fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
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User ID: 3415
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1hr ago
Just because London/Tokyo/whatever have traffic doesn't mean their trains suck. Imagine how much worse it would be without trains.
That actually kind of proves my point, the cities quite literally would not work without trains, because trains can scale, unlike road capacity.
I would very much like to hear your solution to how to transport large volumes of people in a relatively small area.
As fun as our verbal sparring has been, all you've done is shoot down every possible option as "nuh uh not good enough" without ever acknowledging that once you crest ~3 million people in an area, everyone taking a personal automobile fundamentally starts falling apart due to the limits of space-time.
So I say again my friend, what's your solution?
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
13hr ago
But it gets on my nerves a little, the YIMBY assertion that these population shifts are just a fait accompli, that there’s nothing to do but adjust
This is an excellent point. I definitely fall into this trap. I think I've become so frustrated and disillusioned with our societies inability to meaningfully address (any)things that it seems like anything less than "do the thing big and decisively" gets committee'd to death and the end result is either nothing, or so neutered it might as well be.
But yeah, totally agree that there should be room for change that complements what already exists, not change that upends it.
But at the same time, I expect more of our leaders, you know?
Me too, me fucking too, I end up disappointed a lot though lol
whose founder decided to just stick in the area
I dislike having to rely on the charity of billionaires, but we absolutely lost something with the death of noblesse oblige. The Rockefeller's of the world may not have been great people, but at least the dumped money into their communities to show us how big their dicks were.
Now they buy movie studios and make horrific adaptations of classic novels like Rings of Power.
I also appreciate this conversation! You've given me some good thoughts and I've enjoyed articulating and defending mine. I hope you have a lovely rest of your weekend.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
13hr ago
Most Americans like driving
I mean aside from the fact long driving commutes demonstrably make people miserable.
And the fact this misery results in crazy cultural self-owns where people start blocking other people from entering lanes to the point you have to suddenly change lanes without signals (or fake them out with a signal so they speed up to block you so you can sneak behind them) to take the other people by suprise so you can change your lane.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
13hr ago
So just build trains between the suburbs too. Make America Trains Again, we must RETVRN.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
13hr ago
London/Asian megacities do it well and they're not long skinny islands
It's doable, it's not easy, but it's doable
And it's definitely better than doing nothing and drowning in gridlock
I understand your complaints, I guess I don't really understand what your forward looking thoughts are?
If the status quo (gridlock, people hating driving/each other) sucks, why shoot down every potential solution to wallow in the status quo?
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
18hr ago
Personally I find drivers with aggressive agency to be incredibly rare.
I find most people are incredibly unaware of their surroundings. I've started to pay close attention to the delay between the light turning green and people going (or the car in front of them moving and them going), so many people's reaction time is measured in actual seconds.
I'd posit most of the times I'm cut off it's not a deliberate choice to shark me, they just didn't look at their mirrors or blind spot. We also have a ridiculous # of uber drivers from India who I shall politely say drive with less conscientiousness than is perhaps ideal.
I'm Canadian but I was actually just in Texas and I was driving there. It was quite fine, people were normal and orderly.
I hope to never drive in a place where someone signalling to change lanes is an challenge to do everything in you can to prevent them entering though. I really cannot emphasize enough how much of a lose/lose that culture is. Take that shit to the third world.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
18hr ago
Well except subways (or streetcars, or even buses if done well) which you have a great example of across the Hudson. NJ transit doesn't suck because transit is inherently bad (might I introduce you to Europe or Asia, mostly Asia). It sucks because Americans refuse to fund it properly and instead triple down on driving.
And then also hate driving, lmao
Also bike lanes (we're back baby) scale amazingly, they have significantly higher throughput for the area they occupy.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
18hr ago
Yeah I had a feeling your streetcar suburbs and Toronto's streetcar suburbs were probably a fair bit apart in terms of density from your descriptions.
You make an interesting point there re: migration/prosperity. My initial knee jerk reaction was "no, the issue is that people in the prosperous places refuse to let the built environment change, thus resulting in the supply/demand imbalance that causes housing prices to go parabolic"
But you're making the excellent point that the "real' issue is the fact people have to all move to the same place to access the prosperity, versus it being distributed around like it used to be.
I'm of two minds here.
On one hand, I am in full agreement with you that this status quo is dumb and we'd be better off if the prosperity was spread around.
On the other, this is the world we live in, and to make it better right now the immediate solution is to build more density in the places people want to be. Because I'm not sure how we'd paradigm shift our economy to fix this.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
20hr ago
This was the study I was talking about by the way. https://tcat.ca/resources/bike-lanes-on-street-parking-and-business-parkdale-danforth/
"72% of the visitors to the Study Area usually arrive by active transportation (by bicycle or walking). Only 4% report that driving is their usual mode of transportation.
