NationStates Jolt Archive

Well, it could be better if cars were not gas-guzzlerz, roadkill machines, and poision spewers.:rolleyes:

im looking foward to a Mad Max reality...

My opinion is that transportation is absolutely necessary to move people and goods from one place to another.

I say that mass transit should not be government owned. The Nyc strikes should explain to you why I think that.

I think transportation should be cooler looking.

I think transportation is better than staying home.

Let's hurry up with the g!dda!n hydrogen-fueled prototypes already!!!! Toyota? Honda?? Chevy??? R U LISTENING?!?!?!?!?!?!?:mad:

I think more funding should be put into public transportation (mainly getting this money through more car taxes) if more people used public transport pollution would be less and so would congestion (saving money in new roads) of course isolated areas would have a problem getting from A-B but I think less car tax would be a big idea in this area

Well, it gets me from point A to point B. For a while, it'll be predominantly gasoline powered and then clean diesel will arise as dominant and then alternative fuels, electric, fuel cells, hydrogen, and beyond. Technology will evolve and improve producing better vehicles and less cost.Public transportation will improve considerably and will therefore be much more popular but the automobile will remain dominant.

The automobile isn't going where and neither is decentralization; they have major advantages that will persist well in to the future, and by the time that the situation changes technology and transportation technology will be far beyond what they are today.

However, the polluting and wasteful vehicles of today are going to become obsolete and be replaced with much cleaner, more efficient, safer, and more
comfortable vehicles than existed before. It's an exciting time in the evolution of transportation and technology, and the excitement for these new technologies is similar to the debut of the first automobiles or railroads in their respective eras.

I think more funding should be put into public transportation (mainly getting this money through more car taxes) if more people used public transport pollution would be less and so would congestion (saving money in new roads) of course isolated areas would have a problem getting from A-B but I think less car tax would be a big idea in this area
thas soo... left. and wrong.

The best solution is handing it over to the private sector.

I would prefer a city with all roads underground, or a bustling metropolis with ano roads and one gigantic monorail system that connected from every major building, and moving kerbs that ran between the major and minor buildings.

a mass transit system from anywhere to anywhere would be awesome.

teleports

The MagLev. It's a train that has no wheels or rails, rather the train is propelled by magnets. CCOOOOOOOOOOOOLL.

The best solution is handing it over to the private sector.

I think we got that in Northampton trust me its terrible

hmmm... budget teleports could turn out to be a bad thing.

You arrive in new-york but your lower half arrives in boston.

Personally, I'm against transportation of any form.

If people are allowed to move from one place to another, you won't always know where they are!

Personally, I'm against transportation of any form.

If people are allowed to move from one place to another, you won't always know where they are!

like feudalism common people should be tied to there land for life good plan I say :p

thas soo... left. and wrong.

The best solution is handing it over to the private sector.
Imma big supporter of market solutions, but the problem, as a wise man once said, is that "the market makes a wonderful slave but a horrible master." All of our big transportation projects, the from the transcontinental railroad to the federal highway program, have been planned and built by the government. The private sector lacks the resources to take the risk. Ideally, the government builds the infrastructure and then opens up operation of that infrastructure to private concerns. In other words, government builds the rail and private companies build the trains that run on it.

Personally, I'm against transportation of any form.

If people are allowed to move from one place to another, you won't always know where they are!

excellent! we can just stake one foot to the ground and let them walk in circles!

There should be lanes for "oversized load" trucks.

thas soo... left. and wrong.

The best solution is handing it over to the private sector.
That's what Thatcher thought, and now Britain has a worse train service than they did in the 1970s.

thas soo... left. and wrong.

The best solution is handing it over to the private sector.


The private sector is not optimal in a few rare situations. This is one of them. Natural monopolies (such as public transit and utilities) do not lend themselves to a private market solution. Nor do markets where there is a significant social benefit that is not captured by the supplier (the supplier does not receive all the benefit and thus undersupplies the good.)

Public transportation provides a strong case for government intervention, regardless of your belief on the proper size of government.

All motorized transportation except motorized wheelchairs and scooters should be made as public as possible, as motorized vehicles are difficult to make and can't possibly be given to everyone.
Individuals can still own bicycles, skateboards, and other manually propelled transportation, as those are easier to make and can possibly be given to everyone.

