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Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

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Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#311

Post by michaelnik »

dragontamer wrote: post #5

I'm not surprised. I've taken this road before during the 2017 Eclipse. Its a path that connects major parts of the country together, but there are no alternative roads to take if this one road closes. Other locations have "Backup" highways to lighten the load or otherwise take up the slack if the main road closes. Not so here. I've been told that Virginia once had plans to build additional highways / alternative roa…

Tokyo: In 2007, _65_percent_ of trips within a 50 mile radius were by mass transit. Overall transit usage is [...] approximately double that of all combined usage in the United States and nearly 10 times that of Paris [http://www.newgeography.com/content/002923-the-evolving-urba...]

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#312

Post by acdha »

trhway wrote: post #296
acdha wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> public transportation doesn't work for people with pets, in many situations for people with children Do you mean the millions of people who do this every day don't exist? You might personally prefer that and it's certainly an opinion which has been lavishly subsidized in the U.S. but this is a lifestyle choice, not a truth. > people with various health issues. How many of the people who cannot take transit are capa…

It isn't a preference nor choice. It is direct experience. More than half of my life i was using public transportation in USSR/Russia, no issues, we'd take our cats/dogs when needed. Not the case in US. >How many of the people who cannot take transit are capable of safely driving cars? It doesn't matter how many (though a lot of people for example develop back issues by mid age and beyond so prolonged walking/standin…

> The point is you just dismiss them

This is pure projection: I was pointing out that millions of people's daily life contradicted the absolute statement you made. If you'd said “doesn't work for many people” I would have agreed: it's no secret that the U.S. has heavily subsidized car-centric design for the last century and there are many people living in neighborhoods which don't even have sidewalks, much less transit or bike paths.

This has also encouraged many people to think that they must drive even if it's not a great choice: in the city I live in, it's not uncommon for people to cling to the habits they acquired growing up and trying to drive everywhere even though it means they're paying considerably more to sit in traffic while their friends who biked or took the train wonder why they're late.

There isn't a single answer here but the important thing is remembering that these are choices. Giving private car owners exclusive use of public land might be a popular choice but it's not a law of nature, and when it doesn't work well it's reasonable to question whether it's the right design for the context. There's no reason to think that the same answers will be true in rural areas, suburbs, and dense urban cores.

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#313

Post by bombcar »

analog31 wrote: post #297
emptybottle wrote: post #73

A good reminder to keep some warm blankets/coats/gloves/hats in your trunk, along with some non-perishable snacks and a first-aid kit & flashlight. Water is harder to store in the winter since it will freeze and burst containers if full, but snow can be melted given a container to put it in. Also a good to refuel often. I try treat 1/2 a tank as empty and stop accordingly. On longer trips it lines up well with bathro…

Greetings from Wisconsin. We have one car that we use for trips, the other is just used locally. But even for just going somewhere in town, we have a rule: Make sure you're prepared to walk a mile if necessary.

Knowing where the nearest Kwik Trip can be a life-saving necessity, if you have to walk from a dead car. Planning winter trips on high-travelled roads (avoid backroads not only because they may not be plowed, but there may be nobody along if you have trouble).

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#314

Post by twoodfin »

tshaddox wrote: post #162
twoodfin wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you doubled the number of hospital beds, doctors, nurses, diagnostic equipment, labs … and demand was high enough to keep prices constant, you’ve doubled healthcare access at a rate patients were already willing to pay. “Induced demand” in every other industry is described as “latent demand”.

No one is against increasing access to healthcare. But I deliberately chose the example of healthcare costs to be analogous with people experiencing traffic congestion .

Right, and I’m suggesting they are, in fact, quite analogous in this context. If there’s latent, unsatisfied demand for healthcare, and you increase the supply, you shouldn’t be surprised or disappointed if the new supply is consumed. More people are getting the healthcare they wanted!

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#315

Post by symlinkk »

meatsauce wrote: post #265

Unprecedented? This happens all the time. It is called a major winter storm and they happen every year. It is also a cautionary tale. If you rely on cell phones for communication, you may find yourself in big trouble when the cell phones no longer work. Get a two way radio. At least a FRS or CB radio, but better off with an amateur radio license so you can use the many repeater sites and HF if you are truly stuck som…

I think something satellite based would be superior, e.g. Garmin inReach

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#316

Post by [deleted] »

Jxl180 wrote: post #270
dqv wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know this is gross to talk about, but I'd also add "incontinence blankets" to this list. Specifically for being locked in traffic for this long. There are reusable incontinence blankets you can get. This way you have something designed to catch waste if you misfire.

I have these bags made for urine or vomit with a gel in it that will congealed the contents. I was stranded on a closed highway and had to pee so bad. Never again.

[deleted]

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#317

Post by kaesar14 »

asdff wrote: post #294
kaesar14 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Visit NYC but try to take a train from somewhere in brooklyn to somewhere in the bronx without having to spend almost an hour with a transfer in midtown manhattan. Even in NYC the rail network is primarily oriented toward you having a 9-5 job in midtown or lower manhattan, and everyone else gets served nearly an hour commute transferring on busses or trains.

Sure, I wish we had more outer borough connection lines. This country sucks at building anything but 12 lane freeways.

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#318

Post by nerfhammer »

TedShiller wrote: post #307
bix6 wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Emergency (foil) blanket saved my life one night when I was freezing. I carry one more often than not now. Minor space/weight penalty to avoid hypothermia. Camelbak 3L comes with me on all road trips but I’m considering a permanent water tank in my car.

How do foil blankets work actually? Doesn’t metal foil transmit heat very well which would make them a bad blanket to trap heat?

It's actually mylar that they're made of.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BoPET

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#319

Post by asdff »

yifanl wrote: post #244
mrfusion wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love how people think induced demand is an iron clad argument against any road building. What about the induced demand of going from 0 lanes to 1 lane?

Depends on where that 0 lanes is initially I guess. You can bulldoze a housing block to add a new lane, that's not necessarily an economic success.

It is if destroying those ten houses relieved a trucking bottleneck at the train yard.

Re: Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

#320

Post by jakub_g »

mrweasel wrote: post #77
58x14 wrote: post #14

It's remarkable how quickly our vehicles and roads succumb to such conditions. I used to drive that route on I95, and in the winter I would always pack a blanket and bottled water. I can only imagine having children with me. From an infrastructure perspective, realistically, I suppose it isn't feasible to account for more extreme snowfall.

It's not just in the US. Denmark had a snowstorm about a month ago and it was chaos because people take stupid risks. Large numbers of people drive around on summer tires as well as the majority of both trucks and busses. If people only put themselves at risk, fine. The issue is when trucks and people who felt compelled to drive on summer tires, in a snowstorm, during covid, block the roads and prevent the remaining…

Southern France, same. The highways get closed when it snows, or due to heavy rainfall (happens a few days per decade)
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