Rabbit Season! Duck Season! [Chat] Season!

Thomamelas

Gooey wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

light rail rant because i am thinking about it now:

houston built a light rail system a number of years ago. the line bisects downtown, running from just on the north side of downtown to a little south of the city. basically, it connects the two U of H campuses, which oddly enough the president of U of H was on the board that decided where to build the light rail. What a coincidence!

Anyway, the train runs on the street level, on regular streets with cars. When they designed the rail they decided to use these state-of-the-art cars that are super quiet, since the train runs through some neighborhoods. One problem - quiet trains means peope can't hear them when they need to! And since it is on street level, the train had huge problems hitting motorists and pedestrians. Unfortunately some people were killed IIRC. Anyway, the solution? Put this obnoxious screeching bell on the train. So now it is no longer silent and is ten times worse than if they had gone with a normal train that makes noise.

Not to mention the fact that the train isn't like a subway where you de facto have to buy a ticket due to the gates. There are no gates. You're supposed to buy a ticket, but no one does. Why would you? They don't check for tickets and there's nothing that prevents you from getting on the train without one.

Did I mention that the train runs on the street? Since the train bisects downtown north/south, it is a traffic nightmare. It constantly snarls up traffic in downtown. I regularly wait 5 minutes at a light for the train to go by on my way home from work. It is terrible!

And now they want to put in a second line, running east/west through downtown, also on street level, that crosses the north/south train. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG HERE? Not to mention the fact that it's going to double the traffic problem created by the first train, as you'll have trains waiting for other trains, and cars stopped waiting on those trains.

Houston is a very large city by area. Insanely large. You can drive for an hour on the highway and still be in "Houston". Right now Houston has a pretty expansive commuter bus system that utilizes the HOV lanes on the highways, but even then when the busses get downtown they still create traffic. And even though they are in the HOV lane they can still get backed up with traffic on the highways. Not to mention the fact that the operating costs (fuel, drivers, maintenance) must be insane.

What Houston needs to do is take that money they're using building the light rail and make a real proper commuter rail out to the suburbs. Ditch the busses that create more traffic, lower your operating costs, fit more people on each load, deliver more consistent service. There are even a few derelict buildings on the outskirts of downtown that could be knocked down and turned into a rail station!

Agreed! I don't think Houston has ever planned well IRT transportation. It is fairly obvious given the labyrinth one must navigate to get around. :P

they are talking about building a commuter rail out to missouri city (southwest down highway 90) in 2020

missouri city???

just nut up and run a rail out to the woodlands or katy or galveston. it cannot possibly fail. you can't tell me that anyone would rather ride a bus than a train

i mean, just think about it. free public wifi! you can get on the train and work or watch cat videos all the way to the office and not have to worry about a damn thing

The only thing that should be built in the Woodlands is a nuke. Which should be promptly detonated.

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud

Thomamelas wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

light rail rant because i am thinking about it now:

houston built a light rail system a number of years ago. the line bisects downtown, running from just on the north side of downtown to a little south of the city. basically, it connects the two U of H campuses, which oddly enough the president of U of H was on the board that decided where to build the light rail. What a coincidence!

Anyway, the train runs on the street level, on regular streets with cars. When they designed the rail they decided to use these state-of-the-art cars that are super quiet, since the train runs through some neighborhoods. One problem - quiet trains means peope can't hear them when they need to! And since it is on street level, the train had huge problems hitting motorists and pedestrians. Unfortunately some people were killed IIRC. Anyway, the solution? Put this obnoxious screeching bell on the train. So now it is no longer silent and is ten times worse than if they had gone with a normal train that makes noise.

Not to mention the fact that the train isn't like a subway where you de facto have to buy a ticket due to the gates. There are no gates. You're supposed to buy a ticket, but no one does. Why would you? They don't check for tickets and there's nothing that prevents you from getting on the train without one.

Did I mention that the train runs on the street? Since the train bisects downtown north/south, it is a traffic nightmare. It constantly snarls up traffic in downtown. I regularly wait 5 minutes at a light for the train to go by on my way home from work. It is terrible!

And now they want to put in a second line, running east/west through downtown, also on street level, that crosses the north/south train. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG HERE? Not to mention the fact that it's going to double the traffic problem created by the first train, as you'll have trains waiting for other trains, and cars stopped waiting on those trains.

Houston is a very large city by area. Insanely large. You can drive for an hour on the highway and still be in "Houston". Right now Houston has a pretty expansive commuter bus system that utilizes the HOV lanes on the highways, but even then when the busses get downtown they still create traffic. And even though they are in the HOV lane they can still get backed up with traffic on the highways. Not to mention the fact that the operating costs (fuel, drivers, maintenance) must be insane.

What Houston needs to do is take that money they're using building the light rail and make a real proper commuter rail out to the suburbs. Ditch the busses that create more traffic, lower your operating costs, fit more people on each load, deliver more consistent service. There are even a few derelict buildings on the outskirts of downtown that could be knocked down and turned into a rail station!

Agreed! I don't think Houston has ever planned well IRT transportation. It is fairly obvious given the labyrinth one must navigate to get around. :P

Houston had a weird growth pattern. The first thing you need to understand is that Texas politicians get lynched if they propose a tax increase. But Houston has roads to pay for. So the city needed a way to pay for things like roads. So instead of raising taxes, the annexed areas around the city to increase the tax base. But you have to pay for those roads, so they grabbed a bit more...

