lexande
@lexande.bsky.social
People need a place to go.
https://transit-timelines.github.io/
mastodon.social/@lexande
twitter.com/threestationsq
https://transit-timelines.github.io/
mastodon.social/@lexande
twitter.com/threestationsq
Isn't the problem here just capacity? Any bin can get full; those boxes would fit in the suburban bins if the landlord provided enough.
December 7, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Isn't the problem here just capacity? Any bin can get full; those boxes would fit in the suburban bins if the landlord provided enough.
It's not totally insane to ban guns or have five year presidential terms either, but it is against the US constitution.
December 6, 2025 at 12:56 AM
It's not totally insane to ban guns or have five year presidential terms either, but it is against the US constitution.
They still do! www.mta.info/map/36951
www.mta.info
December 3, 2025 at 10:22 PM
They still do! www.mta.info/map/36951
Major components of the "lack of planning" are lack of in-house expertise at the relevant agencies, lack of standardised designs, and managing things as isolated megaprojects rather than rolling investment programs; these problems impact rail capital planning in the UK too.
December 3, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Major components of the "lack of planning" are lack of in-house expertise at the relevant agencies, lack of standardised designs, and managing things as isolated megaprojects rather than rolling investment programs; these problems impact rail capital planning in the UK too.
Most of the rail in parts of the US where people actually take trains is government-owned. Dealing with the private freight operators is an extra problem but US rail construction is plenty inefficient even without that.
December 3, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Most of the rail in parts of the US where people actually take trains is government-owned. Dealing with the private freight operators is an extra problem but US rail construction is plenty inefficient even without that.
Private freight operators have nothing to do with the extremely high per-km costs of the Second Avenue Subway, ESA, or Gateway. And those projects generally had plenty of federal support too.
December 3, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Private freight operators have nothing to do with the extremely high per-km costs of the Second Avenue Subway, ESA, or Gateway. And those projects generally had plenty of federal support too.
But yes part of the deal was "flipping the table might be +EV for your social position but -EV if you include the risk of being worse off in absolute terms" which gets weaker as people's perceived floor on absolute conditions improves.
December 3, 2025 at 12:45 PM
But yes part of the deal was "flipping the table might be +EV for your social position but -EV if you include the risk of being worse off in absolute terms" which gets weaker as people's perceived floor on absolute conditions improves.
There were also way more peasant rebellions, & violence generally, than we experience now; I think they'd overall be impressed how well we avoid that sort of thing.
December 3, 2025 at 12:41 PM
There were also way more peasant rebellions, & violence generally, than we experience now; I think they'd overall be impressed how well we avoid that sort of thing.
I think the 20th century answer is supposed to be switching to focusing on hustling on behalf of, or supporting the hustles of, your children.
December 3, 2025 at 12:38 PM
I think the 20th century answer is supposed to be switching to focusing on hustling on behalf of, or supporting the hustles of, your children.
The Ancien Regime's actual answer was "you'll be rewarded or punished in the afterlife based on whether you play along now". Many people still believe something like that, but it's a lie and civilization should probably not rely on them continuing to do so.
December 3, 2025 at 12:29 PM
The Ancien Regime's actual answer was "you'll be rewarded or punished in the afterlife based on whether you play along now". Many people still believe something like that, but it's a lie and civilization should probably not rely on them continuing to do so.
People care a lot about purely positional goods! How do we ensure the ~50% of the population whose income fractile is declining at any given time still have an incentive not to flip the table?
December 3, 2025 at 12:19 PM
People care a lot about purely positional goods! How do we ensure the ~50% of the population whose income fractile is declining at any given time still have an incentive not to flip the table?
(Which is not to say that the artificial scarcity of housing isn't a real problem.)
December 3, 2025 at 11:53 AM
(Which is not to say that the artificial scarcity of housing isn't a real problem.)
