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A new study says services like Uber and Lyft are causing urban traffic woes

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Re: A new study says services like Uber and Lyft are causing urban traffic woes

#221

Post by komali2 »

colemannugent wrote: post #209
komali2 wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Literally everyone. Imagine the tax income down the line if every citizen that wanted a high-training-required career could get that career. Imagine the burden reduction on welfare.

> Literally everyone. and > Imagine the tax income down the line... are contradictory. A better argument would be: "Increased education and welfare spending leads to more productivity and the added cost is offset by the increase in taxes due to the productivity gain". Or more simply: "Education and welfare are good investments". Now we can have a serious conversation about the economic impacts of this kind of investm…

It can be "free" if budgets are rearranged out of the insanity they are in now.

Imagine slashing DoD funding in half. I don't think taxes would have to go up a penny to provide free education then.

Other than that, yes, I agree with you in using investment terminology.

Re: A new study says services like Uber and Lyft are causing urban traffic woes

#222

Post by komali2 »

shard972 wrote: post #214
komali2 wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Literally everyone. Imagine the tax income down the line if every citizen that wanted a high-training-required career could get that career. Imagine the burden reduction on welfare.

What about the people who are sub 100 IQ (namely about half the population) who don't really have the capacity to work in a highly trained job? You seem to just assume if we give people free stuff they will all go get PHD's. That's just simply a fantasy.

Or the people that don't want to, don't forget

I didn't say "mandatory higher education," I said "free." It already is free for twelve years so it seems silly to think slapping on another 2-6 would be some massive burden against the expected returns.

For those that don't want it or can't test into it because they literally are too stupid (this is after fixing inequal access to early education), there's no associated cost. They just to to work, same as it was before.

Re: A new study says services like Uber and Lyft are causing urban traffic woes

#223

Post by colemannugent »

komali2 wrote: post #221
colemannugent wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Literally everyone. and > Imagine the tax income down the line... are contradictory. A better argument would be: "Increased education and welfare spending leads to more productivity and the added cost is offset by the increase in taxes due to the productivity gain". Or more simply: "Education and welfare are good investments". Now we can have a serious conversation about the economic impacts of this kind of investm…

It can be "free" if budgets are rearranged out of the insanity they are in now. Imagine slashing DoD funding in half. I don't think taxes would have to go up a penny to provide free education then. Other than that, yes, I agree with you in using investment terminology.

I also agree that current budget allocations are insane. Maybe if we stopped fighting so many wars we could make more progress here at home.

Another assumption that you make is that the problem with the US education system is a lack of funding. I don't think this is the case.

Re: A new study says services like Uber and Lyft are causing urban traffic woes

#224

Post by radicaldreamer »

sol_remmy wrote: post #44
radicaldreamer wrote: post #14

It's extremely onerous and difficult to own a car in San Francisco (parking situation, street cleaning, meters, lack of reserved and available parking spots) but a bunch of Ubers and Lyft drivers can drive all day in the city causing massive congestion with plenty of drivers who not only don't reside in the city, but aren't even from the Bay Area paying nothing to maintain the roads or congestion or pollution or the…

Please consult the facts before you post. All employers within San Francisco pay a large amount of taxes to the city for each employee. Those taxes more than pay for the cost of road use of their employees. Thank you.

Here’s the thing though, every employer in the Bay Area pays taxes, but only Uber and Lyft also disproportionately congest streets and add air and noise pollution. It’s not proportional whatsoever to the residents of these neighborhoods.

There are solutions which would better fit the problem: congestion pricing for peak hours or non-residents, pollution surcharge for non-EV ride share vehicles, surcharge for non-pool/line rides.

The status quo is to publicize the congestion and pollution and risk and privatize the profits.

Re: A new study says services like Uber and Lyft are causing urban traffic woes

#226

Post by gammateam »

_emacsomancer_ wrote: post #191
gammateam wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does it have to be an anti-car narrative, or something insidious Why do you think limited-supply medallion systems existed in the first place? Come on this is just classic "I forgot why these regulations existed and now a 100 year old problem is being recreated" A form of limited licensing for ride-hailing companies can exist without any of the inputs from the taxicab lobby and work out really well.

> Why do you think limited-supply medallion systems existed in the first place? Why do you think Uber and Lyft exist in the first place?

because there is a market inefficiency.

now they cause a different inefficiency.

Re: A new study says services like Uber and Lyft are causing urban traffic woes

#227

Post by _emacsomancer_ »

gammateam wrote: post #226
_emacsomancer_ wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why do you think limited-supply medallion systems existed in the first place? Why do you think Uber and Lyft exist in the first place?

because there is a market inefficiency. now they cause a different inefficiency.

But limited-supply medallions isn't the obvious solution in any case.

Re: A new study says services like Uber and Lyft are causing urban traffic woes

#228

Post by bobthepanda »

macspoofing wrote: post #202
bobthepanda wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Taxi lobby pressuring municipal governments? I cannot imagine you using the past system as an example of a well-run program. There was never a good reason to limit the number of taxicabs on the streets. There were good reasons for some regulations, such as driver registration, transparent pricing, vehicle standards, but not regulations around limiting number of vehicles. New York implemented a medallion system beca…

>New York implemented a medallion system because Manhattan is a long, narrow island with high travel demand. I'm sure it was well intentioned ... initially. And then it became a boondoggle that protected the invested capital of medallion owners. >Commuters, shoppers etc. do own cars and clog streets during the peak hours, but commuters and shoppers also park their cars while they're off doing their jobs and errands;…

> An equilibrium which balances price, convenience, time, etc. will be established - so don't fight it, let it establish itself.

An equilibrium for local passenger travel might be established. Which does a whole lotta nothing for the emergency vehicles, the delivery vehicles, the commuter and local and intercity buses, etc., all of which have to share the same roads.

In fact, average bus speeds citywide in New York have declined due to increased traffic, which drives more people to Ubers instead of buses, which increases traffic. Unpriced traffic is a classic tragedy of the commons.

Re: A new study says services like Uber and Lyft are causing urban traffic woes

#230

Post by lotsofpulp »

megaremote wrote: post #205
astura wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly, for the life of me, cannot understand this attitude. I just can't. I've taken public transport since birth, (by myself since I was 13). I've taken public transport all over the US and a few countries in Europe, including SF and NYC. The bus was my sole form of transportation for several years. I've never once felt unsafe. Mildly annoyed maybe, but never remotely unsafe. Whereas I've felt unsafe driving th…

Of course you can't. You actually use public transport. This is a common complaint from a car driver unwilling to change their way, and scraping or excuses, when they are just being selfish and lazy.

Everyone has a different risk tolerance level (and what they can afford). But I've experienced far too many train cars smelling like urine and experienced a homeless person with extreme odors come into a car basically necessitating it being vacated. Even a 1 in 100 chance is enough for me to opt for another mode of transport, if available.
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