Hehehe.

Sarksus

I can practically smell the meth when I read 'Missouri City'

skippydumptruck

spool32 wrote: »

I mean, we got the whole language method from one of these revolutions in teaching, and now people can't spell or sound out words.

I think I had phonics when I was growing up?

I dunno I am a poor speller

but luckily there are robots now who fix my errors

Casual

spool32 wrote: »

Casual wrote: »

one day we're going to wise up to the fact our current education systems and teaching methods are lousy and persist only because the political will to change them doesn't exist

i have not met one single seacher who thinks schools are good the way they are, not one

opinions range from, "they're kind of shitty but it's the best we can do with what we have" to "nuke it from orbit and start again"

I guess the problem is that if you just wipe the slate clean and start over with a brand new (top-down, union influenced, political) system, you have no idea if it'll end up being far worse.

I mean, we got the whole language method from one of these revolutions in teaching, and now people can't spell or sound out words.

that is a really bad excuse to persist with something we know to be deeply flawed

Zephiran

AManFromEarth wrote: »

I have never had a cat who hated me. Or who pooped anywhere they weren't supposed to once htey left the Kitten-Who-Isn't-Litter-Trained stage.

Did I ever tell chat about the cat my friend had?

That would come in during the winters solely so it could poop on a warm floor, and then go back out again?

Hamurabi

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Thomamelas wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

light rail rant because i am thinking about it now:

houston built a light rail system a number of years ago. the line bisects downtown, running from just on the north side of downtown to a little south of the city. basically, it connects the two U of H campuses, which oddly enough the president of U of H was on the board that decided where to build the light rail. What a coincidence!

Anyway, the train runs on the street level, on regular streets with cars. When they designed the rail they decided to use these state-of-the-art cars that are super quiet, since the train runs through some neighborhoods. One problem - quiet trains means peope can't hear them when they need to! And since it is on street level, the train had huge problems hitting motorists and pedestrians. Unfortunately some people were killed IIRC. Anyway, the solution? Put this obnoxious screeching bell on the train. So now it is no longer silent and is ten times worse than if they had gone with a normal train that makes noise.

Not to mention the fact that the train isn't like a subway where you de facto have to buy a ticket due to the gates. There are no gates. You're supposed to buy a ticket, but no one does. Why would you? They don't check for tickets and there's nothing that prevents you from getting on the train without one.

Did I mention that the train runs on the street? Since the train bisects downtown north/south, it is a traffic nightmare. It constantly snarls up traffic in downtown. I regularly wait 5 minutes at a light for the train to go by on my way home from work. It is terrible!

And now they want to put in a second line, running east/west through downtown, also on street level, that crosses the north/south train. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG HERE? Not to mention the fact that it's going to double the traffic problem created by the first train, as you'll have trains waiting for other trains, and cars stopped waiting on those trains.

Houston is a very large city by area. Insanely large. You can drive for an hour on the highway and still be in "Houston". Right now Houston has a pretty expansive commuter bus system that utilizes the HOV lanes on the highways, but even then when the busses get downtown they still create traffic. And even though they are in the HOV lane they can still get backed up with traffic on the highways. Not to mention the fact that the operating costs (fuel, drivers, maintenance) must be insane.

What Houston needs to do is take that money they're using building the light rail and make a real proper commuter rail out to the suburbs. Ditch the busses that create more traffic, lower your operating costs, fit more people on each load, deliver more consistent service. There are even a few derelict buildings on the outskirts of downtown that could be knocked down and turned into a rail station!

Agreed! I don't think Houston has ever planned well IRT transportation. It is fairly obvious given the labyrinth one must navigate to get around. :P

Houston had a weird growth pattern. The first thing you need to understand is that Texas politicians get lynched if they propose a tax increase. But Houston has roads to pay for. So the city needed a way to pay for things like roads. So instead of raising taxes, the annexed areas around the city to increase the tax base. But you have to pay for those roads, so they grabbed a bit more...

Hehehe.

There're DNC operatives who have their eyes on Texas.

Mostly because of the booming Hispanic population.

ronya

nobody's interested in my freakish contour plot

Casual

i have a really hard time believing we couldn't pull a bunch of scientists/expers/teaching professionals together, throw some funding at them and have them come up with a system far better than this bloated, flawed machine that grew organicly from nothing

Hamurabi

ronya wrote: »

nobody's interested in my freakish contour plot

A contour plot killed my father.

ronya

GUYS

GUYS

I JUST PLOTTED THE OTHER PAIR OF THE BIVARIATE

AND IT LANDS RIGHT ON -0.2

WHICH IS WHERE I PREDICTED IT

Solomaxwell6

Hamurabi wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Thomamelas wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

light rail rant because i am thinking about it now:

houston built a light rail system a number of years ago. the line bisects downtown, running from just on the north side of downtown to a little south of the city. basically, it connects the two U of H campuses, which oddly enough the president of U of H was on the board that decided where to build the light rail. What a coincidence!

Anyway, the train runs on the street level, on regular streets with cars. When they designed the rail they decided to use these state-of-the-art cars that are super quiet, since the train runs through some neighborhoods. One problem - quiet trains means peope can't hear them when they need to! And since it is on street level, the train had huge problems hitting motorists and pedestrians. Unfortunately some people were killed IIRC. Anyway, the solution? Put this obnoxious screeching bell on the train. So now it is no longer silent and is ten times worse than if they had gone with a normal train that makes noise.

