[ExI] abandon all buses

[Eugen Leitl]

On Fri, Nov 02, 2007 at 08:34:40PM -0700, Spike wrote:

> Ja most US places are not well suited for buses.  The environmentalists were

It's not because of the places, though. It's because of the people.
Only lowest economics rungs would use a bus, so it's associated with
a social stigma. Worse still is walking (I remember being honked at
when I used to walk to work in SoCal).

> pushing them for a long time, but anyone with eyes could daily witness huge
> Diesel buses belching black clouds of possibly carcinogenic choking carbon

Of course all modern buses have particulate filters.
And speaking about buses:

http://bp0.blogger.com/_k8Y0SWU8PJM/Rym__7u6Z_I/AAAAAAAAACk/55XpSWglWoE/s1600-h/espacio+coches.jpg?

> particulates, chugging around the valley with three or four apes aboard.
> The gasoline powered Detroit V8s, each hauling a single ape, are far more
> environmentally friendly.

Apes staying at home and joining a virtual office would be even
more so.
 
> The solution to this paradox was your classic silicone valley: they bought a
> number of fuel cell buses at a cost of 1.3 million dollars each.  These now
> can be seen belching pristine clean white clouds of steam, chugging around
> the valley with three or four apes aboard.

It would take a redesign of the society to make them accept public transportation.
It would take many decades to a century to restructure suburbia.
 
> A far more environmentally agreeable solution has been staring at us for
> some time, one I have suggested repeatedly: skip the buses, use the money to
> build bicycle-only roads.  I and a lot of others will ride bikes if we can
> do so safely.  I have a nice recumbent that is a great street bike, but it
> sits too low to be safe in traffic.

Bike lanes don't work in the U.S. for the same reason public transportation
doesn't work there. Most motorists won't expect you to be there, with the 
predictable result on your life span.

Much better idea is to move away from such places. 

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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