Global warming

[AlphaWolf]

Comparing train pricing vs. cost of gasoline driving a car, it's obvious that it costs a lot more to maintain and run trains than to just maintain highways and let people maintain their own cars.

I don't think obvious means what you think it means.

So are you sugesting the end of highways and roads and only train traveling ? If not then the cost of all these train lines will just be on top of the road costs we already have.

Road damage comes from vehicles using the road, less vehicles on the road equals less repairs.

 

[corduroygt]

I don't think obvious means what you think it means.

DC to NY by Amtrak: ~$80-150 depending on the day/time
DC to NY by car: $40-45 including gas and tolls and same price for up to 5 people.

Amtrak isn't making windfall profits either, so here's the case against trains right there.

 

[AlphaWolf]

DC to NY by Amtrak: ~$80-150 depending on the day/time
DC to NY by car: $40-45 including gas and tolls and same price for up to 5 people.

Amtrak isn't making windfall profits either, so here's the case against trains right there.

And the car came free with the gas right? And then there is the cost of insurance, parking, and maintenance.

 

[WhiningKhan]

DC to NY by Amtrak: ~$80-150 depending on the day/time
DC to NY by car: $40-45 including gas and tolls and same price for up to 5 people.

Amtrak isn't making windfall profits either, so here's the case against trains right there.

You have a case if you compare rental car to train and rental car turns out to be cheaper.

 

[Grall]

Thank God for stalone

Ahaha! Thank you, I've had a shitty morning but that line gave me a good laugh!

And of course, ol' Sly's Italian, too! (Though I doubt he lives in Jersey...)

I still don't understand what you have against a hybrid like the volt.

Have I said I've got something against them? If so, I'm sorry, I don't, really. They're a decent enough interim solution (and perhaps the only feasible one, even long-term, depending on how far we can push battery tech), although they should be built out of aluminium instead of steel, and use diesel engines instead of petrol. It would make them more efficient.

Isn't it better than me being on gas all the time ?

Of course it's better, although for it to be really good a lot of you americans need to stop being silly and live so damn far from your workplaces and so on. Tens of miles each way in commutes isn't going to work in the future. This planet is filling up with people at an alarming rate, there simply isn't room for all of you to sit in a car each and travel for an hour plus to and from work each day. We can't fit enough cars on our roads, and the environment can't deal with the pollution.

Is our grid going to be able to handle it ?

You'll be charging mostly during night-time, when other loads are lower. But yeah, you'd probably need to invest into your power grid. It's unfortunate your local circuits only run at 110V, that limits the amount of power you can push through the cables quite substantially...

Led lights can add 6 miles to an ev's range

LED lights are great. I don't understand why the Prius doesn't use LEDs all around, it doesn't make sense. Ok, so the full beam headlights might not be feasible to LED right now, but certainly the rest could work. Cost is very minor, compared to the price of the whole vehicle, and like you say, it would add noticeably to the range.

 

[corduroygt]

And the car came free with the gas right? And then there is the cost of insurance, parking, and maintenance.

You're always going to need a car since you're not going to have train tracks to every home and every shop and workplace. Also with a car you're not dependent on the train schedule, you're free to go any time on your own. So I already pay the cost of insurance and maintenance because a car is a must for a better quality of life.

Parking, I park on the street in Manhattan for free, if you don't want to do that, instead of paying $8 for the bridge toll going into manhattan, you can park in a NJT lot and take the bus into the city for less than $8 total.

Now, a cheaper alternative is taking the Bolt Bus (Like Angelina Jolie in Salt) for around $20. That's far more feasible than any train ride, which is ridiculously expensive. Sometimes I do that instead, when I don't feel like driving.

 

[rpg.314]

@corduroyg:

You were going great for a while, but for the last pages you're simply ranting, with no scientific backup to your posts. Think about it.

Otherwise, you'll be renamed _xxx_2 by popular vote. And with good reason.

Well, you do not seem to be as retarded or sociopathic as corduroy, but it's not like you have put forth solid scientific arguments yourselves.

 

[eastmen]

Ahaha! Thank you, I've had a shitty morning but that line gave me a good laugh!

And of course, ol' Sly's Italian, too! (Though I doubt he lives in Jersey...)

Na he is from hell's kitchen

Have I said I've got something against them? If so, I'm sorry, I don't, really. They're a decent enough interim solution (and perhaps the only feasible one, even long-term, depending on how far we can push battery tech), although they should be built out of aluminium instead of steel, and use diesel engines instead of petrol. It would make them more efficient.

You just allwys seem to dismiss them. I don't see diesel taking off here in the states. It has a stigma of being dirty and noisy because of cars introduced in the 80s. Aside from that for every 10 gas stations i pass 1 of them has a diesel pump.

Of course it's better, although for it to be really good a lot of you americans need to stop being silly and live so damn far from your workplaces and so on. Tens of miles each way in commutes isn't going to work in the future. This planet is filling up with people at an alarming rate, there simply isn't room for all of you to sit in a car each and travel for an hour plus to and from work each day. We can't fit enough cars on our roads, and the environment can't deal with the pollution.

Should we all just crowd into huge citys ?

Besides alot of us do work at jobs that we can take trains to. Most of my friends use the train or bus to the city for work. Its just not all work is in NYC

You'll be charging mostly during night-time, when other loads are lower. But yeah, you'd probably need to invest into your power grid. It's unfortunate your local circuits only run at 110V, that limits the amount of power you can push through the cables quite substantially...

Well the problem comes as ev's become more wide spread. I'm sure we can absorb a few hundred thousand ev's on the grid at night but there are tens of millions of cars in this coutnry



LED lights are great. I don't understand why the Prius doesn't use LEDs all around, it doesn't make sense. Ok, so the full beam headlights might not be feasible to LED right now, but certainly the rest could work. Cost is very minor, compared to the price of the whole vehicle, and like you say, it would add noticeably to the range.[/QUOTE]

most likely at the time of design they were to expensive. Perhaps in a redesign we will see them.

