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Gender Balanced Snow Clearance

1 points by ebcode 7y ago

Bostonian 7y ago
Making everything about gender equity is tiresome. Emergency service workers such as police, firemen, and paramedics need to drive to respond to incidents. Private citizens can clear the sidewalks in front of their homes and are sometimes mandated to do so.
- dalke 7y ago
  The article was pretty clear this wasn't about gender equity but about the mode of transportation. Quoting the text, "In fact, it turned out that the pertinent point was not about gender balancing specifically. The data showed that three times as many people were injured while walking in icy conditions in Stockholm than are injured whilst driving. ... Since the cost of those injuries far exceeded the cost of the snow clearance, the prioritization was reversed, so now pavements are done before roads. ... Bottom line, the policy prioritizes pedestrians before motorists, and it simply happens that more women are pedestrians. ... Ultimately Sweden's reversal of snow clearance prioritization resulted in less injuries" Sweden has nationalized health care, so the state pays for injuries due to both walking and driving. In the US, the government only pays for road clearing. If the total cost, including mortality rates for all snow-related issues, indicates that cleaning the sidewalks first is better, then why not do that? You write "Private citizens can clear the sidewalks in front of their homes" In small town Sweden where I live, private citizens are required to clear their sidewalks. The large apartment complex management companies have their own small tractor fleet which they use to snowplow and add gravel in winter. But Sweden has a much more extensive network of bike paths and walking paths which are not sidewalks in front of someone's home than in the US. In addition, a larger fraction of Swedes walk or bike than in the US. Consider that most people in Stockholm probably walk their children to (pre)school, while in the US most probably drive. As an analogy, think as if 25% of NYC had to walk across Central Park each day, while the city didn't clear the Central Park walking paths until after all the streets were cleared.

1 points by ebcode 7y ago

Making everything about gender equity is tiresome. Emergency service workers such as police, firemen, and paramedics need to drive to respond to incidents. Private citizens can clear the sidewalks in front of their homes and are sometimes mandated to do so.

dalke 7y ago
The article was pretty clear this wasn't about gender equity but about the mode of transportation. Quoting the text, "In fact, it turned out that the pertinent point was not about gender balancing specifically. The data showed that three times as many people were injured while walking in icy conditions in Stockholm than are injured whilst driving. ... Since the cost of those injuries far exceeded the cost of the snow clearance, the prioritization was reversed, so now pavements are done before roads. ... Bottom line, the policy prioritizes pedestrians before motorists, and it simply happens that more women are pedestrians. ... Ultimately Sweden's reversal of snow clearance prioritization resulted in less injuries" Sweden has nationalized health care, so the state pays for injuries due to both walking and driving. In the US, the government only pays for road clearing. If the total cost, including mortality rates for all snow-related issues, indicates that cleaning the sidewalks first is better, then why not do that? You write "Private citizens can clear the sidewalks in front of their homes" In small town Sweden where I live, private citizens are required to clear their sidewalks. The large apartment complex management companies have their own small tractor fleet which they use to snowplow and add gravel in winter. But Sweden has a much more extensive network of bike paths and walking paths which are not sidewalks in front of someone's home than in the US. In addition, a larger fraction of Swedes walk or bike than in the US. Consider that most people in Stockholm probably walk their children to (pre)school, while in the US most probably drive. As an analogy, think as if 25% of NYC had to walk across Central Park each day, while the city didn't clear the Central Park walking paths until after all the streets were cleared.