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THE Private transportation after PO Thread (merged)

What's on your mind?
General interest discussions, not necessarily related to depletion.

How to eliminate the private automobile

Poll ended at Wed 23 Nov 2005, 12:44:14

Better public transit! That will draw people out of their cars.
8
No votes
The humble bicycle -- the most efficient way to get around.
5
No votes
A new technology that hasn't been invented yet.
1
No votes
Market forces will take care of it.
4
No votes
Better urban planning and tax penalties/incentives.
12
No votes
We should not eliminate the private automobile. Cars are good.
7
No votes
 
Total votes : 37

Re: Transportation - PO

Postby bantri » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 08:33:44

i like space to move around,

whole trains like it it too....

Image

iron wheels are much more energy efficient for carrying mass,
but the path is fixed :)
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby Wildwell » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 08:39:07

Prices would be considerably higher without cars for both trucks and buses.

It's often quoted that bus travel is cheaper, but this ignores the fact that bus operators get 80-100% of their fuel duty repaid back to them, therefore pay nothing toward the infrastucture. In effect it's the car driver than pays for it, moreover damage don't to the road surface to almost exclusively done by heavy vehicles like trucks and buses. It has been determined during numerous tests that the effective wear done to the road is roughly proportional to the 4th power of vehicle weight. Indeed, consultants for the UK government calculated that truck operators do not pay enough tax for the damage they cause.

A hypothetical car weighs half a ton per axle. A 6-axle, 38-ton truck also travelling on the same road weighs in at over 6 tons per axle (about the same as a bus). The truck causes 20,736 times the wear of the car (12 times the car's axle load, with a power of 4, yielding 12^4 = 20,736). Actual trucks can have even higher axle loads, though there is a wide variation in the configuration of trucks, with some having larger, wider tyres, or multiple tyres per axle, which will cause the exact figures to vary.
Last edited by Wildwell on Wed 04 Jan 2006, 08:53:15, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby aahala » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 08:51:14

cube, I think you're on to something. Steroids will definately
be needed, for the passengers. :-D

When's the last time you have taken a greyhound bus for more than
two hours? The discomfort level is allegedly an exponetial function
compounded 4% for each additional ten minutes.
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby emersonbiggins » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 11:29:57

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Wildwell', 'P')rices would be considerably higher without cars for both trucks and buses.

It's often quoted that bus travel is cheaper, but this ignores the fact that bus operators get 80-100% of their fuel duty repaid back to them, therefore pay nothing toward the infrastucture. In effect it's the car driver than pays for it, moreover damage don't to the road surface to almost exclusively done by heavy vehicles like trucks and buses. It has been determined during numerous tests that the effective wear done to the road is roughly proportional to the 4th power of vehicle weight. Indeed, consultants for the UK government calculated that truck operators do not pay enough tax for the damage they cause.

A hypothetical car weighs half a ton per axle. A 6-axle, 38-ton truck also travelling on the same road weighs in at over 6 tons per axle (about the same as a bus). The truck causes 20,736 times the wear of the car (12 times the car's axle load, with a power of 4, yielding 12^4 = 20,736). Actual trucks can have even higher axle loads, though there is a wide variation in the configuration of trucks, with some having larger, wider tyres, or multiple tyres per axle, which will cause the exact figures to vary.


Thanks for the figures, Wildwell. :) I've often heard phrases such as "trucks cause 9600 times the road damage as cars" bandied about, but I've never seen the math behind the numbers.
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby Starvid » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 12:05:47

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('aahala', '[')b]cube, I think you're on to something. Steroids will definately
be needed, for the passengers. :-D

When's the last time you have taken a greyhound bus for more than
two hours? The discomfort level is allegedly an exponetial function
compounded 4% for each additional ten minutes.

In Europe many youths travel by bus for days, for example Stockholm to Rome. It pretty inconvenient, but people do it as it is simpler and much cheaper than train.

