tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post7490278704497617746..comments2024-03-22T11:55:50.335+13:00Comments on Not PC: Right decision. Wrong decision. [Update 3]Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-34172311871987697962009-03-19T18:11:00.000+13:002009-03-19T18:11:00.000+13:00OwenI'd be interested to know the subsidy per Auck...Owen<BR/><BR/>I'd be interested to know the subsidy per Auckland train trip. Do you know what it is? And what would it become if the trains are electrified?<BR/><BR/>Thanks<BR/><BR/>LGMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-77569788447043257182009-03-19T17:10:00.000+13:002009-03-19T17:10:00.000+13:00We all to remember the efficiency of a transport m...We all to remember the efficiency of a transport mode is not determined by the efficiency of the vehicle.<BR/>It is determined by the efficiency of moving the freight or the person.<BR/>For example a container ship is the most “efficient” transport vehicle in the world.<BR/>But if you want to ship green lipped mussels from NZ to California then an aircraft is much more efficient.<BR/>People keep saying trains are more efficient at carrying freight than trucks.<BR/>If they were then all freight would go by truck.<BR/>It doesn’t. Some does because the combination of journey length and the bulk of the cargo makes the train mode efficient.<BR/>But the average freight trip in NZ is only about 30K and trucks beat rail hands down over such small distances.<BR/>When you say “Portland Rail is very efficient you have to identify “who for and for what?”<BR/>As Aaron Widavsky once said in a class in which we had all agreed that efficiency was “a good thing” - “So would you like a train carrying Jews to Belsen to be efficient?”Owen McShanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10130002581563595646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-32248348524488877192009-03-19T16:56:00.000+13:002009-03-19T16:56:00.000+13:00Good news from my friend Randall O'Toole – the Ant...Good news from my friend Randall O'Toole – the Anti planner.<BR/><BR/>"Good news! You can save money by selling your car and riding transit instead. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) says the average person can save $8,500 a year taking transit instead of owning a car.<BR/><BR/>This is based on the AAA cost-of-driving formula, which says that driving costs an average of $0.54 cents per vehicle mile. Funny how Americans only actually spend $0.39 cents a vehicle mile, at least according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The difference? The BEA uses actual costs while AAA numbers are hypothetical.<BR/><BR/>So that might reduce the savings to only $6,100, which is still a lot. But the other big thing APTA is leaving out is the huge subsidies to transit. Transit subsidies amount to $0.61 per passenger mile. APTA assumed that, prior to giving up their car, the transit rider drove 15,000 miles a year. At $0.61 per mile, a transit rider who rides 15,000 miles a year gets about $9,150 in subsidies.<BR/><BR/>So you can save, maybe, $6,100 a year by imposing more than $9,100 in costs on other taxpayers. Good deal!Owen McShanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10130002581563595646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-36249537339726955132009-03-17T17:55:00.000+13:002009-03-17T17:55:00.000+13:00Politicians think they are in power because they a...Politicians think they are in power because they are smarter than everyone else, yet they come up with lazy revenue gathering policies like this. Fucking unacceptable.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-47289005948100075882009-03-17T10:41:00.000+13:002009-03-17T10:41:00.000+13:00PCThere is an interesting book written by Bent Fly...PC<BR/><BR/>There is an interesting book written by Bent Flyvbjerg where he investigates megaprojets (a.k.a. boondoggles) and what passes for "analysis" used to justify them. <BR/><BR/>He surveyed many big projects (similar to the Ak rail electricfication) and discoered that the costs are always understated at the project promotion stage, the projected patronages and income stream generated from users is always over-stated at the project promotion stage and that, in the end, these things end up costing the local economy hugely. Taxpayers always get lumbered with the on-going bailout costs that these projects inevitably result in. <BR/><BR/>The Auckland rail electrification is no different. It is a massive theft and no more than that.<BR/><BR/>LGMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-61490083422494824402009-03-17T10:39:00.000+13:002009-03-17T10:39:00.000+13:00Oops.Dickhead.Me, that is.Ta. :-)Oops.<BR/><BR/>Dickhead.<BR/><BR/>Me, that is.<BR/><BR/>Ta. :-)Peter Cresswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-42165713274123366442009-03-17T10:18:00.000+13:002009-03-17T10:18:00.000+13:00I think you mean 3%...I think you mean 3%...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com