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This approach is taken with regulated utilities and telcos as well--natural gas utilities design their systems with enough capacity to serve all firm customers

This approach is taken with regulated utilities and telcos as well--natural gas utilities design their systems with enough capacity to serve all firm customers on the expected coldest day of the year (called a "design day") and circuit switched telephone networks were designed to handle the traffic expected on Mother's Day.

eecc 4y ago
Not in NL. Train schedules regularly go haywire whenever a track switch freezes or -- less funnily -- there's a "person collision". The infrastructure is so congested there's no slack; indeed WFH (or remote, perhaps a local professional setting cowork) would do wonders to reduce commute overhead.
- nradov 4y ago
  It's a lot faster and cheaper to add more telephone circuits than to build more train tracks and stations. Our infrastructure in many places was just never designed for so many people.
- dmitriid 4y ago
  In Stockholm we're joking that as soon as there's a singe leaf on the tracks in autumn, trains are screwed. Wet leaves on the tracks are no joke, and can be hazardous, but the commuter trains have been quite badly mismanaged
- crote 4y ago
  This seems to be happening less and less often, though. ProRail has pretty aggressively been removing most track switches not in regular use, reducing their chance of failure at the cost of not being able to reroute around any issues that do occur. At the same time they've been replacing busy railway crossings with tunnels, and closing or protecting the 150 or so remaining unprotected crossings. The total number of accidental collisions is down to less than one a week. There's still about 200 suicides a year, but they are also actively trying to prevent those by adjusting the infrastructure. There are significant issues at the moment, but most of them are at NS and other transporters. They are critically short on personnel, and recruiting new people isn't going very well. They've had to cut the number of trains by about 10% already!
cratermoon 4y ago
Except in Texas, of course. But then, one might argue that utilities in Texas aren't meaningfully regulated.
- tomrod 4y ago
  They are, actually. The PUCT has historically done a great job. But, legislation (outside PUCT) has allowed the utility (generators and transmission/distribution asset owners) to cut the system to the bone and defer maintenance and expansion despite a new city's worth of people (~100k) relocating each month to Texas.
  - cratermoon 4y ago
    So you're saying that except for the laws the control what PUCT can regulate, regulation is working fine?
  - thehappypm 4y ago
    Texas’s population is not increasing by 100k/month. Sure, people may be flocking there but actual population growth is less than half that rate.
    - tomrod 4y ago
      50k per month is still 600k/year! The point remains that the population growth (which is known and anticipated) is not having utility growth to match.
crote 4y ago
Were they, though? In my experience calling, text messaging, and WhatsApp has basically always had capacity issues on New Year's Eve, as literally everyone is trying to contact their family members the moment the clock hits twelve. Failed connections/messages are basically expected, and many people even intentionally call earlier or later to avoid this.
- kmbfjr 4y ago
  Yes, they were. Cellular networks and Meta’s app, likely not so much. It is what happens when you regulate monopolies, you can attach performance requirements.

eecc 4y ago

Not in NL. Train schedules regularly go haywire whenever a track switch freezes or -- less funnily -- there's a "person collision". The infrastructure is so congested there's no slack; indeed WFH (or remote, perhaps a local professional setting cowork) would do wonders to reduce commute overhead.

nradov 4y ago
It's a lot faster and cheaper to add more telephone circuits than to build more train tracks and stations. Our infrastructure in many places was just never designed for so many people.
dmitriid 4y ago
In Stockholm we're joking that as soon as there's a singe leaf on the tracks in autumn, trains are screwed. Wet leaves on the tracks are no joke, and can be hazardous, but the commuter trains have been quite badly mismanaged
crote 4y ago
This seems to be happening less and less often, though. ProRail has pretty aggressively been removing most track switches not in regular use, reducing their chance of failure at the cost of not being able to reroute around any issues that do occur. At the same time they've been replacing busy railway crossings with tunnels, and closing or protecting the 150 or so remaining unprotected crossings. The total number of accidental collisions is down to less than one a week. There's still about 200 suicides a year, but they are also actively trying to prevent those by adjusting the infrastructure. There are significant issues at the moment, but most of them are at NS and other transporters. They are critically short on personnel, and recruiting new people isn't going very well. They've had to cut the number of trains by about 10% already!

cratermoon 4y ago

Except in Texas, of course. But then, one might argue that utilities in Texas aren't meaningfully regulated.

tomrod 4y ago
They are, actually. The PUCT has historically done a great job. But, legislation (outside PUCT) has allowed the utility (generators and transmission/distribution asset owners) to cut the system to the bone and defer maintenance and expansion despite a new city's worth of people (~100k) relocating each month to Texas.
- cratermoon 4y ago
  So you're saying that except for the laws the control what PUCT can regulate, regulation is working fine?
- thehappypm 4y ago
  Texas’s population is not increasing by 100k/month. Sure, people may be flocking there but actual population growth is less than half that rate.
  - tomrod 4y ago
    50k per month is still 600k/year! The point remains that the population growth (which is known and anticipated) is not having utility growth to match.

crote 4y ago

Were they, though? In my experience calling, text messaging, and WhatsApp has basically always had capacity issues on New Year's Eve, as literally everyone is trying to contact their family members the moment the clock hits twelve. Failed connections/messages are basically expected, and many people even intentionally call earlier or later to avoid this.

kmbfjr 4y ago
Yes, they were. Cellular networks and Meta’s app, likely not so much. It is what happens when you regulate monopolies, you can attach performance requirements.