Quite frankly, I am glad there are import hybrid dorkmobiles for fags to drive around so I look that much cooler in my good ol American-made, gaz-suckin musclecar. That I'll be gettin in a year.

Quite frankly, I am glad there are import hybrid dorkmobiles for fags to drive around so I look that much cooler in my good ol American-made, gaz-suckin musclecar. That I'll be gettin in a year.

The fact that you'll be getting it in a year leads me to believe that you are either a youngin' who doesn't much know about how life works or you're not and you're going to be getting what I like to call a "ghetto-ride." Meaning that you'll be driving around in your Mustang with $400.00/month payments right up to your studio apartment in slumsville with no hot water because you couldn't afford to pay your gas bill. The car will get the chicks, the dates at McDonald's will drive them away.

Quite frankly, I am glad there are import hybrid dorkmobiles for fags to drive around so I look that much cooler in my good ol American-made, gaz-suckin musclecar. That I'll be gettin in a year.
Youre evil!

That's what Thatcher thought, and now Britain has a worse train service than they did in the 1970s.
who??

thas soo... left. and wrong.

The best solution is handing it over to the private sector.
NOOO! I lived through that transit strike, and I still think the city (which tried to stop it by the way) does a good job. Furthermore, they are doing much more for the enviroment then the private sector would. New York now has the country's (maybe the world's too, not sure) largest hybrid bus fleet, and we've started to introduce hybrid cabs as well.

Let's hurry up with the g!dda!n hydrogen-fueled prototypes already!!!! Toyota? Honda?? Chevy??? R U LISTENING?!?!?!?!?!?!?:mad:

And where, exactly, are you going to get that hydrogen?

NOOO! I lived through that transit strike, and I still think the city (which tried to stop it by the way) does a good job. Furthermore, they are doing much more for the enviroment then the private sector would. New York now has the country's (maybe the world's too, not sure) largest hybrid bus fleet, and we've started to introduce hybrid cabs as well.
communist.

Let's hurry up with the g!dda!n hydrogen-fueled prototypes already!!!! Toyota? Honda?? Chevy??? R U LISTENING?!?!?!?!?!?!?:mad:
Stop being a noob.

communist.
Zamknij sie!:p

a mass transit system from anywhere to anywhere would be awesome.

I've always wondered if there was a way to build a "perfect" public/mass transportation system, using whatever means necessary and types of transport to a point where people would say: "I dont need a car anymore."

I honestly think its impossible, maybe we could put more effort into public transportation in some areas, but i think the car will still be totally necessary for most people in many situations. The timing, the routes, the confort.. and the coolness :p

Everyone here seems to be worrying about getting five miles down trhe road. (Horses anyone?) A more difficult problem is how to get 5 thousand miles across a continent or ocean without guzzling up lots of fossil fuels.

I would like to suggest solar powered airships as a solution to this.

I think that cars should stick around. But that doesn't mean they can't change. Why? Because of a car company that begins with an F and ends with an i.

Everyone here seems to be worrying about getting five miles down trhe road. (Horses anyone?) A more difficult problem is how to get 5 thousand miles across a continent or ocean without guzzling up lots of fossil fuels.

I would like to suggest solar powered airships as a solution to this.
I was reading in Popular Science that there are now plans that are going to be deployed in the next 2-3 years for powerful, advanced sails that could slash the fuel cost of ocean travel.

Everyone here seems to be worrying about getting five miles down trhe road. (Horses anyone?) A more difficult problem is how to get 5 thousand miles across a continent or ocean without guzzling up lots of fossil fuels.

I would like to suggest solar powered airships as a solution to this.

You make it sound so easy. :)
Well, i was mentioning all kinds of transportation at all. Pollution and fossil fuel usage is still a major problem in both small trips by car and major continental flights. The small trips problem, seems, however more simple to solve.
If it wasnt for the money involved in oil, renewable and clean energies would already be much more used.

go for lots of cheap, goverment run Fission and have electric cars that both stomp ass, and are cheap and clean to run. like this one http://www.acpropulsion.com/tzero_pages/tzero_html_home.htm

New methods of transportation should be implemented. Such as underground roads (which already exist but in small quantities), floating vehicles, etc. Re-work on already existing vehicles, like larger buses and trains (if regular cars are getting bigger, than why not the same for public transportation?)

