You can vote to raise sales and property taxes across the board to lay and maintain municipal fiber or you can let Comcast finance the project and collect a franchise fee.
And after 10 or 20 years require them to open up access. By then the cable should be paid for.
It really comes down to the fact that last mile connectivity is pretty much a natural monopoly
Only for physical hardwired cables and fiber. But not for the airwaves. Almost anyone can setup a transceiver, ham radio or shortwave operators may even design and build their own.
For reasons that, I assume, have to do with a mixture of lobbying by incumbents and a strong distrust of "socialism" we've mostly been denying this fact for years.
It's precisely because big businesses wanted to restrict competition that the airwaves were licensed, in the beginning they weren't.
It is a simple matter of empirical fact that free markets work pretty well.
As much as I wish it weren't true, there is no free market. Some markets are freer than other but there is no free market, ie one without regulations or other government interference.
The company is owned by the city of Stockholm and is not a private business. Stokab was founded in 1994 and is owned by the company group Stockholms Stadshus AB, which is in turn owned by the City of Stockholm.
Oh also booking the same flight here in the EU is about 3-4 times cheaper than a friend was able to book from the USA.
And getting a Eurail Pass in the US before going to Europe is cheaper. I heard one person recommend taking a long train somewhere then taking one back as it saves hotel expenses.
That's funny, didn't we build the interstate system for precisely the same reason we're suggesting building a high-speed rail system? To quickly and efficiently move people from one city to another?
Futhermore, it's part of what dug us out of the last depression, creating thousands of jobs and enabling car companies to really thrive in America, creating billions of dollars worth of industry.
By definition you wouldn't need a highway-capable car at the destination
Yes I would. My destination is just a hub. I first arrive on the train in Orlando. From there I drove to Cocoa Beach on the Atlantic Coast. Another day I go to Gainesville/Ocala and Silver Springs. Still another day I go diving in Sarasota on the Gulf Coast. Or in some caverns.
Bullshit, train passengers should pay for trains just as drivers should pay for roads. And because fuel taxes are not high enough to pay for roads they should be raised.
I don't care about high-speed rail. Give me auto trains! Bonus if I can bring a boat/pwc trailer along for an extra fee.
I want both, a high speed auto train. I live in Minneapolis, MN now but I moved from Florida and I'd love to be able to drive onto a train in Minneapolis and drive off 24 hours later in Orlando. Making it the same price as a plane ticket and it's be even better.
You trade those days of occasional discomfort with all the extra time public transit gives you.
HAHA! I once took a bus that takes all of 15 minutes to drive to. How long did it take me? About 20 minutes to the bus station, so I didn't have to make transfer, then another 45 minutes to where I was headed. And it cost me more to take the bus than to drive.
to paying for others' train tickets which are ~50% subsidized by road tolls. The trains, like the post office, should be able to stand on their own two feet via the sale of stamps/tickets. If the true ticket cost is $10 per ride, then let it be $10 - let the riders bear the true cost of their preferred method of movement. (Same applies to any transport method, be it cars or buses or subways.)
I hope you know the tax on fuel does not pay all the cost for roads. And if cars become more fuel economical it will get worse. I'm one of those people who believe fuel taxes need to be raised, just for this reason. I recently read a proposal about this I liked. Raise the fuel tax and lower income tax. If the rise in fuel tax is $100, for a week say, then lower income tax $100. Of course under such a plan there would have be adjustments made to the tax, for instance increasing the tax when more people drive more fuel efficient vehicles. In the end though there isn't a tax increase.
I think most of the places we saw them they were spelled pretty similar to "pharmacy". It's a shame I didn't take a picture of the text so I would know for sure.
Apothecaries are being replaced with pharmacies so I wouldn't be surprised. Laws and regulations are driving them out of business.
You fly in, when you arrive at the airport, DW grabs your bags for you....we stayed on the grounds, so when we got to the hotel, we checked in and luggage was waiting for us.
