Elon Musk’s idea for fixing traffic...

[LockH]

"suffers from one fundamental problem"...:
http://www.vox.com/2016/12/19/14005504/elon-musk-tunnel-traffic?yptr=yahoo

Starts:

On Saturday, Elon Musk — the restless billionaire behind Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity — was stuck in annoying traffic and mused that one solution would be to drill more tunnels. All he’d need, really, is a giant machine…

... and:

Everyone’s trying to figure out whether Musk is genuinely serious about starting a brand-new tunnel-boring company or not. Who knows! But tunnels are fun to think about, so why not pretend he is serious and think through how this might actually work....

[Insert more Blah Blah here]

Writes about "The "fundamental rule" of traffic: building new roads just makes people drive more"...

...and concludes:

So what does help alleviate congestion?

If cities really want to erase traffic jams, many transportation economists would instead recommend that they charge people to use roads when they’re crowded — a policy known as congestion pricing that has popped up in places like London, Singapore, and Stockholm.

... and:

The downside is that congestion charging tends to be rather unpopular, since people don’t like it when they suddenly have to pay for something that used to be free. (It’s the same reason why checked-baggage fees on airplanes have incurred such a backlash.) So urban planners tend to favor building new roads and widening existing roads — or, in Musk’s case, new tunnels — even if the research suggests again and again that it doesn’t cut down on congestion.

Watt doesn't seem to occur to Brad Plumer at Vox would be to SHRINK the size of many/most vehicles on urban roads?

This is about an urban world full of large vehicles with lots of (empty) seats... lots of (empty) cargo space... "Large", (heavy and expensive) vehicles that consume lots of energy to move and are designed to travel at speeds much faster than more urban spaces.

In this context, "tiny" vehicles as bikes and trikes designed for shorter distances at slower speeds maybe make "too much sense"?

[grumble grumble]

 

[joshuahandrich]

Give every taxpayer a tax credit for an electric bike or scooter instead of spending billions on new infrastructure that the US has a tendency to let fall into shambles. I thought he was going to suggest more cars with autopilot that could communicate with each other via a mesh network as the second biggest factor in congestion right after too many cars is human driving hobbits that cause slow downs due to non ideal lane changes, etc. furthermore, while unpopular, conjestuon charges actually work to cut down on conjestion whereas road expansions that are often popular and seem like common sense to the public do not. And congestion charges provide positive revenue that can be used to fund bike lanes and public transportation infrastructure that actually work. We need to get out of the mindset that public transport is for dirty poor people and the societal implications of that and subsequent disvestment in it. Even caverns who would never give up their car would be if it from less congestion and parking woes with more public transit infrastructure due to the number of other people in the area it would get out of their cars.

 

[beast775]

Yer pullin at my heart strings lock, why humans cant expel BIG ohm rexia is beyond my accumulators. 1200 lb curb weight hybrid simple air cooled 4 stroke motors to get the ball rollin :wink:

 

[LockH]

^^ ACK! Yer tapping `bout exhausting more burnt fossil hydrocarbons??? [insert more question marks here] [maybe more exclamation marks also]

"1200 lb"... So. Not so easy to pedal? Can disassemble and/or fold, yes? Suspect you're thinking some empty seats? Lotta empty cargo space much? Much hills involved?

Not more tunnels but a net of connected tubes as "tunnels". As a first job in a warehouse I "shot" smooth canisters with orders, etc papers back and forth and all over the company premises. Just big up the size of the canisters, add a comfy seat and drink holders etc. For me any air-powered high speed comfy chair would change the commute from near an hour one way into just a few minutes?

 

[LockH]

Still would prefer "21st. Century California-style "cycleway"":
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=73326

 

[beast775]

Watt ? Was talkin bout humans who drive SUVEEZ with 8 cylinder motors with coolant...similar vehicle but less madness to start and hope they catch on like her pees.