NYC and LA with all their mass transit system -- they never have traffic jams.

lol; well, yes.
Actually, as a civilian, for short trips in bad traffic areas (yes, I know that light rail and mass transit would be better)---I would try this out.

And---for Air Ambulances (yes, mixed evidence on efficacy) and Military MediEvac---farther, faster, safer with more load?

Upvoting for trying to solve a problem, but this will ultimately fail in its goals.

The problem here is not that "car traffic moves too slowly," the problem is that there are too many cars. The solution will be in redesigning cities to be less car-dependent, allowing people to live within cycling distance of most of their needs, and invest in mass transit.

If anything, this project will deffer funds away from transit and planning solutions that would solve the problem.

Waaaaah?

This video gets so many things wrong it is truly cringe-worthy.

The country has been covered by vending machines since the 1960s--long before there were problems with an aging population and birthrates. The primary reason for vending machines being installed everywhere is, surprise, convenience! Who wants to go to the store and stand in line to buy a drink when you can just go downstairs from your apartment and grab one from outside your front door?

Another thing to consider is that Japan late at night basically completely shuts down--even in major cities like Tokyo the trains stop running around 1AM or so and won't start again until 5AM. Nowadays their are 24-hour convenient stores on practically every other urban street corner but back when vending machines first started getting installed nothing was open late besides bars. If you caught the last train home from work and wanted to buy a coke or something on your walk back from the station you were SOL. Vending machines helped solve that problem.

Which brings us to another point--VERY few Japanese people in urban areas commute by car. Mass transit is fast and efficient and a huge number of people just walk/bike everywhere. Since there is so much foot traffic vending machines make total sense, especially in the summer when temperatures are going to rise into the mid-90s (30+ degrees Celsius) with high humidity and people who are walking/biking are going to get thirsty pretty damn quick.

Another thing he gets wrong is that retailers are not the ones primarily profiting off of vending machines: land owners are. Either they purchase and stock the machines themselves (thereby keeping all the profits) or they make a contract with the retail company in which the company stocks and services the machine but compensates the landowner for use of the space.

Oh, almost forgot something not mentioned in the video--the low crime rates. Another reason for the proliferation of vending machines is that whoever puts them out can be reasonably sure they won't be damaged, defaced, or robbed.

Finally, while he is right that credit cards are not as big here as in, say, the U.S., e-money is huge. And all of the newer vending machines produced in the last few years will take either cash or e-money, such as Suica or Pasmo cards.

By the way, all of this information that I've posted here is available from a simple Google search and there have actually been several articles written on vending machines in Japan over the last couple of years. It's like this guy just came over here and tried to guess why there were so many vending machines around....

Politically, it's interesting; the Conservative Canadian provincial government forced liberal Toronto to merge with the surrounding conservative suburbs---Ford campaigned against bike lanes, mass transit, and taxes---and said he'd be "fiscally responsible"--(does this sounds familiar?)---Astonishingly, because the suburbs sort of hate liberal, progressive Toronto--he still has significant political support...

This quote is from the Daily News article:

"The commissioner said police had been monitoring the ride — loosely organized by a group that calls itself Hollywood Stuntz. He said about 1,000 riders caused chaos in Times Square last year when they showed up out of nowhere and disrupted traffic."

And a little Googling produced this video:

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/did-hollywood-stuntz-attack-this-prius-driver-in-2011-1430929682

Apparently they do this sort of thing a lot...and the fact that the guy with the helmet cam was right there recording it makes me consider that they find it entertaining,and planned for something to happen. The group was heading through the Lincoln tunnel around 10:30 AM when I was taking a bus into NYC,and there were a LOT of them. I wondered why they were out en masse,but it was a nice day for a ride...I'm just glad my family took mass transit into NY that day.

They should at least benefit from all the added infrastructure (roads, bridges, mass transit, etc) that was necessary to upgrade in order to host the games.

