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thetransportpolitic.com
Personal blog · thetransportpolitic.comeconomicspolitics
thetransportpolitic.com is a personal blog at thetransportpolitic.com about economics and politics. Since 2010, 18 different Hacker News readers have linked it 25 times, most often “U.S. transit systems are shedding riders. Are they under threat?”. No feed was found, so read it on the site itself.
Too few sampled comments (12) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN commenters link this blog on US transit, rail, and infrastructure costs, mostly as a source or background for their own points on freight rail, subway costs, and city transit history.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 12 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- U.S. transit systems are shedding riders. Are they under threat?2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2018-05-18
- /databook/travel-mode-shares-in-the-u-s/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2018-03-13
- The case of the missing platform doors2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2018-09-08
What Hacker News says?
I agree that it's a balancing act, but what are we balancing? What are we maximizing for? It's critical we ask the right questions. For example, why has bike commuting declined recently in the United States? https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/01/02/bike-w... It's not like cities like San Francisco and Seattle became bike hostile (if they have, I haven't heard it). Bike commuting is only used by 1 percen…
Comment linking /databook/travel-mode-shares-in-the-u-s/
on “We Need to Dream Bigger Than Bike Lanes”Submitted As the U.S. fantasizes, the world builds high speed rail as a story · 403 points
HN discussionBecause countries' railroad networks tend to optimize either for freight or for passenger service. They compete with each other. America has one of the best freight networks in the world. https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2011/06/29/freight-as-pa...
Comment linking /2011/06/29/freight-as-passenger-rails-worst-enemy-or-something-else/
on “There is no reason to cross the U.S. by train, but I did it anyway”Submitted Seattle is putting up $50B for transit as a story · 129 points
HN discussionNYC's transit mode share for commute trips is above 50% [1]. Of the additional 1.2 million people, this means that this population growth probably produced at least 1.2 million additional daily rides, since 50% of the 1.2 million rides the subway twice a day, to and from work. 1.2 million additional daily riders is about double the entire Washington Metro daily ridership and triple that of BART's daily ridership! In…
Comment linking /databook/travel-mode-shares-in-the-u-s/
on “‘The Trains Are Slower Because They Slowed the Trains Down’”Submitted As the U.S. fantasizes, the rest of the world builds new transport system (2017) as a story · 92 points
HN discussion>functional public transit >San Francisco Citation needed: https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2009/02/20/transit-overl... "San Francisco’s example may be the worst in the United States"
Comment linking /2009/02/20/transit-overload/
on “Renting a car will be a pain until at least 2022”Submitted The perverse incentives produced by institutional division as a story · 5 points
HN discussionIf you belive this ( http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2009/07/20/seattles-light... ) it took seattle almost 20 years to make that happen. Also, i think that city, in particular, was flush with cash.
Comment linking /2009/07/20/seattles-light-rail-opens-redefining-life-in-the-city/
on “Nevada approves regulations for self-driving cars”Submitted U.S. transit systems are shedding riders as a story · 2 points
HN discussionBoston had to pare back stations on its Green Line Extension to save over a half billion dollars: https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2016/05/10/frequent-serv...
Comment linking /2016/05/10/frequent-service-not-escalator-access-is-what-attracts-transit-users/
on “Why We Can’t Figure Out Why Infrastructure Is So Expensive”Submitted U.S. transit systems are shedding riders. Are they under threat? as a story · 2 points
HN discussionWhy do cities need federal aid to pay for purely local services like schools, subways, buses, water/sewer, etc? Maybe you can blame republicans for the lack of high speed rail between New York and DC, but how do you blame them for the terrible schools in those cities, the awful experience of dealing with government agencies, etc? Also, it’s not clear to me that transit projects in other countries receive dramaticall…
Comment linking /2011/05/27/paris-region-moves-ahead-with-125-miles-of-new-metro-lines
on “Why Does Infrastructure Cost So Much?”Submitted Nashville plans for a big boost in local transit, trains as a story · 2 points
HN discussionMost of the outer boroughs, especially Brooklyn and the Bronx, were developed in the pre-automobile era around subways. And many of the suburbs beyond were developed around railroad lines. Moses did indeed emphasize highways at the expense of transit for a generation— but the outer-borough subways nearly all still work as originally planned, and the rail lines to suburbs beyond would be far more effective if moderni…
Comment linking /2009/07/17/regional-rail-for-new-york-city-part-ii/
on “The Triboro: Transit plan for the NYC Boroughs”Submitted Openings and Construction Starts Planned for 2020 as a story · 1 points
HN discussionThis is in progress: http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2015/08/03/in-l-a-efforts...
Comment linking /2015/08/03/in-l-a-efforts-are-afoot-to-make-bike-share-a-genuine-part-of-the-transit-network/
on “Los Angeles Tries to Prove That It Doesn’t Necessarily Need the Car”Submitted The case of the missing platform doors as a story · 1 points
HN discussionThere is one here http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2010/03/09/china-promotes...
Comment linking /2010/03/09/china-promotes-its-transcontinental-ambitions-with-massive-rail-plan/
on “The Largest Infrastructure Project in History: Chinese High-Speed Rail to Europe”Submitted Transit Openings and Construction Starts Planned for 2019 as a story · 1 points
HN discussionI once had the pleasure to use a high speed travelator in Paris going at 8mph, I recall they used several acceleration stages in series before getting on the main section. Also reminded me of the ones portrayed in Asimov's novels. Too bad they shut them down almost a decade ago. https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2009/05/21/paris-experim...
Comment linking /2009/05/21/paris-experimental-high-speed-moving-walkway-is-abandoned/
on “Why does it take so long to mend an escalator? (2002)”Submitted Nashville plans for a big boost in local transit, light rail as a story · 1 points
HN discussionThe biggest problem is indeed cost. Installing platform doors on the platforms throughout the system has been estimated in the past at US$1 million per station (US$400–500 million) in 2012 [1] and US$1 billion in 2013 [2]. But those estimates seem incredibly low now given more recent per-station costs elsewhere (CA$10 million, €2.6 million) [3], and the fact that NYC subway construction is higher than most other maj…
Comment linking /2017/09/26/the-case-of-the-missing-platform-doors/
on “The Subway Doesn't Have to Be Hot and Gross”Submitted America’s car obsession will not be diminished by Millennials alone as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Chinese 200mph Rail Project: Travel From London To Beijing In Just Two Days as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
