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Study: carpooling apps could reduce traffic 3x in NYC

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Re: Study: carpooling apps could reduce traffic 3x in NYC

#151

Post by cortesoft »

my_username_is_ wrote: post #149
BlackjackCF wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, it's not an easy problem to solve. I live in LA and I have to drive to work because there's just not simply a viable alternative to where I have to commute to (West Adams area to West Hollywood.) The bike lanes across LA are spotty at best and there's a good chance you're going to get hit/brushed by a car because the closer you get to Beverly Hills/West Hollywood, the more impatient/asshole-ish drivers…

Surely the city could find a series of roads that could be made into one-way streets, and have segregated bike lanes on the other side?

There are a number of issues with this. One, Los Angeles is VERY sprawling; people are traveling from every direction to every other direction, there are no easy routes you can make that will cut very much traffic. You would need to turn a LOT of streets into one-ways with bike lanes.

Two, the traffic density and management is crazy here. So many traffic lights and stop and go traffic. Major streets are constantly crossing other major streets, which require long stops at lights while the other major street moves through. Riding a bike in the area is especially hard, because you are constantly having to come to a complete stop, wait for 3 minutes, and start again.

Re: Study: carpooling apps could reduce traffic 3x in NYC

#152

Post by grecy »

99_00 wrote: post #34

In India I experienced low tech ride sharing. You stand at an intersection and a three wheeler asks you where you're going. You get in, and the driver heads to a major intersection near your destination. Along the way he asks other people standing at intersections if they are going his way, and if they are they pile in. The more people he stuffs into his three wheeler the more money he makes per trip. It was an unple…

Traveling in remote parts of the world it becomes very obvious we in the developed world are now using "tech" to go back to the way things were.

Uber and AirBnb are extremely popular all through Latin America and Africa - there just is no app. You walk up to a human and ask, a price is negotiated and you have a ride or a place to sleep.

In a lot of ways, I think these kinds of apps will actually lower the standard of living in developed countries (less regulation, less safety, less insurance, etc.) which is probably a good thing, because it should make stuff cheaper too.

Re: Study: carpooling apps could reduce traffic 3x in NYC

#153

Post by chillwaves »

criddell wrote: post #75
awjr wrote: post #58

I find the focus on congestion within the transport space to be perplexing. I'm guessing it is to do with the visibility of congestion. Waze recently did a survey and identified the Netherlands as the best place to drive ( https://www.waze.com/driverindex ). The Netherlands is also the only western country with a negative obesity trend expected to hit 8% by 2030, currently at 10% vs the UK's 25%. The USA I believe is…

I love the cycling idea, but for big chunks of the US it couldn't work. I live in Austin and ride my bicycle to work whenever I can, however my office has showers. Without showers here, I'd never do it (and would hope that nobody else would either). Frankly though, the obesity problem is almost entirely about diet. More exercise would be great, but wouldn't address the actual problem.

While the physics of weight loss certainly supports diet over exercise, let's also consider the overall effect of our sedative culture. I believe it contributes greatly to the modern afflictions of anxiety and depression. That our bodies crave more physical activity, as the legacy movement is in our biology, only recently shut out in the last couple hundred years (or less).

When you think about how much someone eats, it helps to think about why. The exercise could help on more than one front.

Re: Study: carpooling apps could reduce traffic 3x in NYC

#154

Post by cowsandmilk »

sid-kap wrote: post #47
chrishacken wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> travel times in cabs are hellish comparing to subway commute Isn't this because of road congestion though? I thought the principle behind the study was to remove all cars except those 3,000 ride sharing vehicles.

I think it has more to do with how close the intersections are. Even in no traffic, you have to stop at a light every minute or so.

NYC's lights can be timed pretty well when there's no traffic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY37qT2G-cU

Re: Study: carpooling apps could reduce traffic 3x in NYC

#155

Post by pcsanwald »

sotojuan wrote: post #107
ergothus wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of Americans (in my anecdotal experience) have a very negative view of public transit. It's what you take when you are too poor or desperate to have a car. Chicken/egg, that's how it ends up, particularly in smaller metro areas (not your major cities, but cities). I currently live in Seattle, and when I met guests and said we'd be taking the bus to my house (which involved a walk of about a block in good weathe…

I see this attitude even in NYC itself. A lot of people dislike the idea of taking the bus (even though it costs the same as the subway) for some reason.

I dislike taking the NYC bus because of the time variability it adds. Variability in the subway times during "normal" times are way lower.

A huge line at a stop, the amount of stops a bus makes, and traffic, can all make a huge difference in the amount of time a trip can take. Also, some of the crosstown buses are slower on average than walking.

Re: Study: carpooling apps could reduce traffic 3x in NYC

#156

Post by miketery »

source99 wrote: post #60
awjr wrote: post #58

I find the focus on congestion within the transport space to be perplexing. I'm guessing it is to do with the visibility of congestion. Waze recently did a survey and identified the Netherlands as the best place to drive ( https://www.waze.com/driverindex ). The Netherlands is also the only western country with a negative obesity trend expected to hit 8% by 2030, currently at 10% vs the UK's 25%. The USA I believe is…

Much of the academic research I have read (Check out Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes) shows the exact opposite to be true. Our diets accounts for dramatically much higher cause of obesity than our environment and specifically cars.

Agreed in simple terms - cutting on high calorie food specifically sugar is better than exercising for body weight. However what if the environment (one conducive to riding bikes) causes us to make better dietary decision. In this case the focus should be on the environment.

Re: Study: carpooling apps could reduce traffic 3x in NYC

#157

Post by s0rce »

rhino369 wrote: post #109
99_00 wrote: post #34

In India I experienced low tech ride sharing. You stand at an intersection and a three wheeler asks you where you're going. You get in, and the driver heads to a major intersection near your destination. Along the way he asks other people standing at intersections if they are going his way, and if they are they pile in. The more people he stuffs into his three wheeler the more money he makes per trip. It was an unple…

Washington DC has a more formal (but still unoffical) version of this called slug lines. http://slug-lines.com/ You stand in a line and people pick you up. But in DC it's free because the purpose is the ability to use HOV lanes/roads.

SF Bay area has a similar thing, casual carpool http://sfcasualcarpool.com/. I always see them waiting in line on my way to work but I'm not going the right way to pick people up.

Re: Study: carpooling apps could reduce traffic 3x in NYC

#158

Post by ryanx435 »

johansch wrote: post #140
nashashmi wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Subways are also an unpleasant ride at the moment. But if it is cheap enough, why not?

Subways are primarily unpleasant because of the (worst parts of the) clientele, not because of the rider density. Just the simple act of requiring riders to have a credit card will get rid of >90% of the unpleasant co-riders.

What is the point of public transportation if you don't want the public to use it?

Re: Study: carpooling apps could reduce traffic 3x in NYC

#159

Post by AJ007 »

akiselev wrote: post #98
ceras wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Diet definitely has a bigger impact than exercise, but isn't there still a correlation between more urban areas and lower obesity even when controlling for poverty? There may be other factors to urban, non-car-based living besides the extra physical activity that encourages lower weight. It's maybe as simple as without a car you can't go to Costco and stock up on huge sacks of unhealthy foods in one go -- beats me, I…

On my phone so I can't find the right metastudy but yes, there is an inverse correlation between urban lifestyles and obesity rates but it's a tenuous one. In cities like Atlanta, St. Louis, Montgomery, and San Antonio the difference in obesity rates from rural and suburban areas in the same state is almost nonexistent but Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York see much lower rates in obesity. (within city…

Here is my logic by anecdotes and observation --

All the factors matter, and obesity definitely has a social component.

The jobs not only have a physical appearance component, the performance expectations and constant competition may mean you need more endurance. I'm not fat, and I'm not ripped, but I sure as hell feel a major performance boost in my own work when I eating healthy and exercising daily vs when (years ago) I was sitting inside all day drinking soda. I can't imagine how I would feel or perform if I had kept that up post-30.

Chain restaurants share commonality with big box retail. In a major city taking a client to Applebees much less Mcdonalds isn't going to cut it. In some cases rent may be too high to even support their business model, replaced instead by small shops and food trucks and larger restaurants at higher price points.

If the car was less important, the parking lot didn't matter, and people walked, would everything collapse in to more centralized walking cores? If so, would they serve anything healthy, or are the big cities an outlier because of the wealth and performance pressure?

Re: Study: carpooling apps could reduce traffic 3x in NYC

#160

Post by randyrand »

ced wrote: post #138
hobbyjogger wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, people tend to overlook the role climate plays in these comparisons. There's an enormous difference in cycling's viability as a primary means of transportation in a place like the Netherlands where average high temperatures rarely exceed 75, as opposed to Texas where a typical summer will have a prolonged period of temps in the 90s and multiple 100+ days. The average high temperature in Amsterdam's warmest two…

Heat isn't the only issue. From Wikipedia for the Netherlands: Ice days (maximum temperature below 0 °C (32 °F)) usually occur from December until February, with the occasional rare ice day prior to or after that period. Freezing days (minimum temperature below 0 °C (32 °F)) occur much more often, usually ranging from mid-November to late March, but not rarely measured as early as mid-October and as late as mid-May.…

32F is definitely warm enough to bike. I've Skied for 8 hours in 20 degree weather with no complaints. Exercise keeps you warm.
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