Comments | says_bomb: Transit Subsidies

says_bomb

Transit Subsidies

Feb 05, 2009 09:12

So this post from The Transport Politic discusses the rhetoric of "profitability" as it relates to transit systems. One justification provided for transit subsidy is that their are societal benefits in the form of social justice. While I don't disagree, I didn't think that was the strongest argument, so I posted the following comment. I'm ( Read more... )

transportation

Leave a comment

Back to all threads

A little off-track, less about the economics of it... rigbys_face February 6 2009, 00:29:27 UTC

I remember reading an article in Wired a few months back (here's a blurb about it) about automated cars that were test-driven through a desert with no one at the wheel. The A.I. behind them was advanced enough (with camera sensors, et al) that it could actually off-road and gauge the rough terrain well enough to distinguish steering, braking, and all other functions of driving. This is apparently all being done as a research project to get the idea of automated vehicles off the ground ( ... )

Re: A little off-track, less about the economics of it... says_bomb February 6 2009, 16:21:33 UTC

Thanks for your thoughts. The issue of transit mixing socio-economic classes is actually a big one. Even bigger in countries like Saudi Arabia and China than here in the US!

You mention cars that drive themselves. Working from the other direction, there are some folks that advocate Personal Rapid Transit (PRT). These would be networks of small vehicles on separated guideways that work more like horizontal elevators. You push a button and get one, you push a destination inside and it takes you there, but without stopping. Computers would control the whole system to provide direction and prevent collision ( ... )

Re: A little off-track, less about the economics of it... rigbys_face February 6 2009, 16:50:20 UTC

It has to be used in the right application: connecting a network of dense origins to dense destinations, where otherwise cars alone could not meet demand.Which is certainly why it is a relatively successful endeavor in places like SF or D.C. - it is beneficial for several reasons, but it is important that both of these cities are dense areas with smaller geographic boundaries than say, Orange County ( ... )

Re: A little off-track, less about the economics of it... says_bomb February 6 2009, 17:23:17 UTC

Yeah, people movers are like a paleo-form of PRT. Real PRT does have the control you mention... or it's supposed to, in theory ( ... )

Re: A little off-track, less about the economics of it... rigbys_face February 7 2009, 02:31:47 UTC

That is, transit allows density to take place where growth might happen. The OC and LA never put in any transit, so ended up with auto-centric land use patterns of spread out density. Even in SF, you might say that the Sunset would look very different if the Metro lines out there had been built much earlier.That's actually kind of true, I suppose I never thought of it that way. Its interesting to think what the LA/OC area would look like now if transit had ever been implemented with as much success as a place like SF ( ... )

Back to all threads