The Off Topic Topic

[DGuller]

What do you do when you fly somewhere, take a taxi everywhere?

If I fly somewhere and need a car, I will of course rent one.  The different is that if I fly somewhere, I generally can't get there by a car in a reasonable amount of time, so there is no other option.  If I have to take a train and still rent a car, then it makes all the more sense to just drive to the destination with my own to begin with.

[DGuller]

To me, a much bigger bang for buck can be had in developing mass transit, like light rail.  Good mass transit can really reverse the trend of urban sprawl, which will in turn reduce our reliance on oil.

I think real estate values are the main force behind sprawl. If anything, a more developed mass transit system may ease the traffic burden making it easier to commute.

There are many reasons for the sprawl.  However, there is no alternative to sprawl if you don't have a very densely populated downtown.  You can't have very densely populated downtown if cars are the only means of commute.  I think that population density follows mass transit rather than the other way around, and setting up mass transit system should be a strong catalyst to urbanization.

[Ideologue]

Man, did Netflix choose a bad time for me to put the whole (or most) of the Twilight Zone on instant watch.  I've got things to do but it's awful damn addictive.

[Duque de Bragança]

Just read an opinion piece in the NYT arguing against high speed rail subsidies.  Author claims there are only two high speed rail lines in the world that operate without a subsidy: Paris-Lyon and Tokyo-Osaka.

Wasn't it the article that Hans used to derail High-speed rail once ? As for Paris-Lyon, that line is close to saturation while most others in France make a profit.

[Josquius]

Rail is only going to become ever more important in the future as petrol prices continue to rise. The quicker people realise this and development on rail projects picks up the better it will be.

[Syt]

[jimmy olsen]

Episode 5 

[garbon]

Rail is only going to become ever more important in the future as petrol prices continue to rise. The quicker people realise this and development on rail projects picks up the better it will be.

Gas prices are on a permanent increase now?

[Eddie Teach]

Episode 5 

Yes, it's been episode 5 for decades...

[HVC]

Rail is only going to become ever more important in the future as petrol prices continue to rise. The quicker people realise this and development on rail projects picks up the better it will be.

Gas prices are on a permanent increase now?

are you asking whether rising prices are a new phenomena, or if they will continue to rise?

[Caliga]

So the Ohio River is at 29 feet right now and expected to get to 33 feet by tomorrow.  Most areas right on the riverfront are flooded out and mass evacuations have started on the Indiana side of the river.  LOL WERE DOOMED

I of course live on high ground southeast of the city.

[jimmy olsen]

A New Rurouni Kenshin anime has been green lit!

[garbon]

Rail is only going to become ever more important in the future as petrol prices continue to rise. The quicker people realise this and development on rail projects picks up the better it will be.

Gas prices are on a permanent increase now?

are you asking whether rising prices are a new phenomena, or if they will continue to rise?

Yes I'm asking if rising prices are a new phenomena.

[Slargos]

It's a valid question. Taking into consideration inflation and the increase in purchase power, the price of gas was lower in Sweden in the 90s than in the 70s. Probably only recently that prices have risen, even though there's been a nominal 50% price hike the last decade.

[Eddie Teach]

How long prices continue to rise depends on a couple things we don't really know- whether some new technology displaces the need for oil and how abundant the supply really is. It may be that we can dig several miles into the ground and find enough to last us indefinitely. That would cause prices to stabilize(though likely at a much higher cost than it is now).