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Texans Against High-Speed Rail

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Texans Against High-Speed Rail

Old 02-09-16, 02:53 PM
  #101  
Walter S
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Originally Posted by Dave Cutter
That sounds like some who doesn't understand the use of technology.

Autonomous cars are as high-tech today... as the radar-range was in the early '60's... or CompuServe was in the early '80's. But it won't be long (however long... long is) before every car made will have a (government mandated) autonomous option. People will select it based on need and how it effects the resale value of their purchase (or rental). It might be pricey at first... but the cost (and price) will quickly plummet.
Autominous cars are at least a little more high tech than those examples because they exist only as prototypes created to prove a concept under more forgiving conditions than the real world. They're more like CPUs on integrated circuits were in the 60s, something which had been proven and existed (like on the Apollo guidance computer) but not something you could go buy.

But... autonomous cars do make the position of cab driver a little "dated". Just like elevator operator, typist, telephone operator, pinsetter (bowling), and milkman..... expect to see far fewer cab drivers.
Not yet.

Last edited by Walter S; 02-09-16 at 02:57 PM.
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Old 02-09-16, 03:04 PM
  #102  
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Just to keep the Bushes, the Rockefellers and the Hughs in power, ******* has made public transportation in a poorly designed fashion, to the point where most of the population doesn't want to use it.
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Old 02-09-16, 03:06 PM
  #103  
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Originally Posted by Mobile 155
..... If people simply lived and worked and died where they were born everyone would still live in the Fertile Crescent.............
People have always been on the move and have always been looking for an easier way to do so. If not the car would never have caught on.
+1 And cars have certainly caught on.
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Old 02-09-16, 03:07 PM
  #104  
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Originally Posted by tjkoko
Just to keep the Bushes, the Rockefellers and the Hughs in power, ******* has made public transportation in a poorly designed fashion, to the point where most of the population doesn't want to use it.
How does that keep rich people in power? Who's running this conspiracy? I use it almost every day and it seems well run to me.
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Old 02-09-16, 03:11 PM
  #105  
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Originally Posted by Walter S
How does that keep rich people in power? Who's running this conspiracy?
Follow the money.
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Old 02-09-16, 03:19 PM
  #106  
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Originally Posted by Ekdog
Follow the money.
Silly answer. I contend that nobody is trying to make public transportation bad to put money in the pockets of rich people. A little "follow the money" with no mention of what money and where it will presumably lead is totally worthless except to again imply a conspiracy without having the guts to make specific claims you obviously can't defend.
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Old 02-09-16, 04:03 PM
  #107  
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Originally Posted by Walter S
Silly answer. I contend that nobody is trying to make public transportation bad to put money in the pockets of rich people. A little "follow the money" with no mention of what money and where it will presumably lead is totally worthless except to again imply a conspiracy without having the guts to make specific claims you obviously can't defend.
Do you "contend" that there are no conspiracies in the automobile industry?
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Old 02-09-16, 04:12 PM
  #108  
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Originally Posted by tjkoko
Just to keep the Bushes, the Rockefellers and the Hughs in power, ******* has made public transportation in a poorly designed fashion, to the point where most of the population doesn't want to use it.
To get good mass transit I recommend becoming part of the mass. I doubt the bus or rail service is great in Okefenokee Swamps. I live in Atlanta and have a lot of respect for the transit system here. Back in the 1970s much less so. Buses often smelled of urine. Now the busses are modern and clean and just recently added wifi.

i think the coverage is great too. I live eight miles east of downtown. My employer is 15 miles north of downtown. I have a few different routes to choose from. And my google maps app tells me which one is quickest based on a desired departure or arrival time. Then I just follow the route it gives me, with all the transfers and potential short walks easily navigated with the phone. My best route has less than a mile of total walking (adding the start, a transfer, and the end). I usually take a different route so I can walk more.

I don't have any complaints. Don't tell these conspirators you apparently know about what a bad job they're doing at "poor design".

Last edited by Walter S; 02-09-16 at 05:24 PM.
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Old 02-09-16, 04:39 PM
  #109  
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Originally Posted by Dave Cutter
That sounds like some who doesn't understand the use of technology.
I guess he understands it a bit since he is in the automibile industry and involved with autonomous car. I use car sharing and I understand what he means. Do you?

Originally Posted by Dave Cutter
People will select it based on need and how it effects the resale value of their purchase (or rental).
It is hard to argue against that but we are talking about something that looks like it is going to be the biggest revolution in transportation that we will see in our life time. It is hard to tell what is going to happen.

