Comment by xnx
3 hours ago
Isn't a vehicle that goes from anywhere to anywhere on your own schedule, safely, privately, cleanly, and without billions in subsidies better?
3 hours ago
Isn't a vehicle that goes from anywhere to anywhere on your own schedule, safely, privately, cleanly, and without billions in subsidies better?
I don't think individual vehicles can ever achieve the same envirnmental economies of scale as trains. Certainly they're far more convenient (especially for short-haul journeys) but I also think they're somewhat alienating, in that they're engineering humans out of the loop completely which contributes to social atomization.
> I don't think individual vehicles can ever achieve the same envirnmental economies of scale as trains.
I think you'd be surprised. Look at the difference in cost per passenger mile.
I'm looking. Comes out unfavorably to cars. Obviously.
I guess you're comparing the total cost of trains vs a subset of costs of cars, as is usual. Road use and pollution are free externalities after all.
Trains only require subsidies in a world where human & robot cars are subsidized.
As soon as a mode of transport actually has to compete in a market for scarce & valuable land to operate on, trains and other forms of transit (publicly or privately owned) win every time.
Cars don't work in dense places.
Sure but most of the world has a density low enough that cars work and trains don't really. I like trains as much as the next nerd, but you're never going to be able to take a train from your house to your local farm shop or whatever.
Where trains work they are great. Where they don't, driverless electric cars seem like a great option.
Not necessarily, and your premise is incorrect.
>without billions in subsidies
Is there a magic road wand?
No, but roads are paid for by road users (i.e. everyone).
Billions of subsidies? Im confused you talking about cars or trains.
No major US public transportation system is fully paid for by riders.
Neither is any private transportation system?
Yep. https://www.transitwiki.org/TransitWiki/index.php/Farebox_Re... is a sobering reminder that many cities’ public transportation would cost $20-50 per trip if paid entirely by riders and thus could not exist without subsidy.
That includes cars on public roads.
NYC congestion pricing seems to be working quite well though, and probably helps offset MTA costs.
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