I don't understand why FIFA couldn't change the way the tournament is played and scheduled such that fewer stadiums are required... I could see needing to build 1 or 2 more stadiums, but why 12 (stadiums in Brazil for world cup 2014, 3 brand new, others renovated).

note: 30 billion brazilian reals = $13.76 billion usd

I don't think there is a single authority that would advocate someone speeding above 90mph in an emergency situation. In those situations it is my opinion that most experts would suggest waiting for the ambulance/police, not racing down the road like in the movies.

your 2.2. "point" is no different than people saying that gun owners would not give up their rights. It's not an argument its just a statement of something, it provides no support of anything other than "the world cant change that much" and I agree, in the case of gun ownership as well.

As for the difficulty in speed metering, look to many motorcycles and race cars for how to limit speed, it is already done today.

I use the example of cars because I'm not advocating stopping the use of cars, just the inability to travel above speeds that are reasonable. It's a change in safety that only affects enthusiasts or criminals in much the same way that gun laws would which is why I use it. Also because most of us know that although the majority of us own cars and operate them, we dont tend to exceed 90mph or drive under the influence ourselves and so it seems like a bit of an over-reaction.

My intention is not to compare driving and gun ownership directly. My intent was to compare the differing logic that people will apply to situations that have very analogous themes based on their personal bias or beliefs.

As much as many people see no reason for your average person to own a gun, I see no reason for the average person to be able to travel at high speeds. Just like affecting legal gun ownership will only lower violence some...so will limiting speeds only lower vehicle deaths some.

Just like removing all guns and the slow change in society resulting from it might one day minimize gun violence, so would removing all private ownership of cars require a painful period of mass transit expansion but eventually a world where rapid mass transit and only professional vehicle use would minimize vehicle deaths.

I would argue that the last two situations (all guns and all vehicles being gone with proper transit support) would be ideal for society. But they are also not going to happen any time soon. However how we can be so focused on guns and their use (particularly the use of legally obtained guns) in saving and protecting lives, while ignoring other places in society that cause more death is odd to me. Especially if those changes are just as obvious or palatable as extreme gun control measures when gauged across all demographics.

>> ^L0cky:
There really is only one major criticism and that's the amount of death and injury caused by firearms, which is backed up by statistical research rather than media hyperbole.
If you're a 25 year old US citizen you're almost as likely to die by gunshot as you are by a vehicular accident.

OK, we can all stop right there. After that statement, you have shown how delusional you really are and anything you say can't be trusted. That "statistic" is flat out untrue, and it must have hurt pulling that out of your ass. Here are the death statistics for 25 year old US citizens from the CDC from 1999-2010:

Motor Vehicle Accident = 22%
Homicide by Firearm = 12%
Accident by Firearm = 0.4%

As I said in my other post, the pages can't be linked to, but you can use the search at the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention & Control and look it up yourself.

>> ^L0cky:
You may or may not agree with the justification (I, like you, agree - the world is an inherently dangerous place) but vehicles do bring obvious benefits to society in many ways.

I agree, vehicles are beneficial to society, but they are also the leading cause of accidental death. Most of those deaths are caused by people improperly using their vehicles. You advocate taking guns away from all citizens, so in your perfect world only police and the military would have them. Would you also like to remove personal vehicle ownership for all citizens and only allow travel to be by government operated mass transit? It would certainly save a lot of lives.

Guns have played a beneficial role in modern society. Lots of free societies have come from its citizens taking up arms against their oppressive governments. You could argue that we no longer need guns in free societies, but you can also argue that without access to guns, what is to stop the government from becoming oppressive to its people again.

Living in the Seattle area I have no concept of mass transit to begin with to start to even relate to this!

very cool idea... thats seattle alright... looks good on paper dont it??? the simcity guy should have used more mass transit options earlier on, subway/light rail ... we're paying for it now by god, the traffic... good post

But, she didn't actually suggest body scanners for trains, ships and buses, did she? This is another example of Fox News stepping over the line between exaggeration and simply lying about shit.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/5311-janet-napolitano-considers-advanced-screenings-for-mass-transit

Even the Fox News website got it right originally. Compare this to the impression you just got from the video:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/25/body-scanners-headed-trains-ships-mass-transit/

*lies

>> ^volumptuous:

Ubuntu?
Yeah, I'll just do that. Because you know, I don't need things like Adobe CS4/5, Logic Audio, Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Max/MSP, Final Cut, Color, Motion, Lightroom and basically every other piece of software I use for my professional and fun purposes.
After scanning around some Ubuntu forums and finding out just what a nightmare it is to run any of my required software, I called a friend @ JPL, and one at Oracle to ask if my summation was correct, and they said "for what you need, Ubuntu makes zero sense". Yep, there you go campion.
Why are we talking about Ubuntu? Oh right, to show that we don't need sweatshops to live our wetern lifestyles. Which for me, (aside from about 1/2 the tech I own) is absolutely true.
I work from home, my GF takes mass transit. We have a massive garden where we get most of our food from. We buy all other food from locally grown, sustainable sources (mostly south central farmers market). We make all of our own cleaning agents, use soap nuts for washing clothes, recycle all water, harvest rainwater, solar dry food, hardly ever use a heater, have no A/C or central air. We use canvas bags to shop with, compost 100% of all food waste, recycle or reuse all plastic/paper/glass etc. Our combined trash for a full month is 1/2 of a normal small plastic bag.
I DO NOT buy Nike products, have never bought anything from WalMart, don't buy fastfood (aside from the ocassional In-n-Out) and we both study the source where all of our merch is made. In this ugly web of global corporate confusion, it's not always easy to find out where every piece of every camera or MIDI controller or PS3 you buy comes from.
It is very easy to "vote with my wallet" although I am not so naive to think it makes a dent on the big picture. But a lot of people would rather just scream "just buy Ubuntu and the world is saved" that's a load of bullshit.


Ubuntu. If you need it, write it. That's how Linux works.

That's good information to know. When armageddon comes, I know whose home I'm going to invade.

JK. I only eat what I kill. I'll throw a blankfist on the barbie for you. >> ^volumptuous:

I work from home, my GF takes mass transit. We have a massive garden where we get most of our food from. We buy all other food from locally grown, sustainable sources (mostly south central farmers market). We make all of our own cleaning agents, use soap nuts for washing clothes, recycle all water, harvest rainwater, solar dry food, hardly ever use a heater, have no A/C or central air. Blah blah blah, I'm a dirty hippie, etc.

I know I could google, and I will, but what are your tips for making your own cleaning products as I'm quite interested in doing that.

In reply to this comment by volumptuous:
Ubuntu?

Yeah, I'll just do that. Because you know, I don't need things like Adobe CS4/5, Logic Audio, Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Max/MSP, Final Cut, Color, Motion, Lightroom and basically every other piece of software I use for my professional and fun purposes.

After scanning around some Ubuntu forums and finding out just what a nightmare it is to run any of my required software, I called a friend @ JPL, and one at Oracle to ask if my summation was correct, and they said "for what you need, Ubuntu makes zero sense". Yep, there you go campion.

Why are we talking about Ubuntu? Oh right, to show that we don't need sweatshops to live our wetern lifestyles. Which for me, (aside from about 1/2 the tech I own) is absolutely true.

I work from home, my GF takes mass transit. We have a massive garden where we get most of our food from. We buy all other food from locally grown, sustainable sources (mostly south central farmers market). We make all of our own cleaning agents, use soap nuts for washing clothes, recycle all water, harvest rainwater, solar dry food, hardly ever use a heater, have no A/C or central air. We use canvas bags to shop with, compost 100% of all food waste, recycle or reuse all plastic/paper/glass etc. Our combined trash for a full month is 1/2 of a normal small plastic bag.

I DO NOT buy Nike products, have never bought anything from WalMart, don't buy fastfood (aside from the ocassional In-n-Out) and we both study the source where all of our merch is made. In this ugly web of global corporate confusion, it's not always easy to find out where every piece of every camera or MIDI controller or PS3 you buy comes from.

It is very easy to "vote with my wallet" although I am not so naive to think it makes a dent on the big picture. But a lot of people would rather just scream "just buy Ubuntu and the world is saved" that's a load of bullshit.