Well, nowadays even youths fly as air travel has become so very cheap. Stockholm-Rome for €50 by air beats Stockholm-Rome for €100 by bus.
Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby cube » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 12:30:58

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Wildwell', 'I')t has been determined during numerous tests that the effective wear done to the road is roughly proportional to the 4th power of vehicle weight. Indeed, consultants for the UK government calculated that truck operators do not pay enough tax for the damage they cause.
I agree that heavy vehicles do not pay taxes in proportion to the amount of wear and tear they cause to the roads. In other words yes they are subsidized.

However if my memory serves me correctly the airline industry has a habit of going bankrupt every 10 years and EVERY single time "Uncle Sam" bails them out. Greyhound buses do not have this problem. I guess the government doesn't consider them "sexy" enough to be deserving of a $10 billion dollar check every 10 years. I don't have any stats but my gut tells me the airline industry gets far more subsidies then the "dirty dog" (greyhound bus).

The last airline bailout was for $15 billion after 9/11. When PO hits I can only imagine how much money the airline industry will request. Will Americans bailout the airlines or will that be the final straw?
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby Wildwell » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 12:46:04

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Starvid', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('aahala', '[')b]cube, I think you're on to something. Steroids will definately
be needed, for the passengers. :-D

When's the last time you have taken a greyhound bus for more than
two hours? The discomfort level is allegedly an exponetial function
compounded 4% for each additional ten minutes.

In Europe many youths travel by bus for days, for example Stockholm to Rome. It pretty inconvenient, but people do it as it is simpler and much cheaper than train.

Well, nowadays even youths fly as air travel has become so very cheap. Stockholm-Rome for €50 by air beats Stockholm-Rome for €100 by bus.


Yes, a couple of other myths out to put to rest, one concerns so-called cheap airlines. In actual fact, that works through a clever system called yield management.

For a full description see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yield_management

How it works with regards to airlines (and other things such as hotels etc) is the initial seats are given away at a very low price, or even free, which are sold at a loss. The price gets progressively higher as the plane loads up. Thus, the idea is to get a high ‘seat load factor’. If you can exceed your basic unit costs then you are in profit, but it is erroneous to suggest that flying is cheap in terms of unit costs than bus or even train travel, it just so happens they are different markets.

On the British Airways site between London and Manchester over the next few days the situation reflects this.

Notice the prices reflect demand, this tickets on the 16th and 17th are being given away at a loss on the 16th and 17th at £30. If you click on that said day, you will be given a list of options, the flights least booked up are the cheapest. Thus, the whole idea is to raise the seat load factor and increase profits.

Train and bus companies do the same.

The situation with London-Manchester train tickets next Monday notice the £12.50 advance singles haven’t been taken, as they get taken only the £18, £23 pound tickets or just ‘walk on’ (IE Ticket bought on the day) prices will become available, the latter being £56. In the peak (say a Friday evening) when travel demand is high, only the highest price will be available, thus the going market rate in order to maximise revenues.

The same applies to bus.

However on very short bus and rail trips, especially those that service rural or late night destinations there isn’t the option of doing this. Thus, when motoring is cheap, it is more difficult to build a high load factor and return a profit. Obviously when oil becomes more expensive, the price dynamics will change and substitution in some sectors will be easier than others.

It has to be noted however people are prepared to pay very high prices (often without realising it) with personal transport.

The cost of motoring is:

The fuel cost+vehicle cost+taxes+insurance+maintenance+loan interest (if applicable). This for a typical UK car, it comes out at 40-60p a mile. You can check auto magazine on this price, very often they give the cost of running per mile.

Therefore your present cost of running a car, with a single person in it is nearer £100 for London-Manchester. Obviously a group brings the cost down per person, but for a single person the trip generally already hugely in excess of flying, train or bus.

Obviously in the case of peak oil, I think physical shortages are going to be the problem and on that particular trip only rail is non-oil powered.
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby dub_scratch » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 12:53:34

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Wildwell', '
')It's often quoted that bus travel is cheaper, but this ignores the fact that bus operators get 80-100% of their fuel duty repaid back to them, therefore pay nothing toward the infrastucture. In effect it's the car driver than pays for it, moreover damage don't to the road surface to almost exclusively done by heavy vehicles like trucks and buses.


