• emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works
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    19 days ago

    This chart is a good example of what happens when transport infrastructure is judged through a purely economic lens versus what happens when affordable travel is seen as a necessary feature of a civilised society. (Not to mention the jobs created and the carbon saved.)

    • theUwUhugger@lemmy.world
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      19 days ago

      I would disagree, while I do not believe that public transportation needs to be self-sustaining at all; they should be built/deployed at a capacity as its needed in order of minimizing waste

      If a train line is not profitable, its not used

      • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        19 days ago

        If a train line is not profitable, its not used

        Peak car/capitalist brain. You gonna hold roads to the same standard?

        • theUwUhugger@lemmy.world
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          19 days ago

          1 Yes, I would hold high roads as they are comperatively a more expensive investment meant for a larger volume of transportation.

          2 China is state capitalist, but for its dictatorial nature there is no accountability so there is no after effect of such a colossal fuckup

          • crunchy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            19 days ago

            Any investment or possible “profit” is lost as soon as a road needs repairs. And high-use roads need repairs waaaaay more often and are a lot more expensive than maintaining a rail system.

      • dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net
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        19 days ago

        I think you have that backward, even accepting the idea that profitability is an important metric. If a rail line is not used it is not profitable.

        • theUwUhugger@lemmy.world
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          19 days ago

          Which part of the

          I don’t think public transportation needs to be profitable at all

          is misunderstandable? I used profitibility as a metric of usage as trains, especially high speed ones meant to transport a fuck ton of people; which I also wrote down

      • emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works
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        18 days ago

        they should be built/deployed at a capacity as its needed in order of minimizing waste

        Building at capacity might not be the most efficient solution. First, towns grow. Second, China keeps costs down by standardisation (the Chinese HSR system has, if I remember correctly, 3 models of trains and two standards of track). And third, China is vulnerable to earthquakes and floods. So having alternative routes is useful.

        • theUwUhugger@lemmy.world
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          18 days ago

          The issue specifically is that there is no population centres in which these unprofitable lines run through

          And no, government don’t and should burn thousands billions; and hundreds of millions in upkeep every year because what if maybe urbanization stops and people for whatever reason move back to the countryside