News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by frankus on Friday July 28, 2023 @10:52PM (#36916351)
If done right the stations will be in locations where having a car is more of a liability than a convenience (i.e. downtowns with lots of traffic and expensive parking).
Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by blq10 on Friday July 28, 2023 @11:01PM (#36916414)
Yeah see this is the problem - urbanist aesthetics demanding everyone live a very particular lifestyle, which includes a lot more than just urban living hamstringing projects.
Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by bugglebeetle on Friday July 28, 2023 @11:06PM (#36916451)
> urbanist aesthetics demanding everyone live a very particular lifestyle, which includes a lot more than just urban living hamstringing projects.

You’re literally just describing how most of the population lives and has lived for the past 1000 years. Your “urbanist aesthetics” predate the invention of cars.

Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by GauntletWizard on Friday July 28, 2023 @11:14PM (#36916499)
The small towns and farmsteads of history look a lot more like suburbs than modern high-rises. Even in large cities, every house would have significant garden to meet everyday needs.

A very small percentage of the population lived in "urban" cities, with houses back-to-back. Rome was an anomaly in that regard, made possible by significant farmsteads held by the nobility outside the city and grain bribes paid out by them.

Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by favflam on Saturday July 29, 2023 @12:42AM (#36917014)
Respectfully, suburban guys want to use urban cores rent free. If people with cars actually paid anything close to market rates for the precious real estate they take up with their cars, then most of them would just walk/bike/bus in the city. Car drivers have the government on their side, so they get heavily subsidized real estate (roads, parking).

I don't think this treatment is very equal or fair. Keep your house and your car (SUV?), but pay real tolls and real parking fees.

The US managed to build cities and suburbs fine before car drivers got government priority.

Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by foobiekr on Saturday July 29, 2023 @12:42PM (#36921971)
How do ambulances work in city cores if not roads?
Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by favflam on Tuesday August 01, 2023 @12:30PM (#36958302)
With no street parking, ambulances pass right through.

Also, you don't allow through-traffic of cars.

The only vehicular traffic are taxis (supply limited with licenses), delivery vehicles, emergency vehicles, and those rare people willing to pay $60 to drive into the city to pick up a box or furniture.

I live in a big city like this. Ambulances pass through just fine. The only traffic jams are tolled highways in/out of the city. And those highways are capped at 4 lanes wide with demand moderated with tolls.

If you do a return-on-asset, where asset=sqft of space in a city, you really want to kick out car drivers b/c they are the most space intensive with least return (economic boost/tax revenue). They are like moochers in cafes that buy the cheapest coffee and sit for 5 hours.

Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by blq10 on Sunday July 30, 2023 @02:00AM (#36928310)
Similarly, however - urban cores want suburban business without having to deal with the low tax revenue of actual bedrooms. The city of Chicago is instructive, the city is (very slightly) subsidized by suburban consumers and tax revenue. The big trick here is making suburbs without allowing the endless continuation of exurbs
Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by DoreenMichele on Friday July 28, 2023 @11:11PM (#36916484)
From the article:

And Whittington says the designers must also ensure the rail remains dedicated to its high-speed route and that people have the ability to get to the rail through other means of public transportation. “There are going to be a lot of communities you want to serve,” Whittington said, “but you want to find a way to bring those communities to the routes as opposed to bringing the route to the communities.”

Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by upon_drumhead on Friday July 28, 2023 @10:57PM (#36916384)
There’s a little problem with that. You want people who live close but not directly near one of the stations to also drive and park and take it. So you do need stations continently outside of the super dense metro area.
Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by stuaxo on Friday July 28, 2023 @11:11PM (#36916486)
Buses will probably link up from day 1, places with Metros will extend them to the stations (see Taiwan for instance).
Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by marssaxman on Friday July 28, 2023 @11:58PM (#36916744)
You don't need a high-speed rail station for that; you just need one of the park-n-ride lots at a light-rail station. You drive to the transit network, then use the local train to reach the regional train.
Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by foobiekr on Saturday July 29, 2023 @12:44PM (#36921992)
One of the obvious problems with this, at least in the California metros, is going to be that these stations are watering holes for people who engage in car breakins.
Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by marssaxman on Saturday July 29, 2023 @11:05PM (#36927404)
Interesting. I haven't heard of that as a significant problem with the existing Sound Transit park-n-rides; I wonder if that is a regional difference, or whether it is a function of system size.
Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by bpodgursky on Friday July 28, 2023 @10:57PM (#36916383)
There are (at most) 2 of those locations in the entire US PNW... downtown Seattle and Downtown Portland. And frankly I'm not sure Portland counts.
Re:Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW by seanmcdirmid on Friday July 28, 2023 @11:05PM (#36916446)
Downtown Portland definitely counts. I would include Vancouver BC. Traffic is really draining up there, more so than downtown Seattle.