Live data from Hacker News

Regent – Electric coastal travel

regentcraft.com

321–330 of 333 posts

Re: Regent – Electric coastal travel

#321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One case where they don't would be commercial roads with small shops that rely on street parking. But the comment you're responding to was talking about residential, and I haven't seen enough dispositive data on that one way or another. Like anything, it's probably a mixed bag.

Nope. There too. It turns out that foot traffic and bike traffic do a lot more for small shops than cars do (because drivers go fast enough that they don't pay attention to 90% of the small shops).

> Nope. There too.

Yep, there too not.

Evidence for bike lanes in the US comes from very methodologically suspicious studies (e.g. the Portland State one) that were heavily influenced by hyper-local effects and neglected to look at nearby businesses.

Some of the more honest studies found the opposite effect. E.g. the LA study has shown that the non-sabotaged section had more revenue growth than the road-sabotaged section.

There are also clear cases of bike lanes destroying businesses: https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2022/dec/26/stringers-46...

I'm an anti-bike activist. Bike lanes work only in _very_ narrow cases:

1. In densified hellscape cities, like Manhattan, where normal traffic is simply impossible.

2. In small tourist destination towns.

3. On university campuses and around them.

And that's pretty much it.

Re: Regent – Electric coastal travel

#322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Read about Robert Moses and why he made bridges too low for buses. On that suggestion, I just went and read the wikipedia article on Robert Moses. It mentions that buses and commercial vehicles do in fact go under those bridges today, and that the accusations of racism are disputed.

"I only learned about this today and just read a wiki article and that convinces me you're lying" is pretty much the problem with this place in one shot.

Seriously? Has the bar changed from "Google it" to "Read through several research papers and books" for someone to comment on how true something is generally accepted to be? And you're saying that the person who looked something up on Wikipedia is the problem?

Re: Regent – Electric coastal travel

#324

Does this require a pilots license? (Couldn’t find the answer after skimming the website)

It falls under the supervision of the coastguard apparently as a boat "that happens to fly". Not sure how they were able to swing that one, but it's pretty impressive.

Re: Regent – Electric coastal travel

#325
post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not make an electric Superferry? Presumably addresses the environmental issues, more forgiving on battery weight and volume than a plane and won't ever need to make an emergency landing.

Ferries in littoral waters and whales don't mix. There is a ferry that goes from NS to Maine and it's been known to bash a whale or two.

Fun fact: The current ferry vessel between Bar Harbor, Maine and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia is literally the Hawaii Superferry vessel repurposed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HST-2

Re: Regent – Electric coastal travel

#326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why they use the full body scanner at most airport security now. One of those detected a small piece of scrap paper in my back pocket that I had to pull out and show to security. They showed me the image and even the shape of the paper was clear. For sure those scanners can distinguish between metal in your arm and taped to your arm.

Okay, haven't been flying that much in tje last few years, I thought they were still not universal - at least in europe.

Not universal even in the US, but you encounter them fairly frequently in Europe depending on the country.

Re: Regent – Electric coastal travel

#327

I was initially skeptical, but seeing Mokulele Airlines (an airline serving Hawaii) flash by on the carousel made me consider that this might have at least some real-world uses. It's insane to me that the vast majority of inter-island travel in Hawaii (an archipelago where generally each island is visible from the next) is via jet aircraft. You have to spend hours (especially if you're checking bags) getting to the a…

> It's insane to me that the vast majority of inter-island travel in Hawaii (an archipelago where generally each island is visible from the next) is via jet aircraft. Why jets? In the Caribbean, where distances are longer, turboprop aircraft are standard for island hopping and I thought these made more economic sense for short distances.

Throughput. There’s enough people going from one island to another, that is cheaper on pilots to have one bigger plane than several smaller ones, and it’s easier to fit into the limited number of slots for take off and landing.

Re: Regent – Electric coastal travel

#328
post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Modern airport security is beyond useless. It's hugely wasteful and ineffective. https://www.vox.com/2016/5/17/11687014/tsa-against-airport-s...

In the past quarter, TSA intercepted an average of 16.8 firearms per day, 93% of which were loaded. I'm quite happy with that many less guns on my flights (imagine what it would be like if there was no check - this is just from people who forgot that carrying onboard is not allowed).

People forgetting they are carrying a loaded firearm into an airport feels like a pretty US specific problem, and there are ways to screen for guns without the massive inconvenience that is TSA. Other parts of the world still have security checks at airports, just a lot more efficient.

Re: Regent – Electric coastal travel

#329
post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No loophole nor exceptions - we're following guidance from the International Maritime Organization on the maritime regulation of Type A WIGs ( https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/OurWork/Safety/Docu... ), which have been upheld by flag states all around the world. The benefit of ground effects are: - 10-20% range extension (agreed, between 50% and 100% wingspan, which is where seagliders fly, the aerodynamic ben…

Doesn't the landing make a huge impact/force on the foils? I would think that they are designed to make the craft go up, thus more susceptible to it going down at higher speed?

Both landing and take off should be akin in terms of force encountered by the foil unless you're landing over speed or with the craft at an angle respective to your trajectory or the water current. The foils look motorized which is likely the biggest concern compared to static foil designs.

Re: Regent – Electric coastal travel

#330
Could you not have a solar drone barge for a fast charge mid-trip, extending the operating range by double? Seems like a simple way to bridge the gap until higher battery density is available.

For a 360 mile trip, adding 45 minutes for a fast charge (in certain this could be reduced to This brings LA->SF journey well within reach.

Post reply on HN