4 ms·

I like your approach, which could also be stated as "either build more if you're going to charge 0, or else charge based on privacy/demand" This would force em

I like your approach, which could also be stated as "either build more if you're going to charge 0, or else charge based on privacy/demand" This would force employers to look at flexible hours, work from home, etc., to keep employees. Ive often thought how strange it is that the marginal use of a road is free...which can cause waste, abuse of the commons, etc. It's also strange to be on a high floor in SF, CHI, NYC, etc., And look down at the grid of streets that could be valuable real estate...yet something like 50% of all and (and the air space above) is dedicated to hundred-year-old technology!

quotemstr 8y ago
Right. "Free" triggers a host of bugs in the human cost estimation system. Put a price on something and we can start to approach it more rationally and make the necessary trade-offs. I suspect funding for transit would increase if the tolls needed to keep city streets at a free-flow traffic level were immediately apparent.
- b1daly 8y ago
  As a counter argument , forcing people to factor in the cost of a toll as a factor in making an a given trio could just as easily lead to sub-optimal underutilization of what has historically (in the US anyway) a public good. People are no more rational about making small purchases than they are about providing the necessary funds through taxation. I suspect most people intuitively grasp that having freely accessible public roadways is well worth the cost.
  - cimmanom 8y ago
    Yeah, tolls don't seem to cause under-utilization for bridges (the ones I know are still bumper to bumper at rush hour), unless you mean relative to free routes in the same area that probably should be tolled but aren't.
jayd16 8y ago
>This would force employers to look at flexible hours, work from home, etc., to keep employees. Costing employee commute time hasn't kindled such a change. Why would employee taxes do it?
- humanrebar 8y ago
  I'd like to see a way to make employers more responsible for commute times. The location and centralization of offices, after all, are decisions of the employer. Many (most?) employees would be more than happy to work and live in the same town instead of commute, but employers don't generally give that option. A simple mechanism might be to start classifying commuting as a form of work for hire and require compensation (perhaps at half rate?) for the work.

quotemstr 8y ago

Right. "Free" triggers a host of bugs in the human cost estimation system. Put a price on something and we can start to approach it more rationally and make the necessary trade-offs. I suspect funding for transit would increase if the tolls needed to keep city streets at a free-flow traffic level were immediately apparent.

b1daly 8y ago
As a counter argument , forcing people to factor in the cost of a toll as a factor in making an a given trio could just as easily lead to sub-optimal underutilization of what has historically (in the US anyway) a public good. People are no more rational about making small purchases than they are about providing the necessary funds through taxation. I suspect most people intuitively grasp that having freely accessible public roadways is well worth the cost.
- cimmanom 8y ago
  Yeah, tolls don't seem to cause under-utilization for bridges (the ones I know are still bumper to bumper at rush hour), unless you mean relative to free routes in the same area that probably should be tolled but aren't.

jayd16 8y ago

>This would force employers to look at flexible hours, work from home, etc., to keep employees. Costing employee commute time hasn't kindled such a change. Why would employee taxes do it?

humanrebar 8y ago
I'd like to see a way to make employers more responsible for commute times. The location and centralization of offices, after all, are decisions of the employer. Many (most?) employees would be more than happy to work and live in the same town instead of commute, but employers don't generally give that option. A simple mechanism might be to start classifying commuting as a form of work for hire and require compensation (perhaps at half rate?) for the work.