Your point ignores the fact that the car dependency system stretches our roads too thin to be constructed in a more durable fashion that is suited for heavy vehicles. The expansiveness and huge size of the national road network is largely due to the public’s reliance on cars. Car capacity makes roads wider and longer. Much more lanes have to be added and sprawl makes those lanes much longer. Due to this, the quality of the road network is compromised by the fact that so much ground that has to be covered.

Furthermore, I like to point out that the huge amount of right-of-way provided for cars is land that is not taxed. Cars not only don't pay their fair share of property tax, but property tax revenue is often directed for infrastructure costs of car road capacity. On most roads and highways there is no toll or fee paid directly for their use which is why traffic congestion is so common (imagine if food was free and how that would make the lines at the grocery checkout counter 'congested').

Car drivers don't even come close to paying their own way.
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby Wildwell » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 12:59:41

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Wildwell', 'I')t has been determined during numerous tests that the effective wear done to the road is roughly proportional to the 4th power of vehicle weight. Indeed, consultants for the UK government calculated that truck operators do not pay enough tax for the damage they cause.
I agree that heavy vehicles do not pay taxes in proportion to the amount of wear and tear they cause to the roads. In other words yes they are subsidized.

However if my memory serves me correctly the airline industry has a habit of going bankrupt every 10 years and EVERY single time "Uncle Sam" bails them out. Greyhound buses do not have this problem. I guess the government doesn't consider them "sexy" enough to be deserving of a $10 billion dollar check every 10 years. I don't have any stats but my gut tells me the airline industry gets far more subsidies then the "dirty dog" (greyhound bus).

The last airline bailout was for $15 billion after 9/11. When PO hits I can only imagine how much money the airline industry will request. Will Americans bailout the airlines or will that be the final straw?


Well you see this is where it gets complex. In the US, centres of population are so far apart - very often the only realistic way of getting between them is to fly. Thus the airlines can claim they are offering a service which offers wider benefits. IE If the plane didn't fly that route, there would be less trade going on between the centres because people wouldn't travel. The trouble with the bus is that it is so slow that it offers commerce very little benefit, so wouldn't attract a subsidy. In Europe buses and trains (and planes in some cases) get subsidy where a service serves rural areas or late night services, or perhaps for road congestion/environmental benefits. In a purely commercial world these wouldn't run, and many people, especially those without cars would have no option to travel, and a corresponding drop in trade.

Geography plays its part here.
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby Wildwell » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 13:02:45

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dub_scratch', '
')
Car drivers don't even come close to paying their own way.


Quite correct a weakness of the market system and something I've pointed out many times before. Even in high tax Europe it's been calculated by numerous academics that cars only pay 3/4 of their costs, although the motoring lobby persuade the less well informed by producing myopic, and quite often dishonest statements about costs.
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby emersonbiggins » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 13:14:44

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Wildwell', 'W')ell you see this is where it gets complex. In the US, centres of population are so far apart - very often the only realistic way of getting between them is to fly.


This is true for city-pairs like NYC & LA, Chicago & Seattle, Boston & SF, but the vast majority of 'profitable' air travel takes place at the regional level (NYC-Boston-DC, LA-SF-SD, Dallas-Houston), which is precisely where airlines like Southwest have made a fortune. Bailing out Southwest and other airlines post-PO will make little sense when train travel could be greatly upgraded for the same effect on interregional travel, and made far more sustainable as well.

As for subsidizing small towns' air access to large population centers at all times of day: it's just one more thing to come crashing down during relocalization. It's not infinitely necessary to keep Minot, North Dakota connected by air just because a couple of headquarters of obscure consumer products are located there - hell, they probably won't be operating in such a global fashion post-PO, either.
"It's called the American Dream because you'd have to be asleep to believe it."

