urbanism

Even in a city with good public transport, you sometimes need to drive. But cities should only have city-appropriate vehicles: Cars limited to 35km/h, small and light, electric (for noise and air quality issues, and because 'range' isn't an issue for city driving). Some would be big, like delivery vans or workman's vans, but most would be mini-sized.

Also, let's bring back city walls.

36er and 27.5 wheels respectively

I'd personally prefer a reverse trike design for better handling, but this is still cool as hell.

Scattering random tire spikes on the road

With all the mentions of Netherlands it seems like Randall has watched at least a couple Not Just Bikes videos, which is alright I guess? I'm kind of over Not Just Bike's brand of "just move to the Netherlands"...

The fare is free for those older than 65, and so some retired people spend their days riding the trains to the end of the line.

[...]

Older adults who ride free of charge make up about 15 percent of Seoul’s annual ridership, according to data from the subway’s two main operators. The riders have become such an established part of the city’s fabric that they have a nickname — “Jigong Geosa,” derived from the phrase “free subway” — and the lines and stations frequented by them are well known.

[...]

Cha Heung-bong, now 80, a former minister of health and welfare who proposed the free-fare policy around 1980, said many older South Koreans live on limited incomes because the national pension system wasn’t instituted until the late 1980s. About four in 10 South Koreans over 65 live in poverty, double the rate in Japan or the United States, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

[...]

The seemingly trifling savings of 1,500 won per ride, about $1.15, is significant for their generation, and most would ride the subways far less if it weren’t free, they said.

Comments are off. NYT editors are idiots.

Long car bad

To double our ridership means we need to invest about $50 billion into our infrastructure, our maintenance facilities and our fleet nationwide,” said Laura Mason, Amtrak executive vice president of capital delivery.

Mason—who revealed details of Amtrak’s upcoming program at ENR’s second annual NY/NJ Infrastructure Forum held on Sept. 15 in Manhattan—is also doubling the size of her department to handle the flood of project design and delivery to come. The rail operator received $66 billion under the 2021 federal infrastructure law—the largest investment Amtrak has received since its founding more than 50 years ago.