tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-582368152716771238.post3217180441977531119..comments2024-03-28T09:32:23.535-05:00Comments on The Grumpy Economist: Two on energy subsidies John H. Cochranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04842601651429471525noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-582368152716771238.post-85425371166609388552017-11-15T12:32:37.089-06:002017-11-15T12:32:37.089-06:00As I recall, there is a related classic planning p...As I recall, there is a related classic planning paper entitled " A Desire Named Streetcar" - amazing - look it up. Transchairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08619182169639314216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-582368152716771238.post-49125131672857106202017-11-15T12:30:54.899-06:002017-11-15T12:30:54.899-06:00As I recall, there is a planning literature paper ...As I recall, there is a planning literature paper on this topic with the most awesome title "A Desire named streetcar" - just google it....classic. Transchairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08619182169639314216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-582368152716771238.post-61417171428947064652017-11-14T20:07:53.858-06:002017-11-14T20:07:53.858-06:00Obtanium Works deserves credit for the steampunk R...Obtanium Works deserves credit for the steampunk RV - http://www.obtainiumworks.net/neverwas-haul/Donhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10207775364455860527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-582368152716771238.post-68362225173562058242017-11-14T16:20:06.522-06:002017-11-14T16:20:06.522-06:00Amen.
As good as the idea of a self-driving cars...Amen. <br /><br />As good as the idea of a self-driving cars may be, nobody alive today will see the idea fully realised across the entire vehicle fleet. <br /><br />Consider the ire of the average human driver stuck behind the uber-cautious computer at an intersection. You don't have to be an expert econ to see the incentive for people in a hurry to take control from the computer to get to their destination faster.<br /><br />In the real world, the computer will always finish last.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-582368152716771238.post-6560833897226781482017-11-14T11:10:04.156-06:002017-11-14T11:10:04.156-06:00Two years ago Houston completed two light rail exp...Two years ago Houston completed two light rail expansions at a cost of $1.6 billion. I think the Feds paid for around half. At current ridership levels and assuming ZERO operating costs, the project will "pay out" in a little over 400 years. The wealth destruction is incredible.Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10209903229153145357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-582368152716771238.post-56615433678953592017-11-14T11:06:26.386-06:002017-11-14T11:06:26.386-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10209903229153145357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-582368152716771238.post-867381227580600502017-11-14T00:58:52.667-06:002017-11-14T00:58:52.667-06:00I would not want to live in a city that was govern...I would not want to live in a city that was governed the same way an airport is. But if I were looking for a city which was governed in a way that is analogous to the way an airport authority governs I would start in Cuba. Pablonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-582368152716771238.post-492695302835571262017-11-13T21:25:42.480-06:002017-11-13T21:25:42.480-06:00I rode the subway all the time when I lived in Bos...I rode the subway all the time when I lived in Boston. It was great. Why? Because it was underground, i.e. grade-separated, for the most part. Street-level light rail is a traffic hazard and a pedestrian hazard. Rail is useful because the routes are reliable. Sunk costs mean that transit authorities don't change routes with no warning in search of more ridership. This means that development follows rail routes, not vice versa. It means that real estate values are predictable, leading to denser development, which is good for the environment. Grade-separated routes lead to more on-time performance, which increases ridership. If you need to get to a meeting or event on time, you're not going to ride some transit that has to fight with unpredictable street-level traffic jams.<br /><br />Diesel buses can't go underground. Electric buses on fixed guideways are a cheap alternative to expensive rail infrastructure, and driverless technology is here already - no need to wait for Uber's utopian promises. Lots of airports have driverless transit, on both steel and rubber wheels. What do airport authorities know about their economics that city authorities don't?George McKeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17776230134829403415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-582368152716771238.post-9343741529782783532017-11-13T21:15:01.118-06:002017-11-13T21:15:01.118-06:00"a fleet of self-driving Ubers"
Don'..."a fleet of self-driving Ubers"<br /><br />Don't believe the hype. The problem is far harder than you think. There are no flying cars even though they were predicted long ago. There won't be "self-driving cars" for a very long time, if ever. <br /><br />However, you can see driverless cars all over the country now. Just look at the number of human beings behind the steering wheels of automobiles who are doing everything other than driving. Fat Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09554029467445000453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-582368152716771238.post-1106825077951060432017-11-13T12:57:19.065-06:002017-11-13T12:57:19.065-06:00Blame California environmentalists. They use fuel...Blame California environmentalists. They use fuel more inefficiently than most any other group with their light rails and nearly empty steel cars being pulled around for no reason.<br /><br />If you ask the environmentalists why they do this, they answer correctly, 'Too stupid to do life cycle analysis'. So they can only work from a drawings with paint by the numbers, solving the CO2 pollution was never part of their plan, include Jerry Brown in the accusation.Matt Younghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08404998406161097199noreply@blogger.com