Merchants overestimated the number of their customers who arrived by car. 42% of merchants estimated that more than 25% of their customers usually arrived by car."
I imagine Parkdale/Danforth neighborhoods are busier than wherever you live, so grain of salt and all that. This study is now over a decade old (holy shit) so the percentage of non-car trips will be probably be higher as biking is up in Toronto since then. Reading it again, 4% seems a bit low but whatever.
the reason the small storefronts are better is that they’re managed independently.
You're correct. I think the Asian model of retail where the storefronts are purchased and owned like condo units (vs leased) would help. Then the retail owners are essentially condo residents with a say/vote on how things go, and more autonomy than having to keep whoever is leasing happy.
it makes me more certain than ever that such things should be left to the small.
While I appreciate this perspective (and don't exactly blame you for it) you are aware it's this exact attitude that is causing the housing crisis right? Which in turn is a huge drag on economic productivity and is absolutely poisoning the public sphere with resentment, anxiety, and stress. Western society has grown sclerotic and is crumbling under its own weight, and a refusal to accept that things need to change is a HUGE contributor.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
21hr ago
I don't mind the skilled aggro drivers.
I was talking more about the common cultural practice (which I understood to be in LA, but I guess NJ too) of deliberately stopping people from changing lanes if you see them signalling.
It seems less about aggressive/defensive driving, and more about a weird adversarial relationship with other drivers predicated on the belief they'd do the same to you.
Everyone on the road should be allies in keeping the traffic moving. You (I think? I just woke up from a nap) are describing oblivious idiots who are neither ally nor enemy, just in it for themselves. I'm talking about the explicitly adversarial dynamic that seems to exist in those places where everyone just makes everything worse for everyone else on purpose.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
22hr ago
businesses there deeply need some kind of readily accessible parking for their customers
Fairly certain this has been disproven over and over again. The vast majority of customers to downtown (and most streetcar suburbs are "downtown" at this point in major cities) do not arrive to stores by car. In Toronto, it's a tiny fraction vs walk/transit/bike.
Toronto's downtown BIA's are fighting the province who wants to remove bike lanes (they want to keep them). They protested when the bike lanes were put in, have seen the results, and now want to keep them.
Also what I am calling the "Iron law of road scaling" comes into play. Road capacity is fixed, population is going up. Eventually we have to change something, and on street parking is by far the lowest productivity use of road space. Inevitably it will have to go.
unless you want to undermine small ownership in favor of the ubiquitous big developers
You do speak truth here. Streetcar suburb main streets/retail areas are infinitely better than condo podium retail areas. We need more pro-active municipal governments who nudge developers to make better retail spaces. There's no reason we can't have smaller retail units in condo podiums that mimic the way small storefronts on streetcar suburbs are.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
22hr ago
The common thread between LA and NJ is there's just too damn much traffic.
If only there were other transportation methods that scaled better.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1d ago
Oh wow I didn't realize it was an east coast phenomenon too.
"Get even" for the great offense of... Driving on the same road you too are driving on?
I really don't understand this, it just seems like you're all making each other more unhappy while driving for no other reason than because you're unhappy while driving? It's a prisoners dilemma situation except there's no payoff for defecting, but you all defect anyway.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1d ago
The parked car / bike lane interactions are impossible and stupid. I don't know if I prefer road/bike lane/parked car or road/parked car/bike lane, honestly they both suck.
The real issue is parked cars on major streets. I cannot believe we still allow that. It would be a huge win for traffic too. The fact ~6 people storing their cars at massively subsidized rates on public space can destroy the throughput of a road by creating bottlenecks where it goes from 2 to 1 lane is insane. I think new buildings should have underground paid parking so we can still have ample parking supply, and then we can clear out major streets and increase traffic throughput for all.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1d ago
I don't think you should implement bike lanes without stiff penalties for not using them (or for cars, stealing the space).
Tentatively down, although faith in western police to do a good job is low.
For now I see bike lanes as a waste of space that bicycles don't use.
It's tricky, adoption in the west is slow but growing. Very slow though, biking as a mode of transportation is climbing YoY in Toronto's core, but it's lower than I'd expect it to be given the massive utility (and traffic).
However, another reason they seem empty is because they are significantly more efficient. Bike lanes have wayyyyy higher throughput than car lanes, so you also don't see as many bikes because they're not stuck in traffic like you are (you're only seeing the same ~12 cars in your proximity), they're already gone.