Not to mention the fact that the train isn't like a subway where you de facto have to buy a ticket due to the gates. There are no gates. You're supposed to buy a ticket, but no one does. Why would you? They don't check for tickets and there's nothing that prevents you from getting on the train without one.

Did I mention that the train runs on the street? Since the train bisects downtown north/south, it is a traffic nightmare. It constantly snarls up traffic in downtown. I regularly wait 5 minutes at a light for the train to go by on my way home from work. It is terrible!

And now they want to put in a second line, running east/west through downtown, also on street level, that crosses the north/south train. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG HERE? Not to mention the fact that it's going to double the traffic problem created by the first train, as you'll have trains waiting for other trains, and cars stopped waiting on those trains.

Houston is a very large city by area. Insanely large. You can drive for an hour on the highway and still be in "Houston". Right now Houston has a pretty expansive commuter bus system that utilizes the HOV lanes on the highways, but even then when the busses get downtown they still create traffic. And even though they are in the HOV lane they can still get backed up with traffic on the highways. Not to mention the fact that the operating costs (fuel, drivers, maintenance) must be insane.

What Houston needs to do is take that money they're using building the light rail and make a real proper commuter rail out to the suburbs. Ditch the busses that create more traffic, lower your operating costs, fit more people on each load, deliver more consistent service. There are even a few derelict buildings on the outskirts of downtown that could be knocked down and turned into a rail station!

Agreed! I don't think Houston has ever planned well IRT transportation. It is fairly obvious given the labyrinth one must navigate to get around. :P

Houston had a weird growth pattern. The first thing you need to understand is that Texas politicians get lynched if they propose a tax increase. But Houston has roads to pay for. So the city needed a way to pay for things like roads. So instead of raising taxes, the annexed areas around the city to increase the tax base. But you have to pay for those roads, so they grabbed a bit more...

Hehehe.

There're DNC operatives who have their eyes on Texas.

Mostly because of the booming Hispanic population.

It's going to be great when Texas turns blue and the nation becomes Democratic forever and the Republican party dies and we become a social democracy paradise.

spool32

Gooey wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

light rail rant because i am thinking about it now:

houston built a light rail system a number of years ago. the line bisects downtown, running from just on the north side of downtown to a little south of the city. basically, it connects the two U of H campuses, which oddly enough the president of U of H was on the board that decided where to build the light rail. What a coincidence!

Anyway, the train runs on the street level, on regular streets with cars. When they designed the rail they decided to use these state-of-the-art cars that are super quiet, since the train runs through some neighborhoods. One problem - quiet trains means peope can't hear them when they need to! And since it is on street level, the train had huge problems hitting motorists and pedestrians. Unfortunately some people were killed IIRC. Anyway, the solution? Put this obnoxious screeching bell on the train. So now it is no longer silent and is ten times worse than if they had gone with a normal train that makes noise.

Not to mention the fact that the train isn't like a subway where you de facto have to buy a ticket due to the gates. There are no gates. You're supposed to buy a ticket, but no one does. Why would you? They don't check for tickets and there's nothing that prevents you from getting on the train without one.

Did I mention that the train runs on the street? Since the train bisects downtown north/south, it is a traffic nightmare. It constantly snarls up traffic in downtown. I regularly wait 5 minutes at a light for the train to go by on my way home from work. It is terrible!

And now they want to put in a second line, running east/west through downtown, also on street level, that crosses the north/south train. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG HERE? Not to mention the fact that it's going to double the traffic problem created by the first train, as you'll have trains waiting for other trains, and cars stopped waiting on those trains.

Houston is a very large city by area. Insanely large. You can drive for an hour on the highway and still be in "Houston". Right now Houston has a pretty expansive commuter bus system that utilizes the HOV lanes on the highways, but even then when the busses get downtown they still create traffic. And even though they are in the HOV lane they can still get backed up with traffic on the highways. Not to mention the fact that the operating costs (fuel, drivers, maintenance) must be insane.

What Houston needs to do is take that money they're using building the light rail and make a real proper commuter rail out to the suburbs. Ditch the busses that create more traffic, lower your operating costs, fit more people on each load, deliver more consistent service. There are even a few derelict buildings on the outskirts of downtown that could be knocked down and turned into a rail station!

Agreed! I don't think Houston has ever planned well IRT transportation. It is fairly obvious given the labyrinth one must navigate to get around. :P

they are talking about building a commuter rail out to missouri city (southwest down highway 90) in 2020

missouri city???

just nut up and run a rail out to the woodlands or katy or galveston. it cannot possibly fail. you can't tell me that anyone would rather ride a bus than a train

i mean, just think about it. free public wifi! you can get on the train and work or watch cat videos all the way to the office and not have to worry about a damn thing

haha trains in Katy.

Gooey, that would allow the poors to visit! It simply cannot be tolerated.

BobCesca

Home. Sleepy. Sore.

Casual

BobCesca wrote: »

Home. Sleepy. Sore.

how went it?

RMS Oceanic

Casual wrote: »

or worse still you get some fucknugget like Gove who does want to change everything


back to the way it was in 1952...

