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Germany's 49-euro ticket resulted in significant shift from road to rail

mcc-berlin.net

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Re: Germany's 49-euro ticket resulted in significant shift from road to rail

#891

Post by nsokolsky »

ido wrote: post #601
nsokolsky wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Lugging your children around on public transit builds character that chauffeuring them around in a car does not I'm talking about ages 0 to 3 when parents need to use a stroller. It's a huge pain to do this in public transit. It's easier when the kids are older but if you have more than one child the car still wins.

Both my kids were born in Berlin (now 6 & 8 years old) and we never owned a car. In some ways transit is even easier with a stroller as you can just roll into the subway/train instead of having the disassemble the stroller and put it into the trunk. Buses require a bit more effort to board with a stroller but newer busses allow the driver to lower them near the curb to make boarding with stroller easier. We’ve done t…

I'd bet good money on your life being overall easier in a less dense city and two cars. But yes, you can do it and people have raised kids without cars for millenia.

Re: Germany's 49-euro ticket resulted in significant shift from road to rail

#892

Post by nsokolsky »

Mawr wrote: post #637
nsokolsky wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much of the increased rail use is helping increase GDP, though, rather than being purely leisurely trips with little long term value for the economy? More people going to hike in the forest on the weekend technically increases GDP but doesn't add much value to the economy overall.

Fast travel between major cities skyrockets GDP: https://youtu.be/T3LLgzO_PrI?t=264

Why does the US have a higher GDP/capita than France then?

Re: Germany's 49-euro ticket resulted in significant shift from road to rail

#893

Post by nsokolsky »

verall wrote: post #613
nsokolsky wrote: post #452

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That figure includes every single government-owned street, AFAIK. Total infrastructure costs are higher but don't seem that much higher than in Germany?

TxDOT does not maintain local or county roads which are a massive portion of cost in sprawl.

OK so what % of the GDP goes towards roads in Texas vs Germany?

Re: Germany's 49-euro ticket resulted in significant shift from road to rail

#894

Post by s1artibartfast »

aleph_minus_one wrote: post #751
punchmesan wrote: post #749

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So then if the government buys pens and reams of paper, then it's the government subsidizing office supply stores? But it's not a subsidy if a corporation spends money on the same supplies? My employer does business with the DoD and with private corporate entities. Both the government and the private sector spend the same money and receive the same products and services. I appreciate that you have a different perspec…

> So then if the government buys pens and reams of paper, then it's the government subsidizing office supply stores? If the government is a particularly important customer: yes.

Do you have a different term you use for when the government is not simply a customer, buying what they need, but intentionally funding a company in excess of the goods and services it receives? This would be more in line with the traditional definition.

I think a company can make 100% of its revenue from the government, but that doesn't mean it is subsidized. The critical criteria is if the government is directing funds for reasons other than pure procurement, such as buying votes, stimulating jobs, ect.

Re: Germany's 49-euro ticket resulted in significant shift from road to rail

#895

Post by thehappypm »

consteval wrote: post #846
15155 wrote: post #771

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> rail station taking you from anywhere you want to go to anywhere else you wanna go unless you’re in an urban hub. The specific people pushing this form of development also want you to live in ultra-high-density housing in an urban center - that's the whole idea and eventuality of this type of development. You WILL raise your family in an apartment, they WILL ride a bicycle everywhere they aren't using mass transit.…

The idea isn't to "force" people to do anything, it's to stop PRIORITIZING those people. Suburbs are on heavy welfare from city centers, who pretty much provide all the money. Roads are prioritized to such an insane degree that everyone suffers. The people you may identify with - low-density huge homeowners - don't realize it, but they're being heavily subsidized by everyone. Particularly those in denser areas. Peopl…

Heavy welfare — got a source? I hear that all the time but it doesn’t really make sense.