Originally Posted by Dave Cutter
It might be pricey at first... but the cost (and price) will quickly plummet
Car are already pricey. Using alternative transportations costs me only a small fraction of the expanses I had when I owned a car.

Originally Posted by Dave Cutter
But... autonomous cars do make the position of cab driver a little "dated". Just like elevator operator, typist, telephone operator, pinsetter (bowling), and milkman..... expect to see far fewer cab drivers.
Agree. But taxis have already become a bit dated by other recent technologies. Here, cab drivers complained when bike sharing was implemented, then when car sharing came and now they are complaining about Uber.
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Old 02-09-16, 05:24 PM
  #110  
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Originally Posted by Dave Cutter
That sounds like some who doesn't understand the use of technology.

Autonomous cars are as high-tech today... as the radar-range was in the early '60's... or CompuServe was in the early '80's. But it won't be long (however long... long is) before every car made will have a (government mandated) autonomous option. People will select it based on need and how it effects the resale value of their purchase (or rental). It might be pricey at first... but the cost (and price) will quickly plummet.

But... autonomous cars do make the position of cab driver a little "dated". Just like elevator operator, typist, telephone operator, pinsetter (bowling), and milkman..... expect to see far fewer cab drivers.
Here is an article that explains why autonomous car will not be targeted to the consumer market first but to applications like car sharing, Uber, taxis and even bus lines:
Top misconceptions of autonomous cars and self-driving vehicles | Driverless car market watch
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Old 02-09-16, 05:42 PM
  #111  
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Originally Posted by tandempower
Any form of transit requires the ability to get around car-free at the destination points unless people tote their cars along with them (e.g. auto train). There's no simply economic relationship between cars and transit. There are different ways to connect destinations and different ways that demand is elasticized or inelasticized according to the connectivity of the network....
Did we get cross-linked to a Dilbert cartoon? Just kidding but none of that actually made sense to me. Elaborate.
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Old 02-09-16, 08:56 PM
  #112  
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Originally Posted by dksix
It doesn't look like a very good value to me, $10B for 240 miles of track ($41M/mile) to connect 2 cities. How many possible commuters would use it daily?
Only $10B? That's what I call a bargain. We just spent $1B on a new football stadium we will only use 8 days a year. That's $125 million per day. I'm guessing the high speed rail will be used every day. That's only $27 million a day*. And unlike a pro football stadium, high speed rail actually serves a useful purpose. *Figures based on one year payback timeframe.
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Old 02-09-16, 09:03 PM
  #113  
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Originally Posted by denis123
I guess he understands it a bit since he is in the automibile industry and involved with autonomous car. I use car sharing and I understand what he means. Do you?
Yes I do understand.... and I don't have to hedge my bets either. My career is NOT dependent on sales of a new technology.

Originally Posted by denis123
hard to argue against that but we are talking about something that looks like it is going to be the biggest revolution in transportation that we will see in our life time. It is hard to tell what is going to happen.
I saw (watched) the last coal powered steam locomotive chug through my small home town as a little boy. And somehow... I think I'll live long enough yet that a computer controlled car won't be that big of a deal.

Originally Posted by denis123
Car are already pricey.
It's all relevant isn't it.
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Old 02-09-16, 09:06 PM
  #114  
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Originally Posted by denis123
Here is an article that explains why autonomous car will not be targeted to the consumer market first but to applications like car sharing, Uber, taxis and even bus lines:
Top misconceptions of autonomous cars and self-driving vehicles | Driverless car market watch
LOL and it is authored by my favorite poet.... anonymous
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Old 02-09-16, 09:10 PM
  #115  
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Originally Posted by loky1179
Only $10B? That's what I call a bargain.......That's only $27 million a day*. ........ Figures based on one year payback timeframe.
check your math.
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Old 02-09-16, 09:10 PM
  #116  
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Originally Posted by loky1179
Only $10B? That's what I call a bargain. We just spent $1B on a new football stadium we will only use 8 days a year. That's $125 million per day. I'm guessing the high speed rail will be used every day. That's only $27 million a day*. And unlike a pro football stadium, high speed rail actually serves a useful purpose. *Figures based on one year payback timeframe.
I'm not against alternative transportation systems and high speed rail systems are really cool but I don't think the open spaces of the south west is the place to start. Where would be the possible expansion of the system? If it's private money building it, fine or even if it's state government funding it, fine but if it's federal money funding a project like this I'd like for servicing 2 cites to be just the start. A system like this servicing major east coast cities would be a better idea, IMO.