The telltale on this particular revision is reverting changing grades from letters to numbers. Just like O Levels used to. Who'da thunk?

ronya

SCIENCE, BITCHES

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud

Solomaxwell6 wrote: »

Hamurabi wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Thomamelas wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

light rail rant because i am thinking about it now:

houston built a light rail system a number of years ago. the line bisects downtown, running from just on the north side of downtown to a little south of the city. basically, it connects the two U of H campuses, which oddly enough the president of U of H was on the board that decided where to build the light rail. What a coincidence!

Anyway, the train runs on the street level, on regular streets with cars. When they designed the rail they decided to use these state-of-the-art cars that are super quiet, since the train runs through some neighborhoods. One problem - quiet trains means peope can't hear them when they need to! And since it is on street level, the train had huge problems hitting motorists and pedestrians. Unfortunately some people were killed IIRC. Anyway, the solution? Put this obnoxious screeching bell on the train. So now it is no longer silent and is ten times worse than if they had gone with a normal train that makes noise.

Not to mention the fact that the train isn't like a subway where you de facto have to buy a ticket due to the gates. There are no gates. You're supposed to buy a ticket, but no one does. Why would you? They don't check for tickets and there's nothing that prevents you from getting on the train without one.

Did I mention that the train runs on the street? Since the train bisects downtown north/south, it is a traffic nightmare. It constantly snarls up traffic in downtown. I regularly wait 5 minutes at a light for the train to go by on my way home from work. It is terrible!

And now they want to put in a second line, running east/west through downtown, also on street level, that crosses the north/south train. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG HERE? Not to mention the fact that it's going to double the traffic problem created by the first train, as you'll have trains waiting for other trains, and cars stopped waiting on those trains.

Houston is a very large city by area. Insanely large. You can drive for an hour on the highway and still be in "Houston". Right now Houston has a pretty expansive commuter bus system that utilizes the HOV lanes on the highways, but even then when the busses get downtown they still create traffic. And even though they are in the HOV lane they can still get backed up with traffic on the highways. Not to mention the fact that the operating costs (fuel, drivers, maintenance) must be insane.

What Houston needs to do is take that money they're using building the light rail and make a real proper commuter rail out to the suburbs. Ditch the busses that create more traffic, lower your operating costs, fit more people on each load, deliver more consistent service. There are even a few derelict buildings on the outskirts of downtown that could be knocked down and turned into a rail station!

Agreed! I don't think Houston has ever planned well IRT transportation. It is fairly obvious given the labyrinth one must navigate to get around. :P

Houston had a weird growth pattern. The first thing you need to understand is that Texas politicians get lynched if they propose a tax increase. But Houston has roads to pay for. So the city needed a way to pay for things like roads. So instead of raising taxes, the annexed areas around the city to increase the tax base. But you have to pay for those roads, so they grabbed a bit more...

Hehehe.

There're DNC operatives who have their eyes on Texas.

Mostly because of the booming Hispanic population.

It's going to be great when Texas turns blue and the nation becomes Democratic forever and the Republican party dies and we become a social democracy paradise.

Us regular immigrants are also purpling the state over time.

Antinumeric

Casual wrote: »

i have a really hard time believing we couldn't pull a bunch of scientists/expers/teaching professionals together, throw some funding at them and have them come up with a system far better than this bloated, flawed machine that grew organicly from nothing

Step 1. Copy finland.

Step 2. there is no step you you have already done it.

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud

spool32 wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

light rail rant because i am thinking about it now:

houston built a light rail system a number of years ago. the line bisects downtown, running from just on the north side of downtown to a little south of the city. basically, it connects the two U of H campuses, which oddly enough the president of U of H was on the board that decided where to build the light rail. What a coincidence!

Anyway, the train runs on the street level, on regular streets with cars. When they designed the rail they decided to use these state-of-the-art cars that are super quiet, since the train runs through some neighborhoods. One problem - quiet trains means peope can't hear them when they need to! And since it is on street level, the train had huge problems hitting motorists and pedestrians. Unfortunately some people were killed IIRC. Anyway, the solution? Put this obnoxious screeching bell on the train. So now it is no longer silent and is ten times worse than if they had gone with a normal train that makes noise.

Not to mention the fact that the train isn't like a subway where you de facto have to buy a ticket due to the gates. There are no gates. You're supposed to buy a ticket, but no one does. Why would you? They don't check for tickets and there's nothing that prevents you from getting on the train without one.

Did I mention that the train runs on the street? Since the train bisects downtown north/south, it is a traffic nightmare. It constantly snarls up traffic in downtown. I regularly wait 5 minutes at a light for the train to go by on my way home from work. It is terrible!

And now they want to put in a second line, running east/west through downtown, also on street level, that crosses the north/south train. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG HERE? Not to mention the fact that it's going to double the traffic problem created by the first train, as you'll have trains waiting for other trains, and cars stopped waiting on those trains.

Houston is a very large city by area. Insanely large. You can drive for an hour on the highway and still be in "Houston". Right now Houston has a pretty expansive commuter bus system that utilizes the HOV lanes on the highways, but even then when the busses get downtown they still create traffic. And even though they are in the HOV lane they can still get backed up with traffic on the highways. Not to mention the fact that the operating costs (fuel, drivers, maintenance) must be insane.

What Houston needs to do is take that money they're using building the light rail and make a real proper commuter rail out to the suburbs. Ditch the busses that create more traffic, lower your operating costs, fit more people on each load, deliver more consistent service. There are even a few derelict buildings on the outskirts of downtown that could be knocked down and turned into a rail station!

