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Re: Good read: Capitalism can boost Transit-Yep, but they have no "visions", they don;t take enough drugs....
Author: BOB2
Date: 07-09-2019 - 05:09
Yeah, cost benefit analysis uses the same math as return on investment, which is how we should make more of these investment decisions, like the private sector does.
The part about markets and competitive rail systems is why and how rail works where it gets significant intercity and interregional travel market shares around the world.
This "real world" (the one where you and I are observed to make real travel choices based on time, cost, reliability) rail market travel demand "sweet spot", where you have a rail service in close and/or multiple "city pair" corridors, that are more time and cost competitive than than the auto travel alternative, actually "works" for a whole lot of folks, in a whole lot of places.
This rail passenger system model (based on the math of ROI and cost benefit, not on a fixation with "speed" at any cost) could work in Indiana, it could work on the Coastline, it works on LOSSAN, it works on the Capitols, it works on the San Joaquin's.
This rail passenger service model works because it fills a travel huge travel demand niche, with less costly to build and thus more affordable rail services for "consumers".
This rail passenger service investment model is not dependent on a "belief" in technologies, or on taking enough drugs to have "visions". We can actually measure this kind of "city pair to city pair" travel demand, and assess the various investment and cost tradeoffs, with which we can cost effectively meet various demand levels, and find more "optimal" choices. And, it looks like in some corridors, there is even a "profit" to be made from operating such rail services using this "math".
Those "evil" greedy capitalist's at Virgin may have no "vision" with their choice of a more cost effective technology, a "slower" form of "high speed rail", and some of these choices based on the stupid things, like the math of "return on investment". But, at least they're not a bunch of incompetent self serving political hacks, pissing away my tax dollars, like the "visionaries" at the CAHSRA "runaway money train" fiasco are doing.
The part about markets and competitive rail systems is why and how rail works where it gets significant intercity and interregional travel market shares around the world.
This "real world" (the one where you and I are observed to make real travel choices based on time, cost, reliability) rail market travel demand "sweet spot", where you have a rail service in close and/or multiple "city pair" corridors, that are more time and cost competitive than than the auto travel alternative, actually "works" for a whole lot of folks, in a whole lot of places.
This rail passenger system model (based on the math of ROI and cost benefit, not on a fixation with "speed" at any cost) could work in Indiana, it could work on the Coastline, it works on LOSSAN, it works on the Capitols, it works on the San Joaquin's.
This rail passenger service model works because it fills a travel huge travel demand niche, with less costly to build and thus more affordable rail services for "consumers".
This rail passenger service investment model is not dependent on a "belief" in technologies, or on taking enough drugs to have "visions". We can actually measure this kind of "city pair to city pair" travel demand, and assess the various investment and cost tradeoffs, with which we can cost effectively meet various demand levels, and find more "optimal" choices. And, it looks like in some corridors, there is even a "profit" to be made from operating such rail services using this "math".
Those "evil" greedy capitalist's at Virgin may have no "vision" with their choice of a more cost effective technology, a "slower" form of "high speed rail", and some of these choices based on the stupid things, like the math of "return on investment". But, at least they're not a bunch of incompetent self serving political hacks, pissing away my tax dollars, like the "visionaries" at the CAHSRA "runaway money train" fiasco are doing.