I completely agree with the usefulness of a football stadium.
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Old 02-09-16, 09:12 PM
  #117  
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Originally Posted by dave cutter
check your math.
10b/365=~27m
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Old 02-09-16, 09:31 PM
  #118  
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Originally Posted by dksix
I'm not against alternative transportation systems and high speed rail systems are really cool but I don't think the open spaces of the south west is the place to start. Where would be the possible expansion of the system? If it's private money building it, fine or even if it's state government funding it, fine but if it's federal money funding a project like this I'd like for servicing 2 cites to be just the start. A system like this servicing major east coast cities would be a better idea, IMO.


I completely agree with the usefulness of a football stadium.
I don't know Texas, so I won't argue that it is the smartest way to spend money. Just pointing out there are a lot dumber things to spend money on.

Though with a state that big, you'd think ALL the rail lines would be high speed. Maybe it is just a marketing problem. Re-brand it as BIG rail, and you might have a winner.
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Old 02-09-16, 09:46 PM
  #119  
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Originally Posted by loky1179
I don't know Texas, so I won't argue that it is the smartest way to spend money. Just pointing out there are a lot dumber things to spend money on.

Though with a state that big, you'd think ALL the rail lines would be high speed. Maybe it is just a marketing problem. Re-brand it as BIG rail, and you might have a winner.
I read a bit about this when I first posted, seems like I remember there already being a rail system between these 2 cities using diesel locomotives with a top speed of 110MPH. That's just going off memory, I'm sure if I'm wrong someone will be glad to point it out.
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Old 02-09-16, 09:46 PM
  #120  
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Originally Posted by dksix
10b/365=~27m
Oops... the math I did in my head was wrong. I apologize.
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Old 02-10-16, 07:16 AM
  #121  
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Originally Posted by Dave Cutter
LOL and it is authored by my favorite poet.... anonymous
Always attack the messenger when you cannot argue against the message. And do your own research. There are plenty of other articles on the net that say the same thing.

Last edited by denis123; 02-10-16 at 07:27 AM. Reason: add more arguments
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Old 02-10-16, 08:25 AM
  #122  
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Originally Posted by denis123
Always attack the messenger when you cannot argue against the message. And do your own research. There are plenty of other articles on the net that say the same thing.
He's trying to be clever, I think.
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Old 02-10-16, 10:21 AM
  #123  
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Originally Posted by Dave Cutter
No. If you open a restaurant and do a great job... you may need to expand to seat all the people who desire to eat there. You might even need to open a 2nd location. That is called "growth"... NEVER is that called sprawl.
What relevance does the expansion of a restaurant have in the matter of sprawl in the geography of a municipality, county, or other economic area?

Originally Posted by Mobile 155
There are a lot of options to cars being used everyday by people in the forum alone. Rail, bus, subway, walking, taxi, shuttle and for this forum bicycles. The fact that people have decided not to use those options doesn't mean they aren't there. The only difference between now and how it used to be is the time it takes to travel. If people simply lived and worked and died where they were born everyone would still live in the Fertile Crescent. The Romans would never have invaded England, the US would never have been established. The coastal natives would have never traded sea shells with the Zuni in New Mexico or have feathers from Mexico.

People have always been on the move and have always been looking for an easier way to do so. If not the car would never have caught on.
People have always worked hard to get a lot done and looked for ways to pep up and work more. If not amphetamines would never have caught on. Does that mean it's good to rely on amphetamines to get all your work done or for employers to expect people to work 16+ hour days?
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Old 02-10-16, 10:24 AM
  #124  
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Originally Posted by tandempower
What relevance does the expansion of a restaurant have in the matter of sprawl in the geography of a municipality, county, or other economic area?


People have always worked hard to get a lot done and looked for ways to pep up and work more. If not amphetamines would never have caught on. Does that mean it's good to rely on amphetamines to get all your work done or for employers to expect people to work 16+ hour days?
"amphetamines"? "employers to expect people to work 16+ hour days"?

Talk about "relevance"!
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Old 02-10-16, 03:47 PM
  #125  
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Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
"amphetamines"? "employers to expect people to work 16+ hour days"?

Talk about "relevance"!
At least it wasn't pyramids with trees. Still I thought it was quaint to think of people being born, living and dying in a few square miles because people didn't used to move around much. Well except for the new world discovery thing and maybe the move all the way from the east coast to the west coast. And I guess entire populations of First Nation people moving from a summer city to a winter city didn't count either?
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