Agreed! I don't think Houston has ever planned well IRT transportation. It is fairly obvious given the labyrinth one must navigate to get around. :P

they are talking about building a commuter rail out to missouri city (southwest down highway 90) in 2020

missouri city???

just nut up and run a rail out to the woodlands or katy or galveston. it cannot possibly fail. you can't tell me that anyone would rather ride a bus than a train

i mean, just think about it. free public wifi! you can get on the train and work or watch cat videos all the way to the office and not have to worry about a damn thing

haha trains in Katy.

Gooey, that would allow the poors to visit! It simply cannot be tolerated.

A train from Galvy to Houston would be aweeeesome.

RMS Oceanic

Geth is wise to Gove's view that everything was better in an idealised form of the 1950's that probably didn't exist.

Hamurabi

Funna make my patented Egg & Crushed Red Pepper & Cheese & Ketchup Sandwiches™. They turned out much better -- so, like they used to -- when I used unsalted butter last time, instead of that Smart Balance stuff.

Of course, I think that's obviously attributable to conducive weather patterns and nothing else.

skippydumptruck

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Us regular immigrants are also purpling the state over time.

we went out to lunch on mother's day and a big family sitting next to us was having a conversation about how people should stop moving to austin and newcomers are ruining it

I was kinda surprised by how offended I was

Hamurabi

Solomaxwell6 wrote: »

Hamurabi wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Thomamelas wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

light rail rant because i am thinking about it now:

houston built a light rail system a number of years ago. the line bisects downtown, running from just on the north side of downtown to a little south of the city. basically, it connects the two U of H campuses, which oddly enough the president of U of H was on the board that decided where to build the light rail. What a coincidence!

Anyway, the train runs on the street level, on regular streets with cars. When they designed the rail they decided to use these state-of-the-art cars that are super quiet, since the train runs through some neighborhoods. One problem - quiet trains means peope can't hear them when they need to! And since it is on street level, the train had huge problems hitting motorists and pedestrians. Unfortunately some people were killed IIRC. Anyway, the solution? Put this obnoxious screeching bell on the train. So now it is no longer silent and is ten times worse than if they had gone with a normal train that makes noise.

Not to mention the fact that the train isn't like a subway where you de facto have to buy a ticket due to the gates. There are no gates. You're supposed to buy a ticket, but no one does. Why would you? They don't check for tickets and there's nothing that prevents you from getting on the train without one.

Did I mention that the train runs on the street? Since the train bisects downtown north/south, it is a traffic nightmare. It constantly snarls up traffic in downtown. I regularly wait 5 minutes at a light for the train to go by on my way home from work. It is terrible!

And now they want to put in a second line, running east/west through downtown, also on street level, that crosses the north/south train. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG HERE? Not to mention the fact that it's going to double the traffic problem created by the first train, as you'll have trains waiting for other trains, and cars stopped waiting on those trains.

Houston is a very large city by area. Insanely large. You can drive for an hour on the highway and still be in "Houston". Right now Houston has a pretty expansive commuter bus system that utilizes the HOV lanes on the highways, but even then when the busses get downtown they still create traffic. And even though they are in the HOV lane they can still get backed up with traffic on the highways. Not to mention the fact that the operating costs (fuel, drivers, maintenance) must be insane.

What Houston needs to do is take that money they're using building the light rail and make a real proper commuter rail out to the suburbs. Ditch the busses that create more traffic, lower your operating costs, fit more people on each load, deliver more consistent service. There are even a few derelict buildings on the outskirts of downtown that could be knocked down and turned into a rail station!

Agreed! I don't think Houston has ever planned well IRT transportation. It is fairly obvious given the labyrinth one must navigate to get around. :P

Houston had a weird growth pattern. The first thing you need to understand is that Texas politicians get lynched if they propose a tax increase. But Houston has roads to pay for. So the city needed a way to pay for things like roads. So instead of raising taxes, the annexed areas around the city to increase the tax base. But you have to pay for those roads, so they grabbed a bit more...

Hehehe.

There're DNC operatives who have their eyes on Texas.

Mostly because of the booming Hispanic population.

It's going to be great when Texas turns blue and the nation becomes Democratic forever and the Republican party dies and we become a social democracy paradise.

Gee Aaron Sorkin I didn't realize you played video-games.

skippydumptruck

I want a train from austin to houston because I visit friends there regularly and I would rather not drive I would rather drink beer

AManFromEarth

Solomaxwell6 wrote: »

Hamurabi wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Thomamelas wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

light rail rant because i am thinking about it now:

houston built a light rail system a number of years ago. the line bisects downtown, running from just on the north side of downtown to a little south of the city. basically, it connects the two U of H campuses, which oddly enough the president of U of H was on the board that decided where to build the light rail. What a coincidence!

Anyway, the train runs on the street level, on regular streets with cars. When they designed the rail they decided to use these state-of-the-art cars that are super quiet, since the train runs through some neighborhoods. One problem - quiet trains means peope can't hear them when they need to! And since it is on street level, the train had huge problems hitting motorists and pedestrians. Unfortunately some people were killed IIRC. Anyway, the solution? Put this obnoxious screeching bell on the train. So now it is no longer silent and is ten times worse than if they had gone with a normal train that makes noise.

