4 ms·

Anyone interested in this topic can learn much more at Alon Levy's blog at https://pedestrianobservations.com/ https://pedestrianobservations.com/. One of the

Anyone interested in this topic can learn much more at Alon Levy's blog at https://pedestrianobservations.com/ https://pedestrianobservations.com/. One of the points he makes is that Anglosphere countries (and the USA is worse than others) refuse to learn from other countries that have better cost and performance. He has a lot more to say - it's good reading.

fennecfoxen 6y ago
Second Avenue Sagas — http://secondavenuesagas.com/ http://secondavenuesagas.com/ — is also a good one dedicated to NYC transit and has extensive coverage of this project specifically at http://secondavenuesagas.com/category/second-avenue-subway/ http://secondavenuesagas.com/category/second-avenue-subway/
johngalt 6y ago
+1 Pedestrian Observations is great reading for infrastructure nerds. Really digs into the details and trade-offs related to city transportation and regional transportation design.
lbriner 6y ago
Is it really "refusing to learn" or is it that things are always far more complicated than you would like? In the UK, planning rules are often blamed for large project delays but you can't easily just throw the rules out of the window without causing concern that you will end up with a different problem. The Shinkansen was/is a successful project but it had certain "costs" involving not just the demolition of lots of property but also the "eyesore" of above-ground railways. If you want to import that success, you import all of the problems at the same time. I think perhaps governments would spend better quality time really asking and answering "what do we want this country to be about", then maybe they could start knocking the old walls down.
- benrbray 6y ago
  > The Shinkansen was/is a successful project but it had certain "costs" involving not just the demolition of lots of property but also the "eyesore" of above-ground railways. If you want to import that success, you import all of the problems at the same time. Sure, but the alternative is usually highways, which need to be wider, and tend to louder and more of an eyesore. I'd take a Shinkansen over I-75/I-85 any day. (looking at you, Atlanta)
- pchristensen 6y ago
  I tried to fit into a tweet-length summary what Alon has spent hundreds of thousands of words summarizing synthesis of man-years of research. His thoughts on that are spread across many posts over years, but here's one from March of this year that's a good example - https://pedestrianobservations.com/2020/03/16/who-do-you-learn-from/ https://pedestrianobservations.com/2020/03/16/who-do-you-lea....
bshanks 6y ago
Thanks -- does he have a post summarizing his recommendations for government practices that promote cost control?

fennecfoxen 6y ago

Second Avenue Sagas — http://secondavenuesagas.com/ http://secondavenuesagas.com/ — is also a good one dedicated to NYC transit and has extensive coverage of this project specifically at http://secondavenuesagas.com/category/second-avenue-subway/ http://secondavenuesagas.com/category/second-avenue-subway/

johngalt 6y ago

+1 Pedestrian Observations is great reading for infrastructure nerds. Really digs into the details and trade-offs related to city transportation and regional transportation design.

lbriner 6y ago

Is it really "refusing to learn" or is it that things are always far more complicated than you would like? In the UK, planning rules are often blamed for large project delays but you can't easily just throw the rules out of the window without causing concern that you will end up with a different problem. The Shinkansen was/is a successful project but it had certain "costs" involving not just the demolition of lots of property but also the "eyesore" of above-ground railways. If you want to import that success, you import all of the problems at the same time. I think perhaps governments would spend better quality time really asking and answering "what do we want this country to be about", then maybe they could start knocking the old walls down.

benrbray 6y ago
> The Shinkansen was/is a successful project but it had certain "costs" involving not just the demolition of lots of property but also the "eyesore" of above-ground railways. If you want to import that success, you import all of the problems at the same time. Sure, but the alternative is usually highways, which need to be wider, and tend to louder and more of an eyesore. I'd take a Shinkansen over I-75/I-85 any day. (looking at you, Atlanta)
pchristensen 6y ago
I tried to fit into a tweet-length summary what Alon has spent hundreds of thousands of words summarizing synthesis of man-years of research. His thoughts on that are spread across many posts over years, but here's one from March of this year that's a good example - https://pedestrianobservations.com/2020/03/16/who-do-you-learn-from/ https://pedestrianobservations.com/2020/03/16/who-do-you-lea....

bshanks 6y ago

Thanks -- does he have a post summarizing his recommendations for government practices that promote cost control?