I hate This so much in Germany Our Highways (Autobahn) are so expensive but Like No one cares but the second better Public Transit or Bike infastructur is brought Up so many people bitch About cost
"We care about efficiency and the budget"
"Cool, so we could move way more people at a fraction of the cost if we built this passenger rai-"
"Woah there buddy, you didn't actually believe that stuff I said about the budget and efficiency, did you?"
Well not really, cuz the conservatives want them to be toll roads. Built with public funds for private profit though, that's always fun.
I wish driving was a sustainable and humane method of transportation, but it really isn't. I do love driving but I also agree that suburban sprawl is awful and not sustainable financially and environmentally.
Often I feel that people believe that paved roads are naturally-occurring, geological formations. As evidence, I submit the people complaining about road construction and maintenance work as if it's a ploy by the government to obstruct their travel, or the Lemming that I ran into a few weeks ago who was convinced that people in poor, developing countries have to drive cars, because it's too expensive to build bicycle infrastructure.
Yes; North americas first transcontinental connection was the Pacific railway, finished 1845. It was completed before the first highway was ever built. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_transcontinental_railroad
That’s the result of cars being the global default.
100 years ago you had loads of routes that were only accessible by rail, not road.
Reliance on cars helps continually isolate people as they go about their daily lives. It's important for fostering everyone's ruggedly individualistic, Randian grindset.
It also allows you to transport units of meat from the store freezer to the ice chest you keep in your basement (that you'll one day rely on to stave off hunger during the zombie apocalypse).
Both pictures contain the same amount of people.
It's wild to me that people will say this, then drive on a government subsidized/built road, buy government subsidized fuel, literally walk into a government building to register their vehicles (with the government, so that their vehicles can be properly taxed by the government), and pay for government mandated insurance (that they have to pay for again to actually use).
But I'm a chump for paying for unlimited rides once a month. Okay 👌😒.
"But by providing car infrastructure, government enables economic development!"
"Yeah, that goes for train infrastructure too, you know."
Over here, government still provides the roads, but pulled back sharply on providing parking infrastructure. That's privatized. Good luck finding anything nearby for less than €20 per day.
Yea why should I pay for you to leave your machine on the street? I'd rather have something useful
Which country?
Antwerp city. They're trying to push people to park outside the city for cheap and take public transportation.
Sounds nice 💚
They think gas taxes pay for it.
What’s funny is in practice the government spends more money subsidising vehicle fuels than they earn from taxes on the fuel.
They're supposed to but well, you know
Fascism literally profits from human misery. Cars are no exception.
We need to qoute the cost of trains separate from that of installing rails. Let people assume they can bring their own train from home.
Ah but the car option lends itself to strong individualism and personal choices, like "which dealer network do I want to get ripped off by?", or "which publically-subsidized gas company do I want to fund further?".
And "which manufacturer's constant recall notices do I want to receive while many other fixes to safety and consumer wellbeing are fought and argued against for profit?"
Why is the text left to right, but the images have to be observed right to left to understand?
“Yea, well I don’t need roads with my 41 inch lifted, 4x4 half ton truck, with 30 inch rims and r25 racing slicks”
“Good luck crossing the local creek or any wooded area.
Also, aren’t you the guy alway mumbling that you’d shoot someone who goes into your property. Good luck finding a driving route without going through anyone’s property.”
I fully believe the single most important thing to any conservative male that espouses their NEED for a pickup over taking the train and walking two blocks is that they can't purposefully run over people on a train/metro and look big and intimidating.
This is why we call them "gender-affirming vehicles," or "emotional support trucks."
My wife calls them "tiny penis trucks". If there's a bunch all together, it's a "tiny penis parade"
I like the gender affirming vehicle though. Not too many women desperate to drive a truck that never touches dirt or cargo.
I believe that autocorrect changed the word "causes" to "spouses" on you without you noticing.
I'd say it was meant to be "espouses"
espouse
verb
- To become/get married to.
- To accept, support, or take on as one’s own (an idea or a cause).
That's definitely a better fit.
Well, I'm glad you guys can interpret what I meant!
Yes I meant "espouses" but my autocorrect dropped the first "E" and I didn't proofread well enough.
What?
Substitute the word "causes" for the word "spouses," and it makes sense.
Be careful, Hungary is now experimenting with "privatizing" some roads.
Ontario more or less did that a couple decades ago. Taxpayers funded the 407 which is a toll highway through Toronto. The Conservatives under Mike Harris in 1999, effectively "sold" the 407 to a foreign company for a paltry $3bn (technically, a 99 year lease, but for us that's about the same as being sold).
The highway has since generated many multiples of that in revenue that is not going to fund Government projects, but to line the pockets of an investment conglomerate. As a result, rates have increased despite an "agreement" with the government to maintain rates as long as there is sufficient traffic, which has been exceeded and is steadily increasing.
Is there two tracks with the train? It sorta seems like one. I really like the elevated design with the single pole. The city near me you have streets with poles on either side and no island on the road but I like this better. Would sorta be nice for an upside down Y or something on the bottom and have bike and pedestrian lanes through them to give cover from weather.
When big train starts lobbying hard and kicking more into their 'campaigns' I'm sure their tune will change.
They already do this. Unfortunately "big train" is a bunch of corrupt freight companies attacking passenger trains in order to maintain their privilege/profits/oligopy.
Govt doesn't have money nothing is govt funded.
Actually I know ol' Govt personally and the guy is fuckin loaded
Have you seen money lately? The state literally prints the money. The entire "economy" is state controlled.
What?
While it is true that nothing is funded with taxes, because taxes are an antiinflationary device, that doesn't mean that the government doesn't fund anything. Quite the opposite with a sovereign currency. The government of any country with a sovereign currency literally funds the entire economy of that country.
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