Not to mention the fact that the train isn't like a subway where you de facto have to buy a ticket due to the gates. There are no gates. You're supposed to buy a ticket, but no one does. Why would you? They don't check for tickets and there's nothing that prevents you from getting on the train without one.

Did I mention that the train runs on the street? Since the train bisects downtown north/south, it is a traffic nightmare. It constantly snarls up traffic in downtown. I regularly wait 5 minutes at a light for the train to go by on my way home from work. It is terrible!

And now they want to put in a second line, running east/west through downtown, also on street level, that crosses the north/south train. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG HERE? Not to mention the fact that it's going to double the traffic problem created by the first train, as you'll have trains waiting for other trains, and cars stopped waiting on those trains.

Houston is a very large city by area. Insanely large. You can drive for an hour on the highway and still be in "Houston". Right now Houston has a pretty expansive commuter bus system that utilizes the HOV lanes on the highways, but even then when the busses get downtown they still create traffic. And even though they are in the HOV lane they can still get backed up with traffic on the highways. Not to mention the fact that the operating costs (fuel, drivers, maintenance) must be insane.

What Houston needs to do is take that money they're using building the light rail and make a real proper commuter rail out to the suburbs. Ditch the busses that create more traffic, lower your operating costs, fit more people on each load, deliver more consistent service. There are even a few derelict buildings on the outskirts of downtown that could be knocked down and turned into a rail station!

Agreed! I don't think Houston has ever planned well IRT transportation. It is fairly obvious given the labyrinth one must navigate to get around. :P

Houston had a weird growth pattern. The first thing you need to understand is that Texas politicians get lynched if they propose a tax increase. But Houston has roads to pay for. So the city needed a way to pay for things like roads. So instead of raising taxes, the annexed areas around the city to increase the tax base. But you have to pay for those roads, so they grabbed a bit more...

Hehehe.

There're DNC operatives who have their eyes on Texas.

Mostly because of the booming Hispanic population.

It's going to be great when Texas turns blue and the nation becomes Democratic forever and the Republican party dies and we become a social democracy paradise.

Soon Spool will have nowhere to run.

One day his son will come to him and say "Daddy, what was it like before the Great Leader gave us Obamacare?" and a single tear will well in his eyes as he turns the television to local news where the Democratic Governor of Texas is giving a speech about the necessity to increase taxes to a cheering crowd.

skippydumptruck

and also a train from my house to my work, and the movie theater, and the grocery store

ronya

I could p much dump these two in my assignment and call it a day

because they're that good

Gooey

spool32 wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

light rail rant because i am thinking about it now:

houston built a light rail system a number of years ago. the line bisects downtown, running from just on the north side of downtown to a little south of the city. basically, it connects the two U of H campuses, which oddly enough the president of U of H was on the board that decided where to build the light rail. What a coincidence!

Anyway, the train runs on the street level, on regular streets with cars. When they designed the rail they decided to use these state-of-the-art cars that are super quiet, since the train runs through some neighborhoods. One problem - quiet trains means peope can't hear them when they need to! And since it is on street level, the train had huge problems hitting motorists and pedestrians. Unfortunately some people were killed IIRC. Anyway, the solution? Put this obnoxious screeching bell on the train. So now it is no longer silent and is ten times worse than if they had gone with a normal train that makes noise.

Not to mention the fact that the train isn't like a subway where you de facto have to buy a ticket due to the gates. There are no gates. You're supposed to buy a ticket, but no one does. Why would you? They don't check for tickets and there's nothing that prevents you from getting on the train without one.

Did I mention that the train runs on the street? Since the train bisects downtown north/south, it is a traffic nightmare. It constantly snarls up traffic in downtown. I regularly wait 5 minutes at a light for the train to go by on my way home from work. It is terrible!

And now they want to put in a second line, running east/west through downtown, also on street level, that crosses the north/south train. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG HERE? Not to mention the fact that it's going to double the traffic problem created by the first train, as you'll have trains waiting for other trains, and cars stopped waiting on those trains.

Houston is a very large city by area. Insanely large. You can drive for an hour on the highway and still be in "Houston". Right now Houston has a pretty expansive commuter bus system that utilizes the HOV lanes on the highways, but even then when the busses get downtown they still create traffic. And even though they are in the HOV lane they can still get backed up with traffic on the highways. Not to mention the fact that the operating costs (fuel, drivers, maintenance) must be insane.

What Houston needs to do is take that money they're using building the light rail and make a real proper commuter rail out to the suburbs. Ditch the busses that create more traffic, lower your operating costs, fit more people on each load, deliver more consistent service. There are even a few derelict buildings on the outskirts of downtown that could be knocked down and turned into a rail station!

Agreed! I don't think Houston has ever planned well IRT transportation. It is fairly obvious given the labyrinth one must navigate to get around. :P

they are talking about building a commuter rail out to missouri city (southwest down highway 90) in 2020

missouri city???

just nut up and run a rail out to the woodlands or katy or galveston. it cannot possibly fail. you can't tell me that anyone would rather ride a bus than a train

i mean, just think about it. free public wifi! you can get on the train and work or watch cat videos all the way to the office and not have to worry about a damn thing

haha trains in Katy.

Gooey, that would allow the poors to visit! It simply cannot be tolerated.

i know! that is basically the entire opposing argument

"i would rather not allow poor people to possibly maybe get to the area i live in than not spend 3 hours a day commuting to and from work"

it's insane

like, you have legions of suburbanites that think spending 10% of your life in your car commuting to/from work is normal and okay.

ronya

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA

ronya

... okay, I've got it out of my system now.

