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Once again, Americans are "discovering" things other civilized countries knew and implemented for a long time :)
by mamon 8y ago
Once again, Americans are "discovering" things other civilized countries knew and implemented for a long time :)
- fastball 8y agoI don't think anyone is "discovering" this. The US has prioritized other modes of transport because the US had priorities beyond "how clean it is".
- perfmode 8y agoSuch as?
- jdietrich 8y agoAmong other factors, the US motor industry engaged in a criminal conspiracy to undermine urban mass transit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_consp...
- shereadsthenews 8y agoHow much coal it rolls, how much it ownz the libz, etc.
- chrisseaton 8y agoIndividual independence and convenience were a goal in American culture the middle of the 20th century, until the externalities of that were understand. There's some famous interview - can't remember with who - about how at the time getting a car gave incredible freedom nobody had experienced before. It was a big part of how people saw the American dream in the last century, before the impact was understood.
- thatfrenchguy 8y agoAnd now, having a car is seen as impending your freedom, funnily enough.
- goodfight 8y agoSoon enough that little bit of freedom will be outlawed. :(
- eMSF 8y agoBy whom?
- TOGoS 8y agoAnyone who doesn't get free parking, or doesn't want to spend their time and money maintaining a personal vehicle, but is coerced into doing so by society that was built around them.
- seattle_spring 8y agoI sure don't see it that way. Let me know when we invent something that can affordably and reliably take me to the base of mountains for hikes (real hikes, not shitty crowded garbage like Lake 22 or Mount Tam).
- hu3 8y agoIf only cars were used sporadically and not to commute to work daily by many. That would require good public transportation which, at least in London, is a reality.
- fastball 8y agoMost people don't commute to work in cars in NYC / San Francisco / etc either.
- ceejayoz 8y ago> Let me know when we invent something that can affordably and reliably take me to the base of mountains for hikes (real hikes, not shitty crowded garbage like Lake 22 or Mount Tam). If you visit Switzerland, you'll find this is an extremely solved problem.
- int_19h 8y ago> how at the time getting a car gave incredible freedom nobody had experienced before It's not just "at the time" - it still does that, and I'm saying this as an immigrant from a society that relies much more on public transport. I'm not disputing the impact, but in these discussions, it's often presented as price that's paid for no gains of note, and that's just not true. Whether they're worth the cost is another discussion.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- hannasanarion 8y agoPrivatizing the economy to ensure that nothing happens that doesn't make a profit for somebody. Because if a product doesn't make boatloads of money for an oligarch in a big city somewhere, that product doesn't deserve to exist.
- coredog64 8y agoHow fast is it? Prior to the first Gulf War, airport security didn’t impose long waits and significantly tilting the balance away from trains. On the freight side, companies have to keep product on the books if it’s on some rail car vs. having been delivered by truck the day before.
- gamblor956 8y agoThe US has the best rail system in the world...and uses it to transport cargo. The US also has the biggest single-country economy in the world.
- luckydata 8y agoComing from Europe and stealing a large swath of largely unexploited land has done great things for the American economy. Unfortunately the majority of my fellow americans insist in believing it's all due to hard work and superior moral fiber, because everywhere else people are just lazy and corrupt :)
- philwelch 8y agoThere are dozens of countries in the Western Hemisphere that were built on "a large swath of largely unexploited land".
- kortilla 8y agoLand has been completely irrelevant to the success of the entire information economy and the US still dominates that. It has nothing to do with a “superior moral fiber”, it’s about having an environment that promotes innovation and businesses based on new innovations.
- tomglynch 8y agoIrrelevant? Having the land to generate the dollars to begin the information economy sure was helpful...
- jjtheblunt 8y agoThe US has extensive rail coverage, where geographically feasible, and has had such since the 1800s. Perhaps the system grew before the present US was entirely assembled, therefore, and could use a rethinking?
- gilbetron 8y agoThe US has the largest train network in the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_rail_transport_network_size https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_rail_tran...
- dang 8y agoNationalistic swipes will get you banned here, regardless of which nation you're going after, so please don't do this here. Among other things, it breaks the site guideline against flamebait. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html