5 ms·

Roads are useful, but what I really think we should get rid of is parking lots. When cars can drive themselves we should build over all the lots and knock down

Roads are useful, but what I really think we should get rid of is parking lots. When cars can drive themselves we should build over all the lots and knock down the garages. The cars can spend the day on the road and the night parked outside the city. There should be zero parked inside the city.

geogod42 2y ago
roads are dirty tho, n really expensive
jerlam 2y ago
If the cars can't park, then they're clogging up the roads and preventing them from being used as intended for transportation. I am fine with parking lots as long as they're not publicly funded and are taxed just as every other parcel in the city. And on-street parking should be prohibited.
- gpm 2y ago
  In fact I'd say that self driving cars will mean that it's important that parking is not more expensive than simply driving in circles. You can bet that companies will drive self driving cars in circles to store them while not in use if it's cheaper than parking, and that takes up both more space, and higher value space.
  - jakelazaroff 2y ago
    Perhaps there should be some sort of vacancy tax where the operators of driverless cars are charged for every mile they drive without a human passenger.
    - omnimus 2y ago
      Youve just invented a new job which is dummy human who is cheaper than parking lot who drives all day around city in otherwise empty cars.
  - Ajedi32 2y ago
    Just another unintended consequence of road use being free for its users, despite road space being a limited resource that's expensive to build and maintain. Congestion pricing is already a (crude, but still rather effective) way of solving that problem. A more perfect (though impractical to enforce) solution would be charging by the meter-second of lane space consumed, with rates varying over time and location depending on congestion. Under that pricing scheme, if driving in circles were still somehow cheaper than parking then cars could drive in circles to their heart's content without causing any issues.
Qwertious 2y ago
Abolish free parking, and raise prices on the parking meter until the parking spots are only ~80% occupied (if they're less than 80% occupied, lower the price). If there's not enough parking, let the market fix that problem - if private parking lots are profitable use of land, then people will build them. But people will never be satisfied with private parking lots if they could have used free public parking instead (if they'd just looked harder for a parking spot). In other words, giving out free shit discourages people from buying that shit. Which really shouldn't surprise anyone.
- steele 2y ago
  Any other innovative ways to disproportionately tax the wage class?
  - wat10000 2y ago
    Charging money for services is “innovative”? I know the hacker set likes to reinvent other industries and call it new, but this is rather extreme.
    - steele 2y ago
      Just say you're a landlord
      - wat10000 2y ago
        Give me free stuff. If you say no you’re a landlord.
        steele 2y ago
        Free? Tax-dodging sovereign citizen panhandler too, I see.
  - digdugdirk 2y ago
    Sure - create urban and suburban environments where a car is a necessity for daily function. Financing, insurance, maintenance, repairs, fuel... Cars aren't cheap. Reducing the overall space devoted to them and utilizing that space for useful purposes would be a net benefit. Providing public transport services with that increased revenue would leave the vast majority better off financially, not to mention the quality of life improvements.
Breza 2y ago
I'm not sure if people will want to deal with long wait times for their car to drive to them. Imagine watching the end credits roll at a movie theater only to be gripped by the sense of dread that you forgot to call your car during the climactic fight scene and now you'll be waiting half an hour for it to drive from the suburbs. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of reducing car dependency, I'm just not optimistic that self driving cars will help.
occz 2y ago
This might seem like a good idea at first, but it would essentially result in complete gridlock as the roads fill up with circulating self-driving cars. No, there's definitely a better solution for this - using self-driving trains to move people.

geogod42 2y ago

roads are dirty tho, n really expensive

jerlam 2y ago

If the cars can't park, then they're clogging up the roads and preventing them from being used as intended for transportation. I am fine with parking lots as long as they're not publicly funded and are taxed just as every other parcel in the city. And on-street parking should be prohibited.

gpm 2y ago
In fact I'd say that self driving cars will mean that it's important that parking is not more expensive than simply driving in circles. You can bet that companies will drive self driving cars in circles to store them while not in use if it's cheaper than parking, and that takes up both more space, and higher value space.
- jakelazaroff 2y ago
  Perhaps there should be some sort of vacancy tax where the operators of driverless cars are charged for every mile they drive without a human passenger.
  - omnimus 2y ago
    Youve just invented a new job which is dummy human who is cheaper than parking lot who drives all day around city in otherwise empty cars.
- Ajedi32 2y ago
  Just another unintended consequence of road use being free for its users, despite road space being a limited resource that's expensive to build and maintain. Congestion pricing is already a (crude, but still rather effective) way of solving that problem. A more perfect (though impractical to enforce) solution would be charging by the meter-second of lane space consumed, with rates varying over time and location depending on congestion. Under that pricing scheme, if driving in circles were still somehow cheaper than parking then cars could drive in circles to their heart's content without causing any issues.

Qwertious 2y ago

Abolish free parking, and raise prices on the parking meter until the parking spots are only ~80% occupied (if they're less than 80% occupied, lower the price). If there's not enough parking, let the market fix that problem - if private parking lots are profitable use of land, then people will build them. But people will never be satisfied with private parking lots if they could have used free public parking instead (if they'd just looked harder for a parking spot). In other words, giving out free shit discourages people from buying that shit. Which really shouldn't surprise anyone.

steele 2y ago
Any other innovative ways to disproportionately tax the wage class?
- wat10000 2y ago
  Charging money for services is “innovative”? I know the hacker set likes to reinvent other industries and call it new, but this is rather extreme.
  - steele 2y ago
    Just say you're a landlord
    - wat10000 2y ago
      Give me free stuff. If you say no you’re a landlord.
      - steele 2y ago
        Free? Tax-dodging sovereign citizen panhandler too, I see.
- digdugdirk 2y ago
  Sure - create urban and suburban environments where a car is a necessity for daily function. Financing, insurance, maintenance, repairs, fuel... Cars aren't cheap. Reducing the overall space devoted to them and utilizing that space for useful purposes would be a net benefit. Providing public transport services with that increased revenue would leave the vast majority better off financially, not to mention the quality of life improvements.

Breza 2y ago

I'm not sure if people will want to deal with long wait times for their car to drive to them. Imagine watching the end credits roll at a movie theater only to be gripped by the sense of dread that you forgot to call your car during the climactic fight scene and now you'll be waiting half an hour for it to drive from the suburbs. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of reducing car dependency, I'm just not optimistic that self driving cars will help.

occz 2y ago

This might seem like a good idea at first, but it would essentially result in complete gridlock as the roads fill up with circulating self-driving cars. No, there's definitely a better solution for this - using self-driving trains to move people.