Saturday, December 3, 2016

The Future Of Transportation - Traffic Jams

Not the naturally occurring type either, but deliberately caused ones. The lefty thought process that goes; 1. Cars cause pollution, 2. Roads cause cars*, 3. Fewer roads means fewer cars = less pollution.

Never mind that a shortage of roads causes traffic jams that result in more pollution, the latest iteration of this is that when traffic comes to a complete halt, people will migrate to public transportation. That won't move either but if misery loves company, you'll be happier trapped in a traffic jam with 50-60 others.

In NYC the mayor there is deliberately fouling traffic in an attempt to force more people onto the already overloaded subways and buses. A picture of Manhattan from a high office will show that 80% of the jammed up cars below are bright yellow so the plan winds up fouling the public transport as well. This is also expected to encourage bicycles and walking, to which I say, I've seen pictures of NYC in winter and doing either through a foot or two of snow doesn't seem all that attractive.

Eventually I suppose the denizens of the most afflicted places will acquaint themselves with the older tradition of dealing with politicians who can't or won't serve their constituents, involving a bucket of tar, a couple of chickens, and a bit of assembly work. That or business people will eventually figure out that in the age of the internet, there is little reason for a lot of businesses to be located in any specific location. The exception to this is actual manufacturing which required supply chains of actual materials in and out. The NYSE by contrast could be physically located in central Kansas and the move would be transparent to its customer base.

* When a congested roadway is widened, for some reason it quickly becomes congested again and needs further widening. It never fails.

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