 

[corduroygt]

Grall is just jealous that we can play Kinect just fine with our large homes compared to the shoeboxes they call apartments in Europe.

 

[AlphaWolf]

You're always going to need a car since you're not going to have train tracks to every home and every shop and workplace. Also with a car you're not dependent on the train schedule, you're free to go any time on your own. So I already pay the cost of insurance and maintenance because a car is a must for a better quality of life.

No, you don't need a car. Quite a few people manage without one. If the train and mass transit infrastructure was better, there would be much less wait and convenience issues.

Parking, I park on the street in Manhattan for free, if you don't want to do that, instead of paying $8 for the bridge toll going into manhattan, you can park in a NJT lot and take the bus into the city for less than $8 total.

It's good for you that Manhattan is the only place you ever go. How lucky.

Now, a cheaper alternative is taking the Bolt Bus (Like Angelina Jolie in Salt) for around $20. That's far more feasible than any train ride, which is ridiculously expensive. Sometimes I do that instead, when I don't feel like driving.

That's only because the train infrastructure sucks.

 

[corduroygt]

No, you don't need a car. Quite a few people manage without one. If the train and mass transit infrastructure was better, there would be much less wait and convenience issues.

Having a car equals better quality of life and the freedom to go anywhere you want whenever you want.

It's good for you that Manhattan is the only place you ever go. How lucky.

That's the most congested city in the US. Anywhere else would be easier/cheaper.

That's only because the train infrastructure sucks.

No, US doesn't have the required population density to make passenger trains viable without significant government subsidies.

 

[AlphaWolf]

Having a car equals better quality of life and the freedom to go anywhere you want whenever you want.

So does having oxygen to breathe.

That's the most congested city in the US. Anywhere else would be easier/cheaper.

I'm not sure how you think free is expensive. You'll pay $2 an hour or more to park most places. Mostly though I just think you're full of shit.

No, US doesn't have the required population density to make passenger trains viable without significant government subsidies.

All transportation is subsidized by the government. What is your point?

 

[corduroygt]

So does having oxygen to breathe.

We have cars and we have oxygen now, so that's just you being a moron in that statement.

I'm not sure how you think free is expensive. You'll pay $2 an hour or more to park most places. Mostly though I just think you're full of shit.

I said easier/less expensive. In NYC it sometimes takes 30 minutes before I can find a spot. I can just go to a garage and pay if I don't want to wait. In other cities garages would be cheaper and/or it'd take less time to find a spot. What you think is irrelevant as well.

All transportation is subsidized by the government. What is your point?

It takes a lot less money to just maintain the highways than railways and trains and pay people to run them. It's also much more efficient, since people can have their own time to travel.

 

[KimB]

It takes a lot less money to just maintain the highways than railways and trains and pay people to run them. It's also much more efficient, since people can have their own time to travel.

Evidence? Seriously, you're pulling a lot of shit out of your ass here.

Trains are, in general, far more efficient than cars when considering total costs.

Transitioning to a better rail system would mean less use of cars, would mean less required maintenance on highways as well as peoples' cars wearing out more slowly. So peoples' taxes would have to increase somewhat to deal with the extra cost of maintaining the rail system, but it would likely be more than offset by the lower requirement for buying fuel and new vehicles.

 

[eastmen]

Evidence? Seriously, you're pulling a lot of shit out of your ass here.

Trains are, in general, far more efficient than cars when considering total costs.

Transitioning to a better rail system would mean less use of cars, would mean less required maintenance on highways as well as peoples' cars wearing out more slowly. So peoples' taxes would have to increase somewhat to deal with the extra cost of maintaining the rail system, but it would likely be more than offset by the lower requirement for buying fuel and new vehicles.

I think trucks are still responsible for more damage to the streets than cars.

Also what good is a train going to do me if i have to walk 15 miles just to get to it. unless they are going to put train stops every few blocks and bring them every where in the country its not going to improve anything

 

[corduroygt]

Evidence? Seriously, you're pulling a lot of shit out of your ass here.

Trains are, in general, far more efficient than cars when considering total costs.

How much of a value are you putting on people's time? $50/hr? $100/hr? Because driving to the train station and waiting for the train are all take time. Also, while I understand the rich paying more taxes and not using any of the services they're paying for and that's ok because they're rich. But It's not fair to make all middle class people pay more taxes so only SOME of them can benefit from trains due to location. EU has only half of the land mass of US but 50% more people, so that's 3 times the population density on the average, so those socialistic mass transport policies won't work here. We like our big homes, big roads, and big cars, and we have the most powerful military in the world to answer people like you who says we shouldn't have them.

 

[KimB]

Also what good is a train going to do me if i have to walk 15 miles just to get to it. unless they are going to put train stops every few blocks and bring them every where in the country its not going to improve anything

That's why you have buses. A good public transportation system is a comprehensive one, with buses for short distances, and trains for intermediate/long distances. In Paris they also have this really neat system where you can rent bicycles (basically, they have these special bike racks in various places around the city, and you can pay a couple of Euros, grab a bike, and park it at another bike rack some distance away).

 

[zed]

and we have the most powerful military in the world to answer people like you who says we shouldn't have them.

Oh come on, everyone knows this is israel

corduroygt are you trying to fill xxx's shoes?

 

[corduroygt]

That's why you have buses. A good public transportation system is a comprehensive one, with buses for short distances, and trains for intermediate/long distances.

Only works when population density is high enough.

 

[AlphaWolf]

Now try one with regional population densities.

Eastern US looks like a good candidate.