If you spend more than a couple of days, you're missing a lot if you only stay at the Kingdom and don't have a car. You could stay a month in Central Florida and not see everything with a car.
I'd go again...and I don't even have kids.
I admit I haven't been back in more than 10 years but the only part of Disney I really liked was Lake Buena Vista.
The autotrain from DC to Orlando makes sense because you just get on, eat, sleep, get off. No changes necessary.
Actually it depends on where you're going in Central Florida. The AutoTrain actually stops in Sanford not Orlando. If you're going to Disney the drive from the train station could be another hour or more, possibly a 3 hours drive, depending on the tyme of day. However if you're heading to Daytona you can almost cut the tyme in half. Of course I preferred Cocoa to Daytona.
almost surreally safe (cyclist deaths are almost always due to cars, not bikes
Because of those cars bike riding isn't that save in places. In less than a year I was hit 3 tymes while riding my bike. The first tyme I was knocked unconscious, luckily there wasn't any real damage. The second tyme I was uninjured but my front wheel was bent and had to be replaced. The third tyme I was hit I was put into a coma. I spent about a month in the hospital then because I was disabled, I survived a TBI or Traumatic Brain Injury, I had to move into a rehab house where I lived another month and a half. After that I went through more than a year of therapy. I still need more therapy but I can't afford it.
Back then, when I had the accident, a friend also rode her bike and she started to carry a baseball bat because she had been attacked while riding. Luckily she wasn't raped or anything, mostly she had stuff thrown at her by passing cars.
People in Europe don't need to take the bus to the grocery store, and they don't buy groceries a week or so at a time. They have food markets a 100 feet from where they live, and they go there daily. Basic food distribution and practices are completely different in Europe than the US.
Yea, I loved how it was in Germany when I was there, a bunch of small local shops, the apothecaries, bakeries, and butcher shops among many others.
Can you really see multiple independent operators agreeing on a combined ticketing system, such that each was effectively charging the same amount for the same trip ?
Actually yes, that's how the buses are where I live. Different businesses run buses in different areas and they all take the same tickets, as far as I know of that it. I can get on one bus operated by one company, ride it and transfer to another bus operated by another company with only the transfer ticket. Heck airlines do that, local airlines fly into a hub and passengers transfer to a national airline. There's just one ticket for both airlines.
when I lived in Orlando, things were different. I agree that if I had to walk a mile every morning in florida weather, I would either be forced to take a poorly air conditioned bus, sweat, or find another job.
Yea, Lynx sucked.
Europeans I think don't understand this about American weather. Draw a horizontal line through the middle of the US. Everything below that line requires air conditioning.
I spent 3 months in Germany and the day I got there, flew into Frankford, one page 1 the newspapers reported that 3 or 4 streakers were spotted. When asked why they were streaking, they said it was too hot. Not once while there did it get as hot as it was when I left Orlando.
Walking a mile through 85-95 degree 95% humidity weather in the morning will make you look like you like you were caught in a torrential downpour.
Some can get used to it. As I posted on this above, I used to ride my bike 45 minutes to campus. All together I rode 100 to 200 miles a week, depending one where else I went to.
Bus can take too long. There's one place I drive to that takes me about 15 minutes unless the traffic is bad. Once I took the bus there, after walking about 20-30 minutes to get to the bus station so I didn't have to transfer to another bus, and the bus took about 45 minutes to get there. Not only did it take longer but the with the cost of the fare I could have driven there and back 3 or 4 tymes to spend the same amount on gas. Taking a taxi could cost a lot too. As for walking GP addresses that when s/he says "especially living in the climate I do, that is the greatest impediment to any type of mass transit to go to work daily".
Dress appropriately for the season. Maybe carry a change of clothes or stash some in the office if you need to.
