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Notably the system was almost entirely built by these private companies, and basically no progress occurred after the unification. Instead, the system has deca
by Empact 3y ago
Notably the system was almost entirely built by these private companies, and basically no progress occurred after the unification.
Instead, the system has decayed.
A demonstration of how competition fuels progress in infrastructure.
- Ericson2314 3y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Subway_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Subway_System is quite large and was built by the city.
- delfinom 3y agoEh, the problem is the city is now incredibly built up. New stations have to be built even deeper than before to avoid hitting building foundations and utilities. Those earlier companies had the ability to do mostly what they wanted, including building incredibly piss-poor stations that can't withstand the test of time, while making it near impossible to renovate the station because they cut every corner possible and included no bypass tracks.
- klardotsh 3y agoThey were also able to pay peanuts to send humans into harrowing situations to get the tunnels and tracks and etc. made, collapses or flooding or other injury-inducing hells be damned. America does build infrastructure painfully slowly and bureaucratically, but I don't think we're ever getting the early-1900s esque speed of building back at a price public entities will pay (or a price private entities could ever realisticlaly recoup). Enough rules have been written in blood to ensure that.
- andrepd 3y agoWow, you are saying it was easier to build new stuff in NY 150 years ago that it is now? Who would have thought x)