather well organized creating ease in the planning of events. I could definitely get used to never having to drive a car.