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How we can reduce traffic congestion

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Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion

#101

Post by dsl »

Aurornis wrote: post #76
ctkhn wrote: post #52

Surely the top way to avoid traffic congestion would be communities where it's possible to live near where you work, shop, go out, etc. and not doing everything else exactly the same but taking a slightly different highway in your car

This is possible if you’re not picky about where you live, where you work, your career options, how crowded your local vicinity is, or how much you pay for your residence. The more your preferences or financial constraints come into play, the more you have to give up. Most people settle in for driving because it allows them to pick from more job options than those that happen to be located near their house and more h…

Here is your easy solution:

Per employee tax = $0.20 * commute_miles * 2 * (commute_miles / 10)^2 * mandated_office_days_per_year * (1 + 2 * share_of_workforce_over_10_miles)^2

Tech companies can have more distributed offices and assign employees based on geography instead of teams, go back to WFH, pay employees enough to live close to their mega campuses, or pay out the ass into adding more lanes.

Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion

#102

Post by tom_vidal »

SilverElfin wrote: post #91

One way is to stop the war on cars. I see many cities basically making driving purposely bad. Super low speed limits, speed bumps, unnecessary bike lanes, poorly timed traffic lights, no right turn on red, etc. It’s all the typical pro bike anti car stuff but it hurts traffic. They never measure travel times in a transparent way as they make these destructive changes.

No. The reason cities are working so hard to build these kinds of safety measures is that cars are horrendously dangerous for people walking and biking. The “war on cars” is a war for the safety and dignity of everyone outside of cars.

Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion

#103

Post by 7jjjjjjj »

clickety_clack wrote: post #89
baggy_trough wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't have a community like that, then the best way is congestion pricing.

This sounds simple, but many people are already living further away because they can’t afford to live downtown near where they work. Add kids into the equation, and many people who could live there without them are also forced out. Congestion pricing is a regressive tax.

The most regressive tax imaginable is a flat fee for every person with no consideration of income. That is exactly the effect of requiring everyone to own a car.

Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion

#104

Post by rootusrootus »

ryan_lane wrote: post #90
gustavus wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Won't that just unfairly displace the impact onto the economically disadvanteged as they are the least likely to have the flexibility in their schedule, inadvertently forcing more of the maintenance burden onto those who are int be least place to bear it?

Take the revenue generated from congestion pricing, and put it into public transportation. Make public transportation free to use. That would be far more impactful to the folks least able to bear an increase in driving fees. In most of the US, people are forced to own cars because they don't have public transit available, or the available public transit is too infrequent, or there aren't dense enough routes. The reas…

> Why is it fair for public transit riders to have to pay per ride

In my city public transit fares only cover something like 10% of the cost. Isn’t that fairly typical?

> car owners get to use the infrastructure for free

Every place I’ve lived charges a fuel tax to pay for roads.

Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion

#106

Post by SilverElfin »

tom_vidal wrote: post #102
SilverElfin wrote: post #91

One way is to stop the war on cars. I see many cities basically making driving purposely bad. Super low speed limits, speed bumps, unnecessary bike lanes, poorly timed traffic lights, no right turn on red, etc. It’s all the typical pro bike anti car stuff but it hurts traffic. They never measure travel times in a transparent way as they make these destructive changes.

No. The reason cities are working so hard to build these kinds of safety measures is that cars are horrendously dangerous for people walking and biking. The “war on cars” is a war for the safety and dignity of everyone outside of cars.

They aren’t dangerous. Road fatalities are still very low per mile driven and are falling over time. Cars are getting safer all the time with their sensors and intelligent features like automatic braking. The war on cars is an irrational safetyism campaign driven by selfish bicyclists more than anyone else. And the goal vision zero proposes makes no sense because it doesn’t account for the benefit of cars.

Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion

#107

Post by SilverElfin »

halostatue wrote: post #100
SilverElfin wrote: post #91

One way is to stop the war on cars. I see many cities basically making driving purposely bad. Super low speed limits, speed bumps, unnecessary bike lanes, poorly timed traffic lights, no right turn on red, etc. It’s all the typical pro bike anti car stuff but it hurts traffic. They never measure travel times in a transparent way as they make these destructive changes.

The only way to stop congestion is to get cars off the road. Cars are the congestion. There is no other definition, and no other solution. HOW you get cars off the road is worthy of debate. Pretending that there's a "war on cars" is not and never has been. Cars and their drivers have been subsidized for more than a century, never paying the full cost of the damage that they do to the environment, the roads, etc. 1. C…

Wrong. Cars are high utility and should remain on roads. They increase quality of life by giving you a fast way to get to exactly where you want on your own schedule. And designing for cars IS designing for people, obviously. Who do you think is inside cars?

Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion

#108

Post by 0xbadcafebee »

thelastgallon wrote: post #97

100% remote unless absolutely required. Professions like doctors, cooks, massage therapists. This will clear 95% of traffic. Start with mandatory remote for all software jobs.

It's estimated that only 37% of jobs can be done remotely, while 72%-86% of US workers rely on cars for commuting.

The best solution involves creating a multitude of non-car transportation options, to allow workers to choose the most convenient mode of transport, maximizing potential non-car commuting. Bike/ebike, e-scooter, motorcycle/scooter, golf cart, bus, tram, subway, train, ferry.

Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion

#109

Post by [deleted] »

nostrademons wrote: post #83

I've noticed that Google Maps has started sucking a lot lately, routing us onto routes that take 2-4 minutes longer when a faster route is clearly available or taking us on nonsensical detours, and I wonder if this experiment is a reason why. There's a hidden cost to this, and that's trust in the mapping app. I've stopped using Google Navigation for routine trips where I know how to get to the destination. It used to…

[deleted]

Re: How we can reduce traffic congestion

#110

Post by sota_pop »

Nice to hear Google is thinking about this. Was always of the belief that they SHOULD be considering things like scarcity in the various recommendations the apps in their offerings provide.

Also reminds me of that guy in Berlin who caused traffic jams on Google Maps by walking around with a wagon filled with phones:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/03/berlin-ar...

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