If you live in the suburbs they probably are underused though. I don't have a dog in the fight of suburban living, if suburban residents want to have 4 lane each way mega roads (and the perpetual trickle of kids and old people being killed crossing them) that is their prerogative.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1d ago
Do you live in LA/surrounding area?
The culture of "we don't let people in, so if you want to change lanes don't signal so you can swerve in an take them by suprise so they don't defend their lane" is one of the most ridiculous cultural own-goals this side of sub-saharan Africa.
Only Americans could design their society around cars and then get mad at each other for having the audacity to... drive cars nearby.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1d ago
Few things scare me more than a bike whizzing out of my blindspot and across (or near) the path of my vehicle
Do we think bike lanes may help with lane interactions by giving them a separated containment zone?
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1d ago
Do we think bike lanes may help with predictability by giving them a separated containment zone?
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1d ago
Sorry I should have been more clear. I think that having things like "Bayesian reasoning" and "try to seek the truth, if you're wrong, adjust your understanding of the world" and "attempt to anchor your thoughts and arguments in real and truthful facts" are all great things to do. I think they make people make smarter decisions and be correct more often.
I don't think they're a silver bullet, and none of them will make you right when you're wrong. You can also justify stupid shit by dressing it up in smart language.
But I think people who incorporate such ideals/heuristics into their life critically think more, and thus it is useful. It's just that rationalists seem to lean into it a bit much (not "pay lip service but don't do it"). They, like most people, still overvalue their beliefs, see: the perpetual meltdown over p(doom).
Why not? People are not that bad at coming up with heuristics that work for them. They have their limit's, of course, and offer no way of resolving disagreements, but it's really not a bad way of looking for the truth.
I don't think you're trolling me (although if you are, bravo) but are you serious? You will struggle to be right about anything if all your evidence is just you noticing things that confirm your biases and ignoring things that show you may be wrong (or at least not right).
This is a first for me though. I've never seen someone say out loud "anecdotes and confirmation bias is fine, actually"
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1d ago
No one could ever comprehend the struggles of the American life
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1d ago
While I don't disagree, I'm not sure if naked reliance on anecdotes and confirmation bias is much better.
At least """rationalists""" (I really can't type this with a straight face) pay lip service to Bayes, updating their opinions in the face of truth, etc.
While they're still human, that at least forces one to think about their thinking occasionally.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1d ago
I don't really see the issue with having a short list of "countries worth defending"
My list is incredibly short, and it's getting shorter as western nations/political elites signal clearly that their values and mine are becoming more and more at odds
Basically every historical country isn't worth defending as of 2025, because human society and norms have changed since then, and now they'd be outdated.
If I lived in the 1800s, I'd like the countries around then, and shit on the countries from 1600 for being backwards idiots. But I don't live in the 1800s so instead I look down on them for being backwards idiots. I imagine the people of 2200 will feel that way about us.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1d ago
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yes, more for the habit, also 0 cost
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yes, risk/reward is so bad here (risk: permanently ruin someone's life, reward: save a miniscule fraction of your time)
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yes but only if we make speed limits actually reflect the limit (so like 125-130km/h) and then vigorously enforce above that with automated methods. I have always found it deeply ridiculous speed limits are actually speed limit + ~10-20% because now I have to think about what speed above the speed limit is below cop's threshold to do something about it. So stupid.
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yes, unless there's tons of traffic. If you are in the left lane slowing people behind you (and there's room in other lanes) you are consenting to being bullied. I just pass these idiots on the right though, not worth the negative vibes of tailgating and high-beaming people.
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now that I own a car in Toronto I have become ruthless. I let others in, and if you don't let me in and I need to get in, I am going. I don't aggro cut people off because I'm not risking my car getting smoked, but in busy cites you need to make your space.
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I try not to because it's good to have good habits and driving like an asshole is toxic to your vibes. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't.
Genuinely asking, how is that assuming the conclusion?
If Tokyo today has tons of traffic, and a quick Google says Tokyo has on average 9 million subway riders every day, then if there were not subways/trains then those 9 million people would need to get around some other way. And if the roads are already packed as you say, there definitely isn't room for them there.
I agree your solution (just have smaller cities) is actually a significantly more effective solution to traffic than anything else.
But isn't that kind of an is/ought problem (to be honest, not sure if I've used this correctly). You say: "we ought to have small cities, this will solve congestion" and that's, true, but we actually have big cities that need solutions now, and dispersing their populations isn't going to happen.
Also you'd probably need to re-align a lot of human society and economy to stop mega-cities from leveraging economies of scale and network effects to dominate smaller cities, because that keeps happening the world over basically since agriculture was invented.
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