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One thing to keep in mind is that this decreases the carrying capacity of highways (cars spending more time in a lane of traffic) and could result in more const

by jcims 5y ago

One thing to keep in mind is that this decreases the carrying capacity of highways (cars spending more time in a lane of traffic) and could result in more construction.

meristohm 5y ago
Fine. Maybe we don’t get to drive so much. What’s a reasonable per-person carbon and water quota? (with need-based exceptions, since giving up compassion and care for the differently-abled people is way low on my priority list) Imposing regulations that limits energy and transportation feels appropriate. Prioritize survival (and housing, education, and healthcare, and helping people come to terms with mortality), and help retrain people to do more with less. Laying under a tree yesterday in 37C (not as hot as Portland that day, or as humid as what I remember from the Midwest or South) I enjoyed the high-def, ultra-wide view above (birds, insects, leaves, sky) and below (ants, other insects, spiders, plants, soil). The olfactory emitter is top-notch, too, and the sound quality can’t be beat.
OldHand2018 5y ago
As you travel faster, you must increase the distance between cars for safety - decreasing the number of cars that can fit within a certain length of highway. But… Have you seen some modeling of carrying capacity for highways at different speeds? You may be right, of course.
zip1234 5y ago
It 'may' decrease carrying capacity of highways. Also, induced demand is a real observed phenomenon with roadways. The more capacity there is, the more people will drive. Paradoxically, when capacity is removed, traffic will often just dry up. Highway agencies know this but still use traffic models to justify expansion that are self-fulfilling projections.
- jcims 5y ago
  This seems like an awfully simplistic first order analysis that doesn't consider the end to end economics of driving. Location is an economic constraint, and the ability to reduce or eliminate that constraint at will is very powerful. The fact that (some) traffic fills to capacity on a specific road just means there is economic demand surplus for travel between points connected by that particular route at that particular time. This demand tapers off when the roadway reaches capacity because another cost begins to grow exponentially. Travel in congested traffic quite literally causes people to murder each other. This cost, the stress of driving on congested roadways, doesn't seem to surface much because it's difficult to quantify. However, for me, it is the one thing that will cause me to change my plans. (edit: It's easy to distill 'economic' motivation into profit. That's not my intent here. My view is that there is no intrinsic value of anything, the sun could have exploded 7 minutes ago and if anyone outside of its reach is there to witness it they might catalogue it as ES0481A (in 4+ years). I use 'economic' as an encapsulation of human desire to live and to thrive and its important to me and to this argument from that perspective.)

by jcims 5y ago

One thing to keep in mind is that this decreases the carrying capacity of highways (cars spending more time in a lane of traffic) and could result in more construction.

meristohm 5y ago

Fine. Maybe we don’t get to drive so much. What’s a reasonable per-person carbon and water quota? (with need-based exceptions, since giving up compassion and care for the differently-abled people is way low on my priority list) Imposing regulations that limits energy and transportation feels appropriate. Prioritize survival (and housing, education, and healthcare, and helping people come to terms with mortality), and help retrain people to do more with less. Laying under a tree yesterday in 37C (not as hot as Portland that day, or as humid as what I remember from the Midwest or South) I enjoyed the high-def, ultra-wide view above (birds, insects, leaves, sky) and below (ants, other insects, spiders, plants, soil). The olfactory emitter is top-notch, too, and the sound quality can’t be beat.

OldHand2018 5y ago

As you travel faster, you must increase the distance between cars for safety - decreasing the number of cars that can fit within a certain length of highway. But… Have you seen some modeling of carrying capacity for highways at different speeds? You may be right, of course.

zip1234 5y ago

It 'may' decrease carrying capacity of highways. Also, induced demand is a real observed phenomenon with roadways. The more capacity there is, the more people will drive. Paradoxically, when capacity is removed, traffic will often just dry up. Highway agencies know this but still use traffic models to justify expansion that are self-fulfilling projections.

jcims 5y ago
This seems like an awfully simplistic first order analysis that doesn't consider the end to end economics of driving. Location is an economic constraint, and the ability to reduce or eliminate that constraint at will is very powerful. The fact that (some) traffic fills to capacity on a specific road just means there is economic demand surplus for travel between points connected by that particular route at that particular time. This demand tapers off when the roadway reaches capacity because another cost begins to grow exponentially. Travel in congested traffic quite literally causes people to murder each other. This cost, the stress of driving on congested roadways, doesn't seem to surface much because it's difficult to quantify. However, for me, it is the one thing that will cause me to change my plans. (edit: It's easy to distill 'economic' motivation into profit. That's not my intent here. My view is that there is no intrinsic value of anything, the sun could have exploded 7 minutes ago and if anyone outside of its reach is there to witness it they might catalogue it as ES0481A (in 4+ years). I use 'economic' as an encapsulation of human desire to live and to thrive and its important to me and to this argument from that perspective.)