BobCesca

Casual wrote: »

BobCesca wrote: »

Home. Sleepy. Sore.

how went it?

ok. I think.

other candidates have more direct experience, so we'll see.

Gooey

Thomamelas wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

light rail rant because i am thinking about it now:

houston built a light rail system a number of years ago. the line bisects downtown, running from just on the north side of downtown to a little south of the city. basically, it connects the two U of H campuses, which oddly enough the president of U of H was on the board that decided where to build the light rail. What a coincidence!

Anyway, the train runs on the street level, on regular streets with cars. When they designed the rail they decided to use these state-of-the-art cars that are super quiet, since the train runs through some neighborhoods. One problem - quiet trains means peope can't hear them when they need to! And since it is on street level, the train had huge problems hitting motorists and pedestrians. Unfortunately some people were killed IIRC. Anyway, the solution? Put this obnoxious screeching bell on the train. So now it is no longer silent and is ten times worse than if they had gone with a normal train that makes noise.

Not to mention the fact that the train isn't like a subway where you de facto have to buy a ticket due to the gates. There are no gates. You're supposed to buy a ticket, but no one does. Why would you? They don't check for tickets and there's nothing that prevents you from getting on the train without one.

Did I mention that the train runs on the street? Since the train bisects downtown north/south, it is a traffic nightmare. It constantly snarls up traffic in downtown. I regularly wait 5 minutes at a light for the train to go by on my way home from work. It is terrible!

And now they want to put in a second line, running east/west through downtown, also on street level, that crosses the north/south train. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG HERE? Not to mention the fact that it's going to double the traffic problem created by the first train, as you'll have trains waiting for other trains, and cars stopped waiting on those trains.

Houston is a very large city by area. Insanely large. You can drive for an hour on the highway and still be in "Houston". Right now Houston has a pretty expansive commuter bus system that utilizes the HOV lanes on the highways, but even then when the busses get downtown they still create traffic. And even though they are in the HOV lane they can still get backed up with traffic on the highways. Not to mention the fact that the operating costs (fuel, drivers, maintenance) must be insane.

What Houston needs to do is take that money they're using building the light rail and make a real proper commuter rail out to the suburbs. Ditch the busses that create more traffic, lower your operating costs, fit more people on each load, deliver more consistent service. There are even a few derelict buildings on the outskirts of downtown that could be knocked down and turned into a rail station!

Agreed! I don't think Houston has ever planned well IRT transportation. It is fairly obvious given the labyrinth one must navigate to get around. :P

they are talking about building a commuter rail out to missouri city (southwest down highway 90) in 2020

missouri city???

just nut up and run a rail out to the woodlands or katy or galveston. it cannot possibly fail. you can't tell me that anyone would rather ride a bus than a train

i mean, just think about it. free public wifi! you can get on the train and work or watch cat videos all the way to the office and not have to worry about a damn thing

The only thing that should be built in the Woodlands is a nuke. Which should be promptly detonated.

i lived in spring for a while and i really liked it, tbh. very normal suburb with normal, nice people.

the woodlands is like something out of the truman show or that one movie where they didn't see color and then danced to rock and roll or something

i think spiderman was in it

Casual

Solomaxwell6 wrote: »

Hamurabi wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Thomamelas wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

light rail rant because i am thinking about it now:

houston built a light rail system a number of years ago. the line bisects downtown, running from just on the north side of downtown to a little south of the city. basically, it connects the two U of H campuses, which oddly enough the president of U of H was on the board that decided where to build the light rail. What a coincidence!

Anyway, the train runs on the street level, on regular streets with cars. When they designed the rail they decided to use these state-of-the-art cars that are super quiet, since the train runs through some neighborhoods. One problem - quiet trains means peope can't hear them when they need to! And since it is on street level, the train had huge problems hitting motorists and pedestrians. Unfortunately some people were killed IIRC. Anyway, the solution? Put this obnoxious screeching bell on the train. So now it is no longer silent and is ten times worse than if they had gone with a normal train that makes noise.

Not to mention the fact that the train isn't like a subway where you de facto have to buy a ticket due to the gates. There are no gates. You're supposed to buy a ticket, but no one does. Why would you? They don't check for tickets and there's nothing that prevents you from getting on the train without one.

Did I mention that the train runs on the street? Since the train bisects downtown north/south, it is a traffic nightmare. It constantly snarls up traffic in downtown. I regularly wait 5 minutes at a light for the train to go by on my way home from work. It is terrible!

And now they want to put in a second line, running east/west through downtown, also on street level, that crosses the north/south train. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG HERE? Not to mention the fact that it's going to double the traffic problem created by the first train, as you'll have trains waiting for other trains, and cars stopped waiting on those trains.

Houston is a very large city by area. Insanely large. You can drive for an hour on the highway and still be in "Houston". Right now Houston has a pretty expansive commuter bus system that utilizes the HOV lanes on the highways, but even then when the busses get downtown they still create traffic. And even though they are in the HOV lane they can still get backed up with traffic on the highways. Not to mention the fact that the operating costs (fuel, drivers, maintenance) must be insane.