As a full tyme student in college I rode my bike about 45 minutes from home to get to campus and I wore whatever clothes while riding then carried clean clothes with me. On campus I'd take a shower then put on the clean clothes. Not everyone has the opportunity to take a shower, and for those who work indoors like in an office they can't be all sweaty smelling.
there will be racks on the train/bus such that you can actually bring your bicycle with you (bike 5 min to train, get on train for 20 min, get off train and bike 5 more min).
That's what I like about the buses where I live now, the buses have bike rakes. However you can still get all sweaty.
You get on a train in the suburbs (I'm guessing your wife drops you off, or you drive to train depot and park. Once you get to the 'city', how do you get to/from your work site? I'm quite sure the train doesn't drop you off anywhere near the front door of your office for most people, so, how do you get to and from work? If you try to walk..what happens when weather is bad?
I've thought about this for years and what I'd like is to be able to drive my car onto the train then ride the train to my destination city then drive off the train. Amtrak has this, the Auto Train, however there's only one route. It runs between Virginia and Florida.
How do you live like that without a car...I just have a hard time seeing how you do that and have any resemblance to a normal life and life schedule.
By far from the only reason but a big reason it's like that is because of zoning laws. It seems many places don't have mixed use zoning, an area is zoned either commercial, industrial, or residential.
Slashdot Mirror
You can vote to raise sales and property taxes across the board to lay and maintain municipal fiber or you can let Comcast finance the project and collect a franchise fee.
And after 10 or 20 years require them to open up access. By then the cable should be paid for.
Fslcon
It really comes down to the fact that last mile connectivity is pretty much a natural monopoly
Only for physical hardwired cables and fiber. But not for the airwaves. Almost anyone can setup a transceiver, ham radio or shortwave operators may even design and build their own.
For reasons that, I assume, have to do with a mixture of lobbying by incumbents and a strong distrust of "socialism" we've mostly been denying this fact for years.
It's precisely because big businesses wanted to restrict competition that the airwaves were licensed, in the beginning they weren't.
It is a simple matter of empirical fact that free markets work pretty well.
As much as I wish it weren't true, there is no free market. Some markets are freer than other but there is no free market, ie one without regulations or other government interference.
Fslcon
The company is owned by the city of Stockholm and is not a private business. Stokab was founded in 1994 and is owned by the company group Stockholms Stadshus AB, which is in turn owned by the City of Stockholm.
Falcon
HSR will go city center to city center with faster door-to-door times cheaper costs
It can almost be guaranteed that if government does it it will be expensive.
Falcon
Oh also booking the same flight here in the EU is about 3-4 times cheaper than a friend was able to book from the USA.
And getting a Eurail Pass in the US before going to Europe is cheaper. I heard one person recommend taking a long train somewhere then taking one back as it saves hotel expenses.
Falcon
That's funny, didn't we build the interstate system for precisely the same reason we're suggesting building a high-speed rail system? To quickly and efficiently move people from one city to another?
Futhermore, it's part of what dug us out of the last depression, creating thousands of jobs and enabling car companies to really thrive in America, creating billions of dollars worth of industry.
Citation needed.
Falcon
Subsidize it yourself, don't make me subsidize something I won't use.
Falcon
Why shouldn't it do the same for rail? or at the very least, help in its construction?
Because not all of us like the government picking winners and losers.
HS Rail is beneficial for everyone.
So is broadband, so the government should build an ultra-high speed broadband infrastructure. NOT!!!
Falcon
Traveling by train is the most fuel efficient mode of transportation. It also makes sense to prepare for when fuel costs get high.
Falcon
Amtrak actually has one route that works this way: the Auto Train. It only works between the DC area and Orlando,
No, the Auto train stops in Sanford not Orlando, Sanford is about an hour north of Orlando. And the other end is in Lorton, Virginia.
Fslcon
By definition you wouldn't need a highway-capable car at the destination
Yes I would. My destination is just a hub. I first arrive on the train in Orlando. From there I drove to Cocoa Beach on the Atlantic Coast. Another day I go to Gainesville/Ocala and Silver Springs. Still another day I go diving in Sarasota on the Gulf Coast. Or in some caverns.
