Mayor Pete - Transportation Secretary

[MrSquished]

Meh. Might have preferred someone with some experience in a larger city setting to truly understand the value of mass transit, but definitely a very bright guy with excellent critical thinking skills with a solid political future I hope, so he should do a good job.

 

[Fenixgoon]

I know Transportation Secretary isn't super visible compared to say...SecDef, but no doubt he (or another candidate) could increase the profile of the position if they'd like.
Federal program for common electrical vehicle infrastructure throughout the country? Yes pls and goodbye any concept of range anxiety. And I don't even own a BEV

 

[sportage]

Want a real laugh? Just google the history of Trump’s past and present administration picks. Rick Perry, Betsy Devos, Ben Carson. Then, compare that to ANYONE that Joe Biden has chosen or might choose. Nuff said?

 

[hal2kilo]

I know Transportation Secretary isn't super visible compared to say...SecDef, but no doubt he (or another candidate) could increase the profile of the position if they'd like.
Federal program for common electrical vehicle infrastructure throughout the country? Yes pls and goodbye any concept of range anxiety. And I don't even own a BEV

That, and new battery technology will make it a no brainer. It you believe this hype.

Tesla co-founder on QuantumScape's new battery: it's a breakthrough (electrek.co)

 

[Brainonska511]

Federal program for common electrical vehicle infrastructure throughout the country? Yes pls and goodbye any concept of range anxiety. And I don't even own a BEV

That could be good, but another thing that constantly gets left by the wayside is mass transit: both infrastructure and operational costs. There needs to be more federal support. We can't drive our way free of climate change in personal electric vehicles - there just isn't the space in cities to handle that traffic volume (and building more roads is not a viable solution if you know about induced demand)

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

lol these picks are just like Trump.... Not concerned with actual leadership in a role they are experienced in... just who rubbed his balls nicely.

Thus, nothing for Bernie - or even Warren.

This is just as moronic as Ben Carson appointed to HUD.


And the establishment of elite plutocrats lives on as expected....

The bolded in not appropriate when referring to the appointment of a gay man.

Perknose
Forum Director

 

[hal2kilo]

That could be good, but another thing that constantly gets left by the wayside is mass transit: both infrastructure and operational costs. There needs to be more federal support. We can't drive our way free of climate change in personal electric vehicles - there just isn't the space in cities to handle that traffic volume (and building more roads is not a viable solution if you know about induced demand)

Need a lot more light rail programs. They seem to be working pretty well in Seattle and Portland. Of course the tax payers are freaking out at the cost after voting for them. Go figure.

 

[cytg111]

lol these picks are just like Trump.... Not concerned with actual leadership in a role they are experienced in... just who rubbed his balls nicely.

Thus, nothing for Bernie - or even Warren.

This is just as moronic as Ben Carson appointed to HUD.


And the establishment of elite plutocrats lives on as expected....

This is of course not true. Trump appointed based on loyalty to him.
Biden is appointing based on merit and potential.
No surprises that some1 will take shots at a gay man though.

 

[kage69]

He's a smart guy, he'll do good anywhere I bet.

Bravo Joe, such a pleasant change to see from the nepotism and sabotage choices popular with Team Treason. Having an admin that understands what 'conflict of interest' means, should be nice.

 

[cytg111]

That could be good, but another thing that constantly gets left by the wayside is mass transit: both infrastructure and operational costs. There needs to be more federal support. We can't drive our way free of climate change in personal electric vehicles - there just isn't the space in cities to handle that traffic volume (and building more roads is not a viable solution if you know about induced demand)

Strongly disagree. You will come back to this post in 10 years ans say, damn man you were right.
Autonomous level 5 vehicles will soon hit the streets, taxi drivers will be a thing of the past, plus when its machines that does the driving you can expect throughput on existing infrastructure to skyrocket. Public transportation may continue, but it wont be in the form of busses and trains. Its dead tech.
Whatever you do dont invest 100000 billion on another subway network. Tunnels? Sure. For autonomous EV’s.

 

[Starbuck1975]

Critical role for a rising star to further develop his skills on the national stage. A veteran is an inspired choice and I would love to see Buttigieg approach transportation as Eisenhower approached infrastructure...its time for some bold infrastructure investments that could also help with climate targets...rail, solar, the possibilities could be huge.

