3 ms·

This always applies every time when building new roads but is always ignored by governments.

by cup-of-tea 9y ago

xvedejas 9y ago
And, interestingly, you can always prevent the paradox with toll roads and congestion pricing.
- dredmorbius 9y ago
  Or incentivise high-density development through land value tax.
dredmorbius 9y ago
Highways in particular are an interesting and perverse case in that traffic will increase well beyond the level of service provided. Building capacity increases congestion. There's another interesting dynamic, though, in that increased transportation efficiency has effectively expanded the scope of travel services demanded. When most personal transport was via foot, and goods moved by cart, or ship, urban scales were small (1-3 miles was a large city), goods moved short distances, and production was largely localised.[1] As cargo and personal transport capabilities increased, with ships, canals,[2] railroads, automobiles and aircraft, land usage patterns increased. People started taking holidays and travelling on vacations, or weekends. Suburbs emerged, first streetcar, then railroad, then automobile. Inter-city transport emerged via rail and bus, later international travel via aircraft. The gas turbine has given us not a bunch of jet propulsion engineers, but holidays in Mauritius and Phuket, whilst our household goods arrive via container from Shanghai and electronics from Shenzhen. Travel also vastly expanded epidemiological vectors for disease transmission. I'm wondering what completes the analogy: automobiles::suburbs ai::??? __________________________________ Notes: 1. Which is to say, we had a decentralised, local-first, non-monopoly world at one time. It was also non-technological. Seeking decentralised technological solutions may prove to be like fucking for virginity: an appealing, rewarding, and enjoyable, but ultimately fruitless pursuit. 2. The impact of the Erie Canal on transport and commerce patterns within the U.S. was profound. New York City owes its prominence not only to the natural harbour in which it lies, but to the geography and geology of the Mohawk Valley. In a related statistic, a table of carrying capacity of a horse ranges from 1/8 ton in saddlebags to 80 tons on a canal, for a net ratio of 1:640. To a rough approximation this continues to hold true for energy efficiencies in transport, though you might care to start with the capacity of a wagon on a macadam road, about 8 tons.
zaarn 9y ago
That's actually not quite true. You can certainly build a new road that will lighten up traffic. Traffic engineering is a rather serious and complicated science, the demand on a road can fluctuate based on hundred of factors such as the time of year, weather condition, urban development, population size and density, time of day, weekday, the kind of radio everyone is listening to, tailgating fractions, etc etc etc. Building a road requires some serious thought into how to build it so that not everyone jumps on the new road while also not preventing anyone from using it. For all conditions.

This always applies every time when building new roads but is always ignored by governments.

xvedejas 9y ago

And, interestingly, you can always prevent the paradox with toll roads and congestion pricing.

dredmorbius 9y ago
Or incentivise high-density development through land value tax.

dredmorbius 9y ago

Highways in particular are an interesting and perverse case in that traffic will increase well beyond the level of service provided. Building capacity increases congestion. There's another interesting dynamic, though, in that increased transportation efficiency has effectively expanded the scope of travel services demanded. When most personal transport was via foot, and goods moved by cart, or ship, urban scales were small (1-3 miles was a large city), goods moved short distances, and production was largely localised.[1] As cargo and personal transport capabilities increased, with ships, canals,[2] railroads, automobiles and aircraft, land usage patterns increased. People started taking holidays and travelling on vacations, or weekends. Suburbs emerged, first streetcar, then railroad, then automobile. Inter-city transport emerged via rail and bus, later international travel via aircraft. The gas turbine has given us not a bunch of jet propulsion engineers, but holidays in Mauritius and Phuket, whilst our household goods arrive via container from Shanghai and electronics from Shenzhen. Travel also vastly expanded epidemiological vectors for disease transmission. I'm wondering what completes the analogy: automobiles::suburbs ai::??? __________________________________ Notes: 1. Which is to say, we had a decentralised, local-first, non-monopoly world at one time. It was also non-technological. Seeking decentralised technological solutions may prove to be like fucking for virginity: an appealing, rewarding, and enjoyable, but ultimately fruitless pursuit. 2. The impact of the Erie Canal on transport and commerce patterns within the U.S. was profound. New York City owes its prominence not only to the natural harbour in which it lies, but to the geography and geology of the Mohawk Valley. In a related statistic, a table of carrying capacity of a horse ranges from 1/8 ton in saddlebags to 80 tons on a canal, for a net ratio of 1:640. To a rough approximation this continues to hold true for energy efficiencies in transport, though you might care to start with the capacity of a wagon on a macadam road, about 8 tons.

zaarn 9y ago

That's actually not quite true. You can certainly build a new road that will lighten up traffic. Traffic engineering is a rather serious and complicated science, the demand on a road can fluctuate based on hundred of factors such as the time of year, weather condition, urban development, population size and density, time of day, weekday, the kind of radio everyone is listening to, tailgating fractions, etc etc etc. Building a road requires some serious thought into how to build it so that not everyone jumps on the new road while also not preventing anyone from using it. For all conditions.