Falcon
Raise gas taxes to subsidize the train
Bullshit, train passengers should pay for trains just as drivers should pay for roads. And because fuel taxes are not high enough to pay for roads they should be raised.
Falcon
I don't care about high-speed rail. Give me auto trains! Bonus if I can bring a boat/pwc trailer along for an extra fee.
I want both, a high speed auto train. I live in Minneapolis, MN now but I moved from Florida and I'd love to be able to drive onto a train in Minneapolis and drive off 24 hours later in Orlando. Making it the same price as a plane ticket and it's be even better.
Falcon
You trade those days of occasional discomfort with all the extra time public transit gives you.
HAHA! I once took a bus that takes all of 15 minutes to drive to. How long did it take me? About 20 minutes to the bus station, so I didn't have to make transfer, then another 45 minutes to where I was headed. And it cost me more to take the bus than to drive.
Falcon
to paying for others' train tickets which are ~50% subsidized by road tolls. The trains, like the post office, should be able to stand on their own two feet via the sale of stamps/tickets. If the true ticket cost is $10 per ride, then let it be $10 - let the riders bear the true cost of their preferred method of movement. (Same applies to any transport method, be it cars or buses or subways.)
I hope you know the tax on fuel does not pay all the cost for roads. And if cars become more fuel economical it will get worse. I'm one of those people who believe fuel taxes need to be raised, just for this reason. I recently read a proposal about this I liked. Raise the fuel tax and lower income tax. If the rise in fuel tax is $100, for a week say, then lower income tax $100. Of course under such a plan there would have be adjustments made to the tax, for instance increasing the tax when more people drive more fuel efficient vehicles. In the end though there isn't a tax increase.
Falcon
I think most of the places we saw them they were spelled pretty similar to "pharmacy". It's a shame I didn't take a picture of the text so I would know for sure.
Apothecaries are being replaced with pharmacies so I wouldn't be surprised. Laws and regulations are driving them out of business.
Falcon
You fly in, when you arrive at the airport, DW grabs your bags for you....we stayed on the grounds, so when we got to the hotel, we checked in and luggage was waiting for us.
If you spend more than a couple of days, you're missing a lot if you only stay at the Kingdom and don't have a car. You could stay a month in Central Florida and not see everything with a car.
I'd go again...and I don't even have kids.
I admit I haven't been back in more than 10 years but the only part of Disney I really liked was Lake Buena Vista.
Falcon
The autotrain from DC to Orlando makes sense because you just get on, eat, sleep, get off. No changes necessary.
Actually it depends on where you're going in Central Florida. The AutoTrain actually stops in Sanford not Orlando. If you're going to Disney the drive from the train station could be another hour or more, possibly a 3 hours drive, depending on the tyme of day. However if you're heading to Daytona you can almost cut the tyme in half. Of course I preferred Cocoa to Daytona.
Falcon
James Hill created the northern rail system which was extremely robust with the help of private investors and $0 government help.
No, James Hill like every other train operator in the US used the government's power of Eminent domain to take land from the people that owned it.
Oh, I was surprised at how small his house is, he lived in Minneapolis where I live now and my sister and brother-in-law took me on a tour of it.
Falcon
almost surreally safe (cyclist deaths are almost always due to cars, not bikes
Because of those cars bike riding isn't that save in places. In less than a year I was hit 3 tymes while riding my bike. The first tyme I was knocked unconscious, luckily there wasn't any real damage. The second tyme I was uninjured but my front wheel was bent and had to be replaced. The third tyme I was hit I was put into a coma. I spent about a month in the hospital then because I was disabled, I survived a TBI or Traumatic Brain Injury, I had to move into a rehab house where I lived another month and a half. After that I went through more than a year of therapy. I still need more therapy but I can't afford it.
