Comments on: Public Transportation Funding, continued.. http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/03/21/public-transportation-funding-continued/ The Blog that Talks about Climate Change Sun, 18 May 2008 04:20:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Mark http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/03/21/public-transportation-funding-continued/#comment-799 Mark Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:11:27 +0000 http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/03/21/public-transportation-funding-continued/#comment-799 "Despite massive government subsidies, about £5 billion a year, and a surge in demand for rail services, our national network remains, according to Rod Smith, research professor of railway engineering at Imperial College, 'on a treadmill of mediocrity'." Having just read this in The Telegraph I think I will retract all statements.. “Despite massive government subsidies, about £5 billion a year, and a surge in demand for rail services, our national network remains, according to Rod Smith, research professor of railway engineering at Imperial College, ‘on a treadmill of mediocrity’.”

Having just read this in The Telegraph I think I will retract all statements..

]]> By: ClimateHeretic http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/03/21/public-transportation-funding-continued/#comment-787 ClimateHeretic Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:44:08 +0000 http://www.talkclimatechange.com/2008/03/21/public-transportation-funding-continued/#comment-787 Mark, You nailed the points perfectly about capitalism, well said. Just one thing capitalism does not completely rely on growth, it actually relies on change and advancement and improvements. It is possible to have a fixed poulation and consumer levels and capitalism works on the battle for marketshare, not new markets. The investment markets are the only part of capitalism that demands growth of all industries. I agree that transportation is a vital part of civilization. There is a debate as to the best way, private or public, to address transportation infrastructure. IMO the real transportation issue is not people, it is goods and materials. We move far more products than people as part of our civilization. While mass transit is popular as a "what can the individual do" it is not where we can make the biggest difference if emissions are your goal. I think that we sometimes get fixated on one thing, people, and miss the bigger picture. People moving is not the problem, we do it very efficiently with all forms of transit considering the volume. Throwing more and more money into it seems a waste of tax revenue. The job of government is to manage and provide public infrastructure so that private business can succeed and the population can move about effectively, not to run transportation systems. Rails are not public infrastructure, they only benefit the companies that use them to create revenue, but when the government builds them they want the revenue, hence the government run industry. IMO the biggest failing of western governments is the move into the role of monopolized industry. It is also the biggest failing we export to less developed countries, the idea that governments should provide the citizenry with everything and control all aspects of social and economic development. Mark,

You nailed the points perfectly about capitalism, well said.

Just one thing capitalism does not completely rely on growth, it actually relies on change and advancement and improvements. It is possible to have a fixed poulation and consumer levels and capitalism works on the battle for marketshare, not new markets.

The investment markets are the only part of capitalism that demands growth of all industries.

I agree that transportation is a vital part of civilization. There is a debate as to the best way, private or public, to address transportation infrastructure.

IMO the real transportation issue is not people, it is goods and materials. We move far more products than people as part of our civilization. While mass transit is popular as a “what can the individual do” it is not where we can make the biggest difference if emissions are your goal.

I think that we sometimes get fixated on one thing, people, and miss the bigger picture.

People moving is not the problem, we do it very efficiently with all forms of transit considering the volume. Throwing more and more money into it seems a waste of tax revenue.

The job of government is to manage and provide public infrastructure so that private business can succeed and the population can move about effectively, not to run transportation systems.

Rails are not public infrastructure, they only benefit the companies that use them to create revenue, but when the government builds them they want the revenue, hence the government run industry.

IMO the biggest failing of western governments is the move into the role of monopolized industry. It is also the biggest failing we export to less developed countries, the idea that governments should provide the citizenry with everything and control all aspects of social and economic development.

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