[meme] Trains -- not driverless cars -- are the future of transportation
[meme] Trains -- not driverless cars -- are the future of transportation
Image transcript:
Calvin (from Calvin & Hobbes) sitting at a lemonade stand, smiling, with a sign that reads, "Trains and micromobility are inevitably the future of urban transportation, whether society wants it or not. CHANGE MY MIND."
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In the United States, I don't know how you'd accomplish this. It would be impossible for almost all rural neighborhoods unless we're going to build a grocery store within walking distance of most homes.
This is one of those liberal (I rarely leave my home) notions whose heart is in the right place but is ultimately stupid.
Note the picture says "urban", not rural neighborhoods. There's no reason to think we can't have train infrastructure connecting to rural areas though. The point would be to make our infrastructure human centered and supplement it with appropriate public transportation based on density. It can be done by rethinking how we zone and getting away from designing everything with cars and space for cars in mind. Not saying we do away with cars because they definitely serve a purpose the way we have things now, but gradually build up the non-car infrastructure so that cars are less needed over time. If we can imagine it in a way that works, we can accomplish it.
The Netherlands has rural bike infrastructure which could work in the United States as well.
Yeah, but am I incorrect that the Netherlands is a fairly temperate place, if not on the cooler side? I don't think you'll convince most people to bike to work in the south, in the country, in 95+ degrees fahrenheit heat.
Ebikes can work wonders for that, in my experience. I've biked to work in 95 and humid weather and wasn't super sweaty by the end (office job). The ebike allows you to pedal less and get more breeze going past you, which makes a MASSIVE difference in how hot and sweaty you get, especially on hills.
I would not have even considered that with a non-electric bike.
Millions of Chinese, Japanese and other se Asians ride bikes in 90F heat w/ 80% humidity. I've done it, its doable.
Just because something is "doable" doesn't mean millions of people are going to accept doing it.
Ooh well in fact millions of people do ride bicycles for transportation every single day.
In Japan, like many other countries, women ride bikes for everyday transportation. They are so ubiquitous they are called "mamacharis" which loosely translates to 'Mom-chariots.'
Every train station, shopping center and school in Japan has hundreds of not thousands of bicycle parking racks, similar to what you would find in the Netherlands.
https://www.tokyobybike.com/2009/06/introducing-mamachari.html
https://guidable.co/living/ride-smart-in-japan/
https://youtu.be/AymDGEfJzCc?si=unIgkRkNBSgvQHxl
https://youtu.be/uiQIpvQtO34?si=s98wNEKXsfZT-Rss
https://youtu.be/uiQIpvQtO34?si=Jf_EiuTvm9Izstk0
My wife bought a bike in Japan for $400 and rode everyday, even in the countryside you see riding everyday. It's totally normal. You see it all over in Asia. So people do ride, even when it's hot and humid. Often with 1-2 kids on top of groceries, which weigh upwards of 50+ pounds of weight.
Neat. Good for Asian countries.
It ain't happening in America except maybe in cities like New York.
This comment seems to be based on the false presumption that cities and settlements cannot be transformed, however they can
They can, but it's a multi trillion dollar century plus endeavor that well require eminent domain millions of properties in order to make enough space for the conversion. Infrastructure still needs to go some place, and you need to replace millions of sfh with apartments. My city doesn't even have any land left to build more train lines. It's just 30 miles of gridded small lots.
Well that's what the climate disasters are for, to wipe the slate clean when people refuse to adapt
30 Miles of gridded small lots -> no space to build trains 🫠
We already bulldozed and rebuilt our cities once, less than a hundred years ago. See Cincinnati below:
Further, policy-wise, we don't need eminent domain. We don't need to forcefully destroy everything. We just need to abolish the restrictive zoning and parking minimums that are stopping the invisible hand of the free market from providing us with density, walkability, and transit-oriented development.
That's not going to fly today. Today, citizens can sue the jurisdiction and actually win, unlike the 1950s or '70s. And cities aren't going to be able to target minority dominated neighborhoods like they did in the past, or they're going to be in a real shitstorm both politically and legally.
You actually should have a grocery store in walking distance. And a pharmacy, a dentist, a doctor, bars and restaurants, a kindergarten,... That's how you get wrid of cars, indeed.
Can I just order all those things on Amazon?
You could just put yourself in a coma and get fed by a tube. But yes, you can order from online stores. And if we all confine ourself to Amazon and then in the near future they would be governing us because they would be talking care of our basic needs.
You need small businesses. They are a cornerstone of society. Your food that is gron locally has to be sold locally. Otherwise you lose efficiency.
But then it wouldn't be rural. The whole point of living in the country, which gasp some people really like, is to not be so close to other people.
That's a valid point. And I don't see any problem with that. You live further form the city? You pay more for drinking water, electricity, etc... Because society has to invest more to bring those basic needs out there. I also feel like road taxes are supposed to be calculated on the distance you travel yearly.
I live in a very densely populated country and to live isolated is quite uncommon but people that build houses more rural are obliged to make some extra investments.
Gas heating is common over here and not so long ago the goal was to provide every house with gas. They changed that and now you have to be mor e self sufficient if you decide to build a house away outside of city limits. Same for sewage. You'll have to invest in your own filtration. And so on..
the drawing specifies urban transportation. didn't say it would work in rural neighborhoods.
I love cars way more than the next guy, but the meme clearly says "urban transportation".
There should most definitely be a grocery store within walking distance of most homes.