Back then, when I had the accident, a friend also rode her bike and she started to carry a baseball bat because she had been attacked while riding. Luckily she wasn't raped or anything, mostly she had stuff thrown at her by passing cars.
Falcon
"pharmacies"
Do you mean apothecary?
People in Europe don't need to take the bus to the grocery store, and they don't buy groceries a week or so at a time. They have food markets a 100 feet from where they live, and they go there daily. Basic food distribution and practices are completely different in Europe than the US.
Yea, I loved how it was in Germany when I was there, a bunch of small local shops, the apothecaries, bakeries, and butcher shops among many others.
Falcon
Can you really see multiple independent operators agreeing on a combined ticketing system, such that each was effectively charging the same amount for the same trip ?
Actually yes, that's how the buses are where I live. Different businesses run buses in different areas and they all take the same tickets, as far as I know of that it. I can get on one bus operated by one company, ride it and transfer to another bus operated by another company with only the transfer ticket. Heck airlines do that, local airlines fly into a hub and passengers transfer to a national airline. There's just one ticket for both airlines.
Falcon
when I lived in Orlando, things were different. I agree that if I had to walk a mile every morning in florida weather, I would either be forced to take a poorly air conditioned bus, sweat, or find another job.
Yea, Lynx sucked.
Europeans I think don't understand this about American weather. Draw a horizontal line through the middle of the US. Everything below that line requires air conditioning.
I spent 3 months in Germany and the day I got there, flew into Frankford, one page 1 the newspapers reported that 3 or 4 streakers were spotted. When asked why they were streaking, they said it was too hot. Not once while there did it get as hot as it was when I left Orlando.
Walking a mile through 85-95 degree 95% humidity weather in the morning will make you look like you like you were caught in a torrential downpour.
Some can get used to it. As I posted on this above, I used to ride my bike 45 minutes to campus. All together I rode 100 to 200 miles a week, depending one where else I went to.
Falcon
(hoof it).
Bus can take too long. There's one place I drive to that takes me about 15 minutes unless the traffic is bad. Once I took the bus there, after walking about 20-30 minutes to get to the bus station so I didn't have to transfer to another bus, and the bus took about 45 minutes to get there. Not only did it take longer but the with the cost of the fare I could have driven there and back 3 or 4 tymes to spend the same amount on gas. Taking a taxi could cost a lot too. As for walking GP addresses that when s/he says "especially living in the climate I do, that is the greatest impediment to any type of mass transit to go to work daily".
Dress appropriately for the season. Maybe carry a change of clothes or stash some in the office if you need to.
As a full tyme student in college I rode my bike about 45 minutes from home to get to campus and I wore whatever clothes while riding then carried clean clothes with me. On campus I'd take a shower then put on the clean clothes. Not everyone has the opportunity to take a shower, and for those who work indoors like in an office they can't be all sweaty smelling.
there will be racks on the train/bus such that you can actually bring your bicycle with you (bike 5 min to train, get on train for 20 min, get off train and bike 5 more min).
That's what I like about the buses where I live now, the buses have bike rakes. However you can still get all sweaty.
Falcon
You get on a train in the suburbs (I'm guessing your wife drops you off, or you drive to train depot and park. Once you get to the 'city', how do you get to/from your work site? I'm quite sure the train doesn't drop you off anywhere near the front door of your office for most people, so, how do you get to and from work? If you try to walk..what happens when weather is bad?
I've thought about this for years and what I'd like is to be able to drive my car onto the train then ride the train to my destination city then drive off the train. Amtrak has this, the Auto Train, however there's only one route. It runs between Virginia and Florida.
How do you live like that without a car...I just have a hard time seeing how you do that and have any resemblance to a normal life and life schedule.
By far from the only reason but a big reason it's like that is because of zoning laws. It seems many places don't have mixed use zoning, an area is zoned either commercial, industrial, or residential.
Falcon