I was very happy to see this announcement.

 

[fskimospy]

Strongly disagree. You will come back to this post in 10 years ans say, damn man you were right.
Autonomous level 5 vehicles will soon hit the streets, taxi drivers will be a thing of the past, plus when its machines that does the driving you can expect throughput on existing infrastructure to skyrocket. Public transportation may continue, but it wont be in the form of busses and trains. Its dead tech.
Whatever you do dont invest 100000 billion on another subway network. Tunnels? Sure. For autonomous EV’s.

Uhmmm, I don’t care how good your autonomous cars are, there is literally not enough physical space in a place like manhattan for a car network like you suggest to work. Throughput is just to low and slow for cars in that environment.

NYC subway trains hold about 1,500 people when they are full and at peak times they are running every two minutes or so on the busiest lines. There is no planet where you are moving that equivalent in individual cars at that speed through Manhattan no matter how well they communicate.

 

[Brainonska511]

Need a lot more light rail programs. They seem to be working pretty well in Seattle and Portland. Of course the tax payers are freaking out at the cost after voting for them. Go figure.

Light rail could be nice in some areas, but we can even go back to basics: reliable, frequent bus service could greatly improved mass transit without much infrastructure needs. At the end of the day, the goal may not be to eliminate car use, but to greatly limit it by providing viable alternatives for trips that could be replaced with mass transit or some alternative personal vehicle, like a bike.

 

[MrSquished]

Strongly disagree. You will come back to this post in 10 years ans say, damn man you were right.
Autonomous level 5 vehicles will soon hit the streets, taxi drivers will be a thing of the past, plus when its machines that does the driving you can expect throughput on existing infrastructure to skyrocket. Public transportation may continue, but it wont be in the form of busses and trains. Its dead tech.
Whatever you do dont invest 100000 billion on another subway network. Tunnels? Sure. For autonomous EV’s.

Where do you live?

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Critical role for a rising star to further develop his skills on the national stage. A veteran is an inspired choice and I would love to see Buttigieg approach transportation as Eisenhower approached infrastructure...its time for some bold infrastructure investments that could also help with climate targets...rail, solar, the possibilities could be huge.

I was very happy to see this announcement.

Mass ground transportation will never occur in the US.

We have a government that has their hands tied and can't say "Fuck you, were building a loud rail in your backyard and there is nothing you can do about it".

For obvious reasons as well, there is no way that wouldn't hurt property values.

 

[Fenixgoon]

lol these picks are just like Trump.... Not concerned with actual leadership in a role they are experienced in... just who rubbed his balls nicely.

Thus, nothing for Bernie - or even Warren.

The funny thing about good leaders is they surround themselves with competent and more knowledgeable specialists.

A good leader does not necessarily need to be an expert in a particular field. It's absolutely helpful, but not a requirement.

 

[HomerJS]

lol these picks are just like Trump.... Not concerned with actual leadership in a role they are experienced in... just who rubbed his balls nicely.

Thus, nothing for Bernie - or even Warren.

This is just as moronic as Ben Carson appointed to HUD.


And the establishment of elite plutocrats lives on as expected....

You weren't vocal when Trump did it so why object now?

Of yeah, I forgot, you are a dishonest troll without an ounce of integrity.

BTW - Which one of these picks is completely qualified or corrupt? Compare that to Rick Perry, Betsy DeVoss

Here's who Joe Biden has selected for his Cabinet

President-elect Joe Biden is building out his Cabinet as he prepares for his time in the White House.

www.cnn.com

Always remember

Trump will be the forever allowable #whatabout

Abandoning all standards of competence, morals and sense of decency just for the sake of remaining on Team Trump means your standards are forever set down to the level of Trump. You have no right in the future to complain about any politician violating these basic standards because the response...

forums.anandtech.com

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Light rail could be nice in some areas, but we can even go back to basics: reliable, frequent bus service could greatly improved mass transit without much infrastructure needs. At the end of the day, the goal may not be to eliminate car use, but to greatly limit it by providing viable alternatives for trips that could be replaced with mass transit or some alternative personal vehicle, like a bike.

Really? As someone that used to ride a bus in to work back when I worked downtown, I can't say it was anything to write home about.

Overall it wasn't faster. With all the stops along the way, etc. it would usually be either 5 or 10 minutes later than if I just drove. Buses even get a dedicated lane lane as well.