I say Public Transportation should be handed over to Private Sectors, and we should start making our own bio-oil made out of waste. I forgot the name of the process, but we could take waste from landfills and turn them into crude oil, we should start doing that!

I say Public Transportation should be handed over to Private Sectors,
Fianlly someone who gets it.

Fianlly someone who gets it.

Well let's face it, the government sucks when it tries to run things. The smaller the government, the better. Plus, when you have diffrent bus company, diffrent subway company etc. competing, it drives down prices and fares, and it create jobs!

go for lots of cheap, goverment run Fission and have electric cars that both stomp ass, and are cheap and clean to run. like this one http://www.acpropulsion.com/tzero_pages/tzero_html_home.htm

That car has such a short range. How am I supposed to get from anywhere to anywhere?

For example, if I want to visit my parents, I drive non-stop for 14 hours. There are large stretches of road where I can't just plug in for power.

Well let's face it, the government sucks when it tries to run things. The smaller the government, the better. Plus, when you have diffrent bus company, diffrent subway company etc. competing, it drives down prices and fares, and it create jobs!
That's great on pre-existing rails, but who are you going to get to pay for the 10 year project of laying the rail down? That's extremely high risk with no prospect for a return on investment for a decade or more. No private firm is going to do that, especially in light of all the NIMBYism today and in light of the fact that they will probably then have to open up their rail to other companies to run trains on. Only the government can and will do that. Once it's built, open the rail to private enterprise to provide public transportation.

Everyone here seems to be worrying about getting five miles down trhe road. (Horses anyone?) A more difficult problem is how to get 5 thousand miles across a continent or ocean without guzzling up lots of fossil fuels.

I would like to suggest solar powered airships as a solution to this.


Never gonna happen.

The biggest container ships today are about 10,000 TEU. What does that mean? Well, next time you're driving down the motorway/autobahn freeway and you see a big lorry with a container on the back, just take a moment to reflect. The big containerships carry 5,000 of those boxes at once.

Putting stuff in boxes (containerisation) has enabled globalisation. For most of history the great resources of the world - labour, capital, commodities - were kept separate. Now, owing to containerisation, commodities like iron ore can be shipped cheaply around the world to places where the most labour is, like China or India, at a tiny cost. Containerisation has brought into reality what only existed in theory - zero or near zero transport costs. And that is restructuring the world.

Now no airship as we currently conceive them is ever going to be able to carry the cargo that one box-ship does today.

And I need to take issue with your assertion that maritime transport is inherently polluting. It is ... and it isn't. When you consider the amound of cargo shipped many thousands of miles around the world then the amount of pollution per bit of cargo is tiny. That said, these big monsters drink up hundreds if not thousands of tonnes of fuel per day. And it's mostly the nasty stuff. Did you know that if you took the fuel out of a container ship and dumped it on the ground that you would be able to walk on it? They are basically burning tar. To make fuel for container ships 'work' they have to heat it up to get it to flow.

That said again, of all the marine pollution, only a tiny percent comes from ships. Most is (I think) agricultural run-off. And, of that pollution, many shipowners and industry regulators are cracking down on pollution. There are new criminal sanctions for marine pollution, there are rules on sulphur and nitrous oxide emissions and a big move to clamp down on particulate matter emissions.

As far as solar power goes - not going to happen with current technology. If you put masts up on the ship it reduces space for cargo. And fixed masts are inherently dangerous in a storm or bad weather.

And you just can't get the power needed to move one of these monsters. The're heavy. The cargo capacity of a tanker, for example, is over 300,000 dwt in the very largest cases. Nothing's gonna make that sucker move but fuel in the form of oil, LNG or nuclear. Nothing else has the power.

Rant over.

That's what Thatcher thought, and now Britain has a worse train service than they did in the 1970s.


I've lived through 1970s trains, 1980s trains, 1990s trains and 2000 to today's trains. And I can tell you that the transport system in the UK now is far better now than it ever used to be. Your assertion is complete bollocks.

Yay! (http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm/newsid/2060221.007/country/gen_acf/general_acf/weineck-cobra-780cui-limited-edition)

Yay! (Part Two) (http://www.worldcarfans.com/tuners.cfm/tunerid/7051122.001/country/gcf/Mercedes-Benz/595hp-kleemann-ml50k-s8)