Re: Germany's 49-euro ticket resulted in significant shift from road to rail

#896

Post by ido »

nsokolsky wrote: post #891
ido wrote: post #601

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both my kids were born in Berlin (now 6 & 8 years old) and we never owned a car. In some ways transit is even easier with a stroller as you can just roll into the subway/train instead of having the disassemble the stroller and put it into the trunk. Buses require a bit more effort to board with a stroller but newer busses allow the driver to lower them near the curb to make boarding with stroller easier. We’ve done t…

I'd bet good money on your life being overall easier in a less dense city and two cars. But yes, you can do it and people have raised kids without cars for millenia.

Life in a less dense city itself would be different (fewer career opportunities - despite remote work, less cultural opportunities, etc). Also kids become more independent earlier so we won't have to drive them everywhere as teens etc.

Re: Germany's 49-euro ticket resulted in significant shift from road to rail

#898

Post by VancouverMan »

immibis wrote: post #692
VancouverMan wrote: post #648

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're absolutely right that some political parties wrongly use a term like "conservative" in their party name, or otherwise incorrectly portray themselves as being "right wing". Ultimately, though, they're still left-wing parties in practice, pushing left-wing ideologies, regardless of the facade they might try to put up. A party doesn't just become "right wing" because they claim to be, especially when their action…

Pray tell, was Adolf Hitler left or right wing?

Left wing, due to the use of large and intrusive government, collectivism, government-run make-work projects, government-run infrastructure projects, central economic planning, conscription, a disregard for individualism, and other policies that are inherently incompatible with right-wing ideology.

Re: Germany's 49-euro ticket resulted in significant shift from road to rail

#899

Post by berkes »

caseyy wrote: post #793
zelphirkalt wrote: post #39

Well, of course, if we didn't have traffic ministers again and again, who do everything they can to make rail less attractive and road more attractive, then we could probably have a great system. But automobile lobby is so strong, they buy all the politicians in that role, probably even before they land in that role, so I guess normal people will have to keep suffering, so that those politicians can have a life of lu…

Quite many "normal people" also enjoy the freedom of the automobile. It has contributed significantly to the culture of autonomy, unity on large scales (beyond one's local town), and cosmopolitanism. Online, it is acceptable to be cynical about cars, but in the real world, among common people, this mindset is not that prevalent. Even in European countries lauded for great public transport, people own and enjoy cars.…

> the freedom of the automobile

This is also a feedback loop. People like cars, because the infrastructure of the society is built around cars. And the infrastructure is built like this because so many people use cars.

I own an old VW van, and use it to experience this freedom: roadtripping through Europe. Even short trips to a campsite near my home feel like holiday the moment I drive it out of the garage.

But I've never understood this "feeling of freedom" of all these tens of thousands of people who pull up into their daily traffic jam. Twice a day. How is that "freedom"? How do people justify this for themselves - other than "no alternative". I commute weekly by train, and it's marvelous to look out of the window at the daily traffic jams on the highway, from the inside of a train that zooms by this hell at 160km/h. I've had jobs where I had to stand in such jams daily and it's truly a soul-sucking, time eating, fun-sucking grind. Especially compared to sitting in a train and drinking a beer, watching a netflix, reading a book or working on my laptop. That, to me, is much more freedom. Not as much as roadtripping, but free, nontheless.

Re: Germany's 49-euro ticket resulted in significant shift from road to rail

#900

Post by bowsamic »

LeanderK wrote: post #779
bowsamic wrote: post #439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I visited the UK, which is my home, and the UK train system was amazing. Got multiple tight connections with zero delays. Far better than I’ve experienced living in Germany

Interesting, i am in the opposite situation. Using the deutsche bahn for long distances is often horrible so I never thought I would miss it but omg I really didn't have a good experience with Uk trains. The ticketing is complicated and the trains were often so unbelievably dirty and run down. Never had this experience in an ICE. Okay there are sometimes issues like the toilet boing out of order or the restaurant clo…

> There are many things that the UK does better than Germany but trains they manage to do even worse

The trains are better in the UK than in Germany

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