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NYC congestion pricing cuts air pollution by a fifth in six months

airqualitynews.com

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Re: NYC congestion pricing cuts air pollution by a fifth in six months

#151
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everywhere? This is a crazy thing to claim. I was also recently in Japan and I never took a car anywhere. I'm sure there are particular routes that are badly served but come on.

Everywhere. I was staying right next to Tokyo Station, too. I went from a meeting in Roppongi Hills to a bookstore in Jimbocho. Apple Maps says 31 minutes by train and 24 minutes by Uber. And I was traveling alone this time. Last year when I went with my wife and three kids the differential was even more extreme. I’m convinced public transit is a major reason for the birth rate collapse in east asia.

> I’m convinced public transit is a major reason for the birth rate collapse in east asia.

Sure thing. Just so we're on the same page, mind backing that up with the obvious basic research? You know, just a simple breakdown of birth rates vs public transit usage across the world. Rudimentary stuff.

Re: NYC congestion pricing cuts air pollution by a fifth in six months

#152
post #91
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, how about this, connect them together and put them on rails to reduce friction. You could even run them separate from the street with raised platforms for accessibility and sometimes even run them underground. We could call this something like “underway” or “steel beam connect-o-cars”

No, individualized point to point travel is better. I just got back from Tokyo and Taipei, which have transit systems better than any European country. And it was still faster to Uber everywhere.

If speed is your only concern, why not hire a helicopter? Oh, because cost is also a concern so we can't just look at what's "faster"? Rats.

Re: NYC congestion pricing cuts air pollution by a fifth in six months

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only because most people were taking the train. If everybody was taking a car you would be at a stand still.

Only if you build the city like Tokyo instead of like Dallas. Average commute in Tokyo is 45 minutes to an hour one way: https://nbakki.hatenablog.com/entry/2014/08/05/231455 . Average commute time in Dallas is 26 minutes one way: https://dallas.culturemap.com/news/city-life/dallas-suburb-s... I’m not aware of any transit-oriented city where average commute times are as low in absolute terms as in sprawling, car-depe…

Tokyo has a population of some 14 million. Dallas is about 1.3 million. Did you pick cities with populations exactly 10x apart on purpose or something?

Got any real stats?

Re: NYC congestion pricing cuts air pollution by a fifth in six months

#154
post #152
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, individualized point to point travel is better. I just got back from Tokyo and Taipei, which have transit systems better than any European country. And it was still faster to Uber everywhere.

If speed is your only concern, why not hire a helicopter? Oh, because cost is also a concern so we can't just look at what's "faster"? Rats.

Why hire a helicopter when one can just be bought outright?

https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/mining...

Permitting can be a bitch though: https://www.afr.com/property/residential/rinehart-s-loses-bi...

so there's a reason not to.

Re: NYC congestion pricing cuts air pollution by a fifth in six months

#156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EVs help with air pollution & congestion, but a huge part of the AQI impact of cars is tires, and I don't think there's a solution for that yet short of "fewer cars"

How do EVs help with congestion? They take up the same amount of space as an ICE car.

They can go into cheap, boring tunnels (little ventilation requirements)

Re: NYC congestion pricing cuts air pollution by a fifth in six months

#157
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EV self-driving shuttles you can take on demand so nobody needs to keep a car

Or, how about this, connect them together and put them on rails to reduce friction. You could even run them separate from the street with raised platforms for accessibility and sometimes even run them underground. We could call this something like “underway” or “steel beam connect-o-cars”

> put them on rails to reduce friction

Good luck climbing hills. A lot of systems like these moved away from rails onto rubber tires.

Rapid bus is probably best combination. Yes it will never match the throughput of rail, but it's vastly cheaper.

Re: NYC congestion pricing cuts air pollution by a fifth in six months

#158
post #15

The fact that tolls are now directly useful to the entire public must not be underappreciated. This is good news for everyone.

They better be. No one’s rooting for the smog, but a congestion tax is pretty regressive (hurts poorer people more)

It hurts homeless more, that's a fact (although most,big cold city homeless couchsurf rather than sleep in their car in my experience, but it might be different in the US). But if you take 'poor people' as in the bottom 20% of earners, they probably don't drive, because car are expensive.

Re: NYC congestion pricing cuts air pollution by a fifth in six months

#159
post #109
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, individualized point to point travel is better. I just got back from Tokyo and Taipei, which have transit systems better than any European country. And it was still faster to Uber everywhere.

Everywhere? This is a crazy thing to claim. I was also recently in Japan and I never took a car anywhere. I'm sure there are particular routes that are badly served but come on.

I've been few times to Japan. Limiting yourself to rail gets boring very quick.

Also if you travel (aka kinda pressed for time), esp. with larger group (aka family) a lot of time cars are cheaper and faster and more practical option.

Re: NYC congestion pricing cuts air pollution by a fifth in six months

#160
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What in particular about the MTA would you change? Remove the diversity compliance requirement from bids, e.g. [1]. Open up bids to any firm in the nation and select winners based on cost and competence only. Subject the MTA to a forensic audit every ten or twenty years. [1] https://www.mta.info/document/180556

Usually diversity requirements don't come with lower competence requirements. They usually require people to be competent and then also equal opportunity. Or are you suggesting that all non-white non-male people are incompetent?

> diversity requirements don't come with lower competence requirements

They come with certification requirements. The one that RFQ lists are NYC specific.

> are you suggesting that all non-white non-male people are incompetent?

I’m saying a local-only bidding pool will necessarily be smaller than a national one. And requiring local certification guarantees the former.

I’m objecting to diversity compliance. Not diversity requirements. (Though even there, one needs to be cognizant of how quickly intersecting requirements can rapidly cascade the candidate pool to small numbers.)

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