Overall it wasn't much cheaper. I believe it was $3.50 each way, for a total daily cost of $7.00. That equals roughly $150/month. It probably was slightly cheaper, but it SHOULDN'T even be a question. My beater car gets 30mpg and works fine, the only thing that even makes it close is the downtown parking costs - which were probably ~$100 for a monthly contract.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

The funny thing about good leaders is they surround themselves with competent and more knowledgeable specialists.

A good leader does not necessarily need to be an expert in a particular field. It's absolutely helpful, but not a requirement.

No - but its what YOU as a reputable person should do. YOU should want to make sure a qualified and experienced individual to a very powerful position should be prepared to take it from Day 1.

Being a mayor, veteran, and previous experience with a shady consulting practice is admirable, but it has no relationship with guiding transportation. It has zero relation to building roads, bridges, mass transit, etc... I would rather have a random engineer in that position.

 

[fskimospy]

Mass ground transportation will never occur in the US.

We have a government that has their hands tied and can't say "Fuck you, were building a loud rail in your backyard and there is nothing you can do about it".

For obvious reasons as well, there is no way that wouldn't hurt property values.

Mass ground transportation has literally already occurred in the US.

I agree though that we need to massively increase the power government has to implement public projects. Eminent domain should be way easier to use, environmental review laws need to be a lot harder to abuse, and the response to complaints that infrastructure would lower someone’s property values? Boo hoo. That’s not even an argument that should be considered.

 

[fskimospy]

No - but its what YOU as a reputable person should do. YOU should want to make sure a qualified and experienced individual to a very powerful position should be prepared to take it from Day 1.

Being a mayor, veteran, and previous experience with a shady consulting practice is admirable, but it has no relationship with guiding transportation. It has zero relation to building roads, bridges, mass transit, etc... I would rather have a random engineer in that position.

Oh god no, I would very much not want a random engineer in that position. What a stupid idea.

While I agree it is better to have someone with previous experience leading a transit facing entity of some sort the most important qualification is experience in managing a public organization. You know what a cabinet Secretary does, right? He’s not out there building the roads or examining individual projects, he’s managing the organization.

Give me a good manager with no transit experience over the most experienced engineer you’ve ever met who isn’t good at management.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Mass ground transportation has literally already occurred in the US.

I agree though that we need to massively increase the power government has to implement public projects. Eminent domain should be way easier to use, environmental review laws need to be a lot harder to abuse, and the response to complaints that infrastructure would lower someone’s property values? Boo hoo. That’s not even an argument that should be considered.

I'm not talking inter-city transportation (subways, blah blah).

I'm talking bullet-train equivalencies to travel from city-to-city that are in Europe, Japan, etc...

 

[fskimospy]

I'm not talking inter-city transportation (subways, blah blah).

I'm talking bullet-train equivalencies to travel from city-to-city that are in Europe, Japan, etc...

What do you call this?

Northeast Corridor - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[cytg111]

Where do you live?

Scandinavia(dont like getting much more specific than that), close to big city and work in big city, have a 1 hour+ drive that only takes 30min if not congested (twice a day).
I am certain a new revolution in personal transportation will be upon us soon.

 

[Brainonska511]

Really? As someone that used to ride a bus in to work back when I worked downtown, I can't say it was anything to write home about.

Overall it wasn't faster. With all the stops along the way, etc. it would usually be either 5 or 10 minutes later than if I just drove. Buses even get a dedicated lane lane as well.

Overall it wasn't much cheaper. I believe it was $3.50 each way, for a total daily cost of $7.00. That equals roughly $150/month. It probably was slightly cheaper, but it SHOULDN'T even be a question. My beater car gets 30mpg and works fine, the only thing that even makes it close is the downtown parking costs - which were probably ~$100 for a monthly contract.

No monthly pass? You also saved on vehicle maintenance and parking, so there is that aspect to savings. And there is an opportunity cost too - you can do some things on a bus that you can't do while driving.

As far as improving buses, it's a bit multifaceted, but there are some cheap and easy solutions that could be implemented quickly if there was the will: increase stop spacing, add bus lanes, and have all-door boarding. It also doesn't help that we often subsidize personal vehicle travel (pre-tax money for parking, extremely cheap parking, employer-subsidies for driving).