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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby cube » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 15:07:57

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Wildwell', 'W')ell you see this is where it gets complex. In the US, centres of population are so far apart - very often the only realistic way of getting between them is to fly. Thus the airlines can claim they are offering a service which offers wider benefits. IE If the plane didn't fly that route, there would be less trade going on between the centres because people wouldn't travel.
I'm quite sure the airlines will make any argument to secure their subsidy but sorry that argument doesn't "fly". :P

I think we can all agree that trade is good. However if a person has concluded that the cost of transportation outweighs the benefits of conducting the trade then I think the government should leave it at that and NOT create a subsidy. I do not believe economic prosperity comes from the government encouraging people (thru the use of subsidies) to do something that they have concluded to be NOT economically advantageous. The only reason why one would wish to support such a subsidy is because they have no faith in people's ability to make a good decision and thus they would like to make that decision for them...one of the pillars of liberalism IMHO. Either that or they have a financial stake in the subsidy.

Putting my free market bias aside and getting back to the original topic of transportation.....my whole point was that sometimes the greatest force/change comes from "off the shelf" technology and not some pie in the sky fantasy. I always laugh when a sci fi optimist envisions a future world where we travel on super conducting high speed maglev trains. If we cannot pay (or are unwilling to pay) for such technology in today's world of economic surplus I doubt we'll be jumping on board when the world economy goes south after PO. I'm not saying that new electric railroad routes (maybe even conventional HSR) will not be created after PO but it's size, scope, and speed will be very diminished compared to the fairy tale optimistic vision.

My vision of transportation in a post PO world is rather humble. Imagine long distance buses that run for 24 hr/day and bus drivers living off of adrenaline, sugar, and caffeine. These will be low paying non-union jobs BTW....much like everything else in a PO world. :-D
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby emersonbiggins » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 15:24:40

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', 'I')'m quite sure the airlines will make any argument to secure their subsidy but sorry that argument doesn't "fly". :P

I think we can all agree that trade is good. However if a person has concluded that the cost of transportation outweighs the benefits of conducting the trade then I think the government should leave it at that and NOT create a subsidy. I do not believe economic prosperity comes from the government encouraging people (thru the use of subsidies) to do something that they have concluded to be NOT economically advantageous. The only reason why one would wish to support such a subsidy is because they have no faith in people's ability to make a good decision and thus they would like to make that decision for them...one of the pillars of liberalism IMHO. Either that or they have a financial stake in the subsidy.

Putting my free market bias aside and getting back to the original topic of transportation.....my whole point was that sometimes the greatest force/change comes from "off the shelf" technology and not some pie in the sky fantasy. I always laugh when a sci fi optimist envisions a future world where we travel on super conducting high speed maglev trains. If we cannot pay (or are unwilling to pay) for such technology in today's world of economic surplus I doubt we'll be jumping on board when the world economy goes south after PO. I'm not saying that new electric railroad routes (maybe even conventional HSR) will not be created after PO but it's size, scope, and speed will be very diminished compared to the fairy tale optimistic vision.

My vision of transportation in a post PO world is rather humble. Imagine long distance buses that run for 24 hr/day and bus drivers living off of adrenaline, sugar, and caffeine. These will be low paying non-union jobs BTW....much like everything else in a PO world. :-D


Expecting the current interstate system, in its current state of disrepair in relatively good economic times, to perform as a cross-country busway is fairly presumptuous, IMHO. Unless, of course, you believe that gas tax revenue will always keep up with repair needs (it never has). Trains opened up the frontier, and they will keep it open once again.
"It's called the American Dream because you'd have to be asleep to believe it."

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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby Wildwell » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 15:33:03

Well free market capitalism doesn’t work in the transportation and energy sectors, I mean it really doesn’t. You can look at the congestion in cities from cars, the recent losses made by airlines, the externalities of oil use, the myopic nature of the markets, social exclusion caused by cars and so on. Likewise in the energy sector, renewable energy is, in many cases, having to be subsidised. The Nuclear industry in the UK (and elsewhere) is being bailed continuously, fossil fuels are subsidised and so on. This is the whole root of the peak oil problem. Yet without either of these two sectors you wouldn’t have an economy!

