The Automobile Subsidy
in [Drive]
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From: Orval Fairbairn on 6 Nov 2009 13:39 In article <17f24beb-6e32-4bc9-bd2d-f207cd601459(a)v30g2000yqm.googlegroups.com>, "rshersh(a)gmail.com" <rshersh(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > > It would be far cheaper for the government to pay for taxi service for > > those individuals than to build huge mass-transit systems. > > > > - > > > > oh, really > > 5.5 million a DAY use NYC transit > > Look at the problems with the Phila transit strike > > do you really think taxis can handle millions of rides? That may hold for New York or Chicago, but, for the REST of the country, it would be FAR cheaper! -- Remove _'s from email address to talk to me.
From: Stephen Sprunk on 6 Nov 2009 15:30 Scott in SoCal wrote: > Last time on rec.autos.driving, Orval Fairbairn > <o_r_fairbairn(a)earth_link.net> said: >> ... but roads are far more useful than transit -- anybody can use them; > > Anybody who can afford a car and who possesses the motor skills and > cognitive functions to properly operate one, you mean. .... and isn't too young or too old, and hasn't had their license suspended or revoked, and who hasn't been convicted of certain offenses, and who can afford insurance, and is in the country legally, etc. There are a _lot_ of people who can't drive for one reason or another. > There will always be people who do not drive, either because they > can't or because they choose not to. There will be those who choose > public transit rather than incur the costs of purchasing, insuring, > and maintaining a (second) car. OTOH, why should the rest of us subsidize those who either can't or won't drive rather than forcing them to pay the full cost of their transit use? (I support ending subsidies to _both_ modes so that consumers will make a more rational economic choice.) S -- Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking
From: Stephen Sprunk on 6 Nov 2009 16:08 Scott M. Kozel wrote: > Bernd Felsche <berfel(a)innovative.iinet.net.au> wrote: >> >> "Scott M. Kozel" <kozelsm(a)comcast.net> wrote: >> >>> 99% of the public road mileage is non-limited-access. >> >> Source of stats? And how are the 99% measured? > > Centerline miles. In the U.S. there are over 4 million miles of public > roads, and about 44 thousand miles of Interstate highways. It'd be better to count lane-miles, and you haven't counted US and state highways, which are far more numerous. S -- Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking
From: Stephen Sprunk on 6 Nov 2009 16:24 Brent wrote: > On 2009-11-05, Stephen Sprunk <stephen(a)sprunk.org> wrote: >>> Then the rest of you need to get off your lazy asses and get your >>> elected representatives to enact similar legislation. If we could do >>> it, you can, too. >> >> Exactly. If one isn't happy with the laws, talk to the people who are >> responsible for writing them, not a bunch of random nobodies on the >> Internet. > > I have to wonder if the people who write the above have ever written > their so-called representives. Eventually one learns it's pretty > pointless. I've found little point in writing or calling _my_ representatives, because they usually agree with me. In the few areas where I disagree with their actions, the most common response is "You're right, but I'd get killed in the next election if I did that." OTOH, there's not much point in writing or calling the others because they know I can't vote for them. Still, letting the politicians know your views is important because (a) it shows you actually care about a particular issue, unlike a poll, and (b) you can give more detailed position information (or even an entire proposal) than the simple "for", "against", or "don't know" that most polls limit you to. > Especially when said representives vote entirely different than nearly > everyone who wrote and called them to express their views. So toss 'em out at the next election. Contribute to or even campaign for their opponent--provided their opponent has a different position, which they often don't. Another trick is voting in the _opposite_ party's primary rather than your own, so you can try to tilt the opponent selection to someone that is less offensive to you. Most people ignore the primaries, so your vote has significantly more power there as well. S -- Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking
From: rshersh on 6 Nov 2009 16:30
On Nov 6, 4:08 pm, Stephen Sprunk <step...(a)sprunk.org> wrote: > Scott M. Kozel wrote: > > Bernd Felsche <ber...(a)innovative.iinet.net.au> wrote: > > >> "Scott M. Kozel" <koze...(a)comcast.net> wrote: > > >>> 99% of the public road mileage is non-limited-access. > > >> Source of stats? And how are the 99% measured? > > > Centerline miles. In the U.S. there are over 4 million miles of public > > roads, and about 44 thousand miles of Interstate highways. > > It'd be better to count lane-miles, and you haven't counted US and state > highways, which are far more numerous. > kozel like the rest of the reason foundation twist stats to fit their needs what carries the most traffic which is the most expensive to build and maintain how much does it cost per lane mile to build |