What Houston needs to do is take that money they're using building the light rail and make a real proper commuter rail out to the suburbs. Ditch the busses that create more traffic, lower your operating costs, fit more people on each load, deliver more consistent service. There are even a few derelict buildings on the outskirts of downtown that could be knocked down and turned into a rail station!

Agreed! I don't think Houston has ever planned well IRT transportation. It is fairly obvious given the labyrinth one must navigate to get around. :P

Houston had a weird growth pattern. The first thing you need to understand is that Texas politicians get lynched if they propose a tax increase. But Houston has roads to pay for. So the city needed a way to pay for things like roads. So instead of raising taxes, the annexed areas around the city to increase the tax base. But you have to pay for those roads, so they grabbed a bit more...

Hehehe.

There're DNC operatives who have their eyes on Texas.

Mostly because of the booming Hispanic population.

It's going to be great when Texas turns blue and the nation becomes Democratic forever and the Republican party dies and we become a social democracy paradise.

When that happens the terrible people who currently go to the GOP will join the Democrats instead and they will become worse than Hitler. These things move in cycles, once upon a time it was the Republicans who were the good party.

Sir Landshark

did someone forget to walk ronya? he's bouncing off the walls here

Delmain

skippydumptruck wrote: »

TehSloth wrote: »

how's the new la computadora skippypcmasterracetruck

it is so stronk

it performs many complex calculations quickly

I could tell Sloth how good your computer is at playing League, BUT NO

Hamurabi

AManFromEarth wrote: »

Solomaxwell6 wrote: »

Hamurabi wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Thomamelas wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Gooey wrote: »

light rail rant because i am thinking about it now:

houston built a light rail system a number of years ago. the line bisects downtown, running from just on the north side of downtown to a little south of the city. basically, it connects the two U of H campuses, which oddly enough the president of U of H was on the board that decided where to build the light rail. What a coincidence!

Anyway, the train runs on the street level, on regular streets with cars. When they designed the rail they decided to use these state-of-the-art cars that are super quiet, since the train runs through some neighborhoods. One problem - quiet trains means peope can't hear them when they need to! And since it is on street level, the train had huge problems hitting motorists and pedestrians. Unfortunately some people were killed IIRC. Anyway, the solution? Put this obnoxious screeching bell on the train. So now it is no longer silent and is ten times worse than if they had gone with a normal train that makes noise.

Not to mention the fact that the train isn't like a subway where you de facto have to buy a ticket due to the gates. There are no gates. You're supposed to buy a ticket, but no one does. Why would you? They don't check for tickets and there's nothing that prevents you from getting on the train without one.

Did I mention that the train runs on the street? Since the train bisects downtown north/south, it is a traffic nightmare. It constantly snarls up traffic in downtown. I regularly wait 5 minutes at a light for the train to go by on my way home from work. It is terrible!

And now they want to put in a second line, running east/west through downtown, also on street level, that crosses the north/south train. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG HERE? Not to mention the fact that it's going to double the traffic problem created by the first train, as you'll have trains waiting for other trains, and cars stopped waiting on those trains.

Houston is a very large city by area. Insanely large. You can drive for an hour on the highway and still be in "Houston". Right now Houston has a pretty expansive commuter bus system that utilizes the HOV lanes on the highways, but even then when the busses get downtown they still create traffic. And even though they are in the HOV lane they can still get backed up with traffic on the highways. Not to mention the fact that the operating costs (fuel, drivers, maintenance) must be insane.

What Houston needs to do is take that money they're using building the light rail and make a real proper commuter rail out to the suburbs. Ditch the busses that create more traffic, lower your operating costs, fit more people on each load, deliver more consistent service. There are even a few derelict buildings on the outskirts of downtown that could be knocked down and turned into a rail station!

Agreed! I don't think Houston has ever planned well IRT transportation. It is fairly obvious given the labyrinth one must navigate to get around. :P

Houston had a weird growth pattern. The first thing you need to understand is that Texas politicians get lynched if they propose a tax increase. But Houston has roads to pay for. So the city needed a way to pay for things like roads. So instead of raising taxes, the annexed areas around the city to increase the tax base. But you have to pay for those roads, so they grabbed a bit more...

Hehehe.

There're DNC operatives who have their eyes on Texas.

Mostly because of the booming Hispanic population.

It's going to be great when Texas turns blue and the nation becomes Democratic forever and the Republican party dies and we become a social democracy paradise.

Soon Spool will have nowhere to run.

One day his son will come to him and say "Daddy, what was it like before the Great Leader gave us Obamacare?" and a single tear will well in his eyes as he turns the television to local news where the Democratic Governor of Texas the centrally-appointed World Government bureaucrat presiding over the Texas municipality of America Province is giving a speech about the necessity to increase taxes to a cheering crowd.

spool32

skippydumptruck wrote: »

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

Us regular immigrants are also purpling the state over time.

we went out to lunch on mother's day and a big family sitting next to us was having a conversation about how people should stop moving to austin and newcomers are ruining it

I was kinda surprised by how offended I was

I feel you should just go ahead and own this town, man.

You fit well here. Your family fits well here. The market is good and if I can get off my butt we might even get some climbing done.

Casual

BobCesca wrote: »

Casual wrote: »

BobCesca wrote: »

Home. Sleepy. Sore.

how went it?

ok. I think.

other candidates have more direct experience, so we'll see.

Good luck!

Casual

ronya wrote: »

... okay, I've got it out of my system now.

ronya

u so cray....