The crux now comes that in many parts of the world, these sectors have been left to private industry, yet their profit based, myopic nature means considerable discourse. And government might not be the answer either. Most are in for a short period of time, therefore projects with a long lead time are not funded/planned for and governments don’t like doing unpopular things. Buses are fine, but their poor public image and pedestrian nature means they won’t be viable until the 11th hour, when it may be too late and they certainly wouldn't be able to to support an interstate highway system by that time.

Quite seriously in the US low maintenance and high speed Maglev is probably the best bet, at least on certain corridors. This technology is already available now, and even post peak could be fitted along highways.

http://www.transrapid-usa.com/content.asp
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby cube » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 18:23:45

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', 'M')y vision of transportation in a post PO world is rather humble. Imagine long distance buses that run for 24 hr/day and bus drivers living off of adrenaline, sugar, and caffeine. These will be low paying non-union jobs BTW....much like everything else in a PO world. :-D
Expecting the current interstate system, in its current state of disrepair in relatively good economic times, to perform as a cross-country busway is fairly presumptuous, IMHO. Unless, of course, you believe that gas tax revenue will always keep up with repair needs (it never has). Trains opened up the frontier, and they will keep it open once again.
Looks like we're in a damned if you do / damned if you don't situation. If we park our cars and hopped on the bus for long distance travel, the interstate system would fall apart even faster. - OR - We could try building trains with money we don't have. They don't call it a die-off for nothing. :-D

I have gotten into a spat about the possible future of trains before but just to clarify my position. I do NOT believe trains to be inferior to highways or any other mode of transportation. In fact it would be silly to make such a statement. That would be like saying an airplane is inferior to a ship......niether is. They are all unique vehicles that hold an advantage over others under special circumstances. There is no such thing as "the best". But there is such a thing as what is "the best" for this particular situation.

In general I see a bleak future for America regardless of what choice is made. There is of course a third option: maintain the status quo. The last time we bailed out the airlines it costed the taxpayers $15 B and that was when oil was less then $40/barrel. Just wait till the cost of oil hits triple digits...and that's when the real "fun" starts.

Like I said damned if you do damned if you don't. 8)
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby emersonbiggins » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 18:43:30

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', 'L')ike I said damned if you do damned if you don't. 8)


True. I would say most air travel is superfluous (compared w/train travel), but if you think about that hard enough, most of our entire economy is rather superfluous as well. It will be a rough road down the backslope, literally. At least the rights-of-way will still exist if we do decide to build new rail with money we won't have... :)
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby Daryl » Wed 04 Jan 2006, 19:14:33

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Wildwell', 'Q')uite seriously in the US low maintenance and high speed Maglev is probably the best bet, at least on certain corridors. This technology is already available now, and even post peak could be fitted along highways.
http://www.transrapid-usa.com/content.asp


Yes, yes. The entire transportation industry will have to be nationalized, maybe parts of it only temporarily. Not all at once, either of course. Airlines will go under pre-peak, maybe auto also. Trucking probably won't go under until post peak. There will be basically one national airline, like Israel has. Rail will be built up as you suggested, with rationalized trucking from rail hubs.

Don't listen to the economic doomers!!! Like double dipping when eating chips and dip, they are double doomering!! It should not be allowed on these boards. One apocalypse at a time please!!
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby Wildwell » Thu 05 Jan 2006, 11:01:04

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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby aldente » Fri 13 Jan 2006, 10:09:31

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bantri', 'b')ut the path is fixed :)

It is not and there lays the beauty of the system as ugly as it might present itself sometimes!
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Re: Transportation - PO

Postby rushdy » Sat 14 Jan 2006, 08:36:20

I think we're going to see more velomobiles. Velomobile Guide
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