Surely it's the other way around, if you're just born this way there's no reason not to kill the nobles, but if there's an opportunity to climb the ladder & eventually become rich yourself then you'd better play along & focus on hustling. "Temporarily embarrassed millionaires."
December 3, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Surely it's the other way around, if you're just born this way there's no reason not to kill the nobles, but if there's an opportunity to climb the ladder & eventually become rich yourself then you'd better play along & focus on hustling. "Temporarily embarrassed millionaires."
"Good food" isn't inherently more of a luxury than "living without housemates", it just used to be expensive while the latter used to be cheap. And if the cost of smartphone plans rose 1000% people would talk about how staying in touch with friends & family is a basic human need.
December 3, 2025 at 11:34 AM
"Good food" isn't inherently more of a luxury than "living without housemates", it just used to be expensive while the latter used to be cheap. And if the cost of smartphone plans rose 1000% people would talk about how staying in touch with friends & family is a basic human need.
But what's coded as luxuries is a function of relative prices from generations ago, so almost any shift in relative prices can feel this way. "I couldn't imagine being too poor to afford servants, nor so rich as to be able to afford a car."
December 3, 2025 at 11:30 AM
But what's coded as luxuries is a function of relative prices from generations ago, so almost any shift in relative prices can feel this way. "I couldn't imagine being too poor to afford servants, nor so rich as to be able to afford a car."
Rail travel demand is not perfectly inelastic, lower peak prices would lead at least a few people to switch from driving (or cycling or work-from-home).
December 2, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Rail travel demand is not perfectly inelastic, lower peak prices would lead at least a few people to switch from driving (or cycling or work-from-home).
But I definitely agree that the privatisation of operations is not a major factor here; the US has even less efficient rail infrastructure procurement & planning despite the passenger rail operators all being government run.
December 2, 2025 at 11:36 AM
But I definitely agree that the privatisation of operations is not a major factor here; the US has even less efficient rail infrastructure procurement & planning despite the passenger rail operators all being government run.
How does the fraction of GDP spent on rail infrastructure in the UK compare to 🇨🇭, 🇦🇹, or 🇳🇱? With things like HS2 or electrification projects it seems like the UK pays more to get less, and so what's needed are procurement & planning reforms to get per-km costs down to EU levels.
December 2, 2025 at 11:29 AM
How does the fraction of GDP spent on rail infrastructure in the UK compare to 🇨🇭, 🇦🇹, or 🇳🇱? With things like HS2 or electrification projects it seems like the UK pays more to get less, and so what's needed are procurement & planning reforms to get per-km costs down to EU levels.
I think it was supposed to terminate at 14th & 1st, not run thru onto the 14th St line. Back when the V terminated at 2nd & Houston, this wouldn't really make the interlining situation any worse.
December 1, 2025 at 6:14 PM
I think it was supposed to terminate at 14th & 1st, not run thru onto the 14th St line. Back when the V terminated at 2nd & Houston, this wouldn't really make the interlining situation any worse.
If we're talking about the M104 or B25 maybe, and certainly the B39, but that's not what's driving the very high ridership on the Bx1/2 or M14.
December 1, 2025 at 5:45 PM
If we're talking about the M104 or B25 maybe, and certainly the B39, but that's not what's driving the very high ridership on the Bx1/2 or M14.
(Though Chicago transit doesn't have that excuse.)
December 1, 2025 at 4:05 PM
(Though Chicago transit doesn't have that excuse.)
Significant numbers of low income people being anywhere near the city at all is partly to the credit of enough housing construction that they aren't priced out.
December 1, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Significant numbers of low income people being anywhere near the city at all is partly to the credit of enough housing construction that they aren't priced out.
I think this is more about the fact that the province wouldn't let Toronto ban housing (at least until the past decade), whereas those other cities mostly banned housing construction in the 70s or so.
December 1, 2025 at 3:56 PM
I think this is more about the fact that the province wouldn't let Toronto ban housing (at least until the past decade), whereas those other cities mostly banned housing construction in the 70s or so.