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incoherent posted:SoCal public transit talk: The price for the valley to have nice things is in, and they expensive. My understanding is they have to present options even though the obvious answer is a more expensive heavy rail system. I swear, monorail plans are there just to troll people with Simpson's references from the past.
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Jul 25, 2019 22:04
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incoherent posted:SoCal public transit talk: The price for the valley to have nice things is in, and they expensive. I ride the subway all week. It's fine. They managed to get thru to the valley ok. Pretty quick to get from Union Station to Studio City.
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Jul 25, 2019 22:44
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incoherent posted:Still pushing this monorail nonsense when the answer was and is, subway.
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Jul 25, 2019 22:55
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The wine options on trains are such bullshit. Sell me a loving wine glass at least id pay 5 bucks just to drink in a real cup instead of a plastic shot glass. Every wine ive drank on trains has been corked to poo poo
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Jul 25, 2019 23:12
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WAR CRIME GIGOLO posted:The wine options on trains are such bullshit. Sell me a loving wine glass at least id pay 5 bucks just to drink in a real cup instead of a plastic shot glass. Amtrak gives out small plastic bottles of a decent California Cab. on the Surfliner in business class (which I use to ensure a seat). Great for sneaking into concerts via. the "Spinal Tap" method.
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Jul 25, 2019 23:31
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Cross posting this here, since some people work w/ Homeless and might know stuff about county programs.Turtlicious posted:Does anyone know anything about county health plans?
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Jul 26, 2019 00:22
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Turtlicious posted:Cross posting this here, since some people work w/ Homeless and might know stuff about county programs. Sent you a pm.
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Jul 26, 2019 00:26
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incoherent posted:SoCal public transit talk: The price for the valley to have nice things is in, and they expensive. I'm the transit organization that considers "at grade" anything other than a joke.
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Jul 26, 2019 02:23
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Turtlicious posted:Cross posting this here, since some people work w/ Homeless and might know stuff about county programs. Counties are required to make medi-cal eligibility determinations in 45 days from the time they receive an application. But Alameda County is notoriously slow and it wouldn't surprise me if they frequently fail to meet that deadline. You can find contact info for the Department of Health Care Services Ombudsman or State Fair Hearings Division to file an appeal at dhcs.ca.gov and tell them the county has not made a determination in a timely manner, and also tell them you have ongoing chronic conditions that require continuous coverage. That should light a fire under them hopefully. Sorry I'm phone posting or I'd find the direct numbers for you.
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Jul 26, 2019 04:41
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incoherent posted:SoCal public transit talk: The price for the valley to have nice things is in, and they expensive. Its like the US is a garbage country rigged against public infrastructure or something. https://www.businessinsider.com/china-bullet-train-speed-map-photos-tour-2018-5 quote:Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez included high-speed rail in her Green New Deal. After riding China's superfast bullet train that could go from New York to Chicago in 4.5 hours, it's clear how far behind the US really is Fast rail: watch 1,500 Chinese workers build train station track in 9 hours https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2130749/fast-rail-watch-1500-chinese-workers-build-train-station-track-9
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Jul 26, 2019 06:24
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FRINGE posted:Its like the US is a garbage country rigged against public infrastructure or something. America is too big! We could never build something that large! The only time we did that was when we built the highway system! We also seem to have no trouble building pipelines that long! Didn't we also lay fiber optics from NY to Chicago for high speed traders?! All the exceptions aside, it is impossible!
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Jul 26, 2019 14:41
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FRINGE posted:Its like the US is a garbage country rigged against public infrastructure or something.
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Jul 26, 2019 15:39
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China can do that poo poo in that timeframe because of those reasons. Turns out you can go very quickly when you just work your laborers to death and bury them in the Wall, so to speak.
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Jul 26, 2019 15:53
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Everybody has a host of good, intuitive reasons why the US can't build stuff as quickly and cheaply as China: preexisting structure, better labor and environmental law, stricter property regulations, and so on. The real question is: why can't the US build stuff as well as France? Continental Europe in general has much lower costs than the States. Corruption is a big factor here but of course there's lots of other stuff going on. Alon Levy is probably the best person to read on this topic. Here's an article of his on urban rail expenses in the United States compared to continental Europe. A quick fix is, of course, massive, punitive congestion pricing which allows buses to perform much more effectively. (Mostly kidding... mostly.)
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Jul 26, 2019 16:09
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Corruption, lowest bidder laws that force public works projects into the hands of grifters who bid below cost then shirk anything resembling quality work and cause delays and do-overs, Car and oil lobbies being extraordinarily powerful and doing everything they can to convince legislators that self-driving cars/EV's/hyperloop/etc will be better/faster/more futuristic than a boring old train, the years upon years of delays that will result from the countless lawsuits filed by morons who think their property that has to be purchased to make room for the rail is worth 5x what the government appraised it at, or just flat out don't want to sell regardless of price, the list goes on. I also think there's a cultural issue: the US has massive preexisting highway infrastructure and most people who don't live smack in the middle of a downtown area own cars, and there's a mindset of owning a car = freedom, maturity, independence that is hard to sway people from.
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Jul 26, 2019 16:25
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Commuting in Paris made me realize what a complete joke the majority of U.S. infrastructure is. My wife and I spent 10 days in Paris and got around the entire city, as well as a quick trip to Giverny and Versailles, all by subway or train.
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Jul 26, 2019 16:50
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Yeah I spent three weeks in Europe a few years ago (week in Italy, week in Austria, week in Copenhagen) and never had to touch a car or even taxi once. The train infrastructure there is just on a completely different level.
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Jul 26, 2019 16:53
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Yeah, I lived in England for several years and getting to London was two hours by train each way (it helped I was in Manchester so I was within walking distance of the country's main rail lines). The Limeys love complaining about how terrible their trains are but honestly as an American I never had an issue with them.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:03
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Vincent Van Goatse posted:Yeah, I lived in England for several years and getting to London was two hours by train each way. The Limeys love complaining about how terrible their trains are but honestly as an American I never had an issue with them. Two hours from England to London is pretty loving slow, ask a limey
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Jul 26, 2019 17:05
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fickle poofterist posted:Two hours from England to London is pretty loving slow, ask a limey Hence my edit.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:07
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Vincent Van Goatse posted:Hence my edit. Well that is actually an extremely reasonable train ride. I bet it is a busy route too so you can actually catch a train at multiple times per day. To be fair, What I mean to say is that English people have a