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Study: carpooling apps could reduce traffic 3x in NYC

csail.mit.edu

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

#171

Post by dx034 »

randyrand wrote: post #162
mojowo11 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Riding in an Uber Pool has always been perfectly pleasant for me. Quiet and awkward in some cases, but not unpleasant. Some basic restrictions about not cramming people into the vehicle like it's a clown car should alleviate most concerns about unpleasantness, I'd think.

I took an uber pool on a normally 30 minute drive. It took 1.15 hours. Made 4 other pickups and drop offs on our way back. I'm okay when ride sharing means 30% longer trip times. But 150% longer was too much for me.

How does that work? I've never experienced more than 2 riders (each 1-2 people) on a ride, and thought they wouldn't do that?

In that case I'd definitely contact Uber. Sounds like the driver didn't drive as he was supposed to.

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

#172

Post by dx034 »

JBReefer wrote: post #123
CodeSheikh wrote: post #37

New York City includes Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island as well. Misleading title and perhaps incomplete study if footprint of cabs is not included from those remaining boroughs in this study. If you live in Manhattan, then you don't use cabs as much within Manhattan because subways cover Manhattan pretty well and travel times in cabs are hellish comparing to subway commute. You often use cabs when you commu…

You are incorrect. Brooklyn and Queens have subway networks that are each larger than the next largest subway networks in the US. Brooklyn has a slightly better network than Queens, but both are fantastic. Eastern Queens (after the end of the 7 train) indeed is a transit desert, but still has many commuter rail stations. There's a station central-eastern Brooklyn called "Broadway Junction" that has as many connection…

> Brooklyn and Queens have subway networks that are each larger than the next largest subway networks in the US

Mainly because NYC is the only US city with an extensive subway system.

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

#173

Post by dx034 »

It would help if NYC would actually encourage not to drive. I was recently there with 3 people in the car and compared driving & parking in Manhattan vs. parking outside and taking a train in. In many cities (Amsterdam as an excellent example), you get cheap, secure parking lots outside of the city that you can combine with a train/subway ticket. In NYC, this would've been much more expensive than parking for 3 days.

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

#174

Post by chillingeffect »

madgar wrote: post #101
usrusr wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But nature seems to just not abhor the "vacuum" left in cars filled with just a single rider hard enough to fill that. This is about finding a lower bound for the vehicles needed to fulfill demand with multi-occupancy. What I would find even more interesting is if they used the same simulation to determine the number of cars required to fulfill that demand without multi-occupancy, but with the same level of dispatch…

> But nature seems to just not abhor the "vacuum" left in cars filled with just a single rider hard enough to fill that. I'm not sure exactly what this sentence is supposed to mean, but I assure you as an NYC outer-borough resident, if you created a traffic vacuum in manhattan I would be driving there filling the vacuum by the end of the day.

I believe what they're saying refers to the empty 3 seats you might find in a singly-occupied 4 passenger car, as is often seen commuting.

And I basically agree. There is still space in many passenger vehicles. And the vacuum is not strong to get those filled, because it is not infinite or even powerful enough, but there are people trying to fill those spaces to some extent. That was some of the original pitch of the "sharing economy..." That if you had "extra space in your car or house," you could fill it with a rider or a roomer.

It's just that managing the complexities of the extra space in a vehicle is very difficult, particularly in comparison to the simplicity of filling any empty Manhattan streets with new instances of vehicles.

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

#175

Post by InitialLastName »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #142
emj wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? NYC is perfect for biking.

I wouldn't say that NYC is uniformly perfect for biking throughout the year. The summer is very hot and humid, effectively requiring you to shower before going to work. The winter is cold, and the roads and frequently covered in snow and/or ice. Both of these problems can be worked around, but they are daunting for anyone who's not already fairly dedicated; a newbie isn't going to ride to his law office in 95 degree…

Digging through [0] (and matching my experience), NYC appears to average summer highs of mid-80s and winter lows in the 20's There are plenty of days outside of those ranges in Feb and August, but there are a solid 6 months/year of reliably comfortable cycling weather.

As to your footnote, both of your geographic problems are avoidable by knowing the city better. Both the Hudson River Greenway (low) and Riverside Drive (high) provide very convenient ways to avoid the 125th St Valley on the west side, and St Nicholas Ave does the same on the east.

Further, what self-respecting (and sane) cyclist would take the Brooklyn Bridge when the Manhattan bridge is __right__ there and in every way nicer to ride on?

[0]: https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KJFK/1972/1/2/P...

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

#176

Post by randyrand »

dx034 wrote: post #171
randyrand wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took an uber pool on a normally 30 minute drive. It took 1.15 hours. Made 4 other pickups and drop offs on our way back. I'm okay when ride sharing means 30% longer trip times. But 150% longer was too much for me.

How does that work? I've never experienced more than 2 riders (each 1-2 people) on a ride, and thought they wouldn't do that? In that case I'd definitely contact Uber. Sounds like the driver didn't drive as he was supposed to.

Sorry if that was unclear. 2 pickups, 2 drop offs.

I wanted to make clear that we didn't just pick the people up. But they were both dropped off first too. Worse yet, the other destinations meant that for my 20 mile drive, we drove through residential the whole time.

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

#177

Post by InitialLastName »

dx034 wrote: post #173

It would help if NYC would actually encourage not to drive. I was recently there with 3 people in the car and compared driving & parking in Manhattan vs. parking outside and taking a train in. In many cities (Amsterdam as an excellent example), you get cheap, secure parking lots outside of the city that you can combine with a train/subway ticket. In NYC, this would've been much more expensive than parking for 3 days.

I agree. It would be great if NYC eliminated its free street parking (perhaps making it residents-only) and priced the rest comparably to parking in Secaucus.

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

#178

Post by DeBraid »

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.

This is correct in absolute terms. OP refers to relative rates of obesity based on variable cultural/jurisdictional attitudes towards cycling vs. cars.

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

#179

Post by ebiester »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #145
ebiester wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the Dollar Van concept as below. The difference between it and a bus is that the dollar van doesn't pick people up in between, speeding up transactions and ensuring limited stops. The speed of pickup/dropoff is a large issue.

So it's an express bus?

Except it's on-demand as the bus fills up rather than on set schedules.

It's conceptually a different model. a 10 person van stays at point A, leaves when full, and drops people off along the line on demand rather than having set stops, and doesn't pick people up.

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

#180

Post by BlackjackCF »

beachstartup wrote: post #103
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 there's a bus that goes straight up fairfax? edit: looks like the 217 bus goes up fairfax and into west hollywood. why not take that?

The 217 bus would be perfect if it had a stop in between its San Vicente and Santa Monica stop. It would probably be another mile walk from there.

It ultimately does come down to convenience. :( Commuting by bus/Expo line means easily adding another 30 minutes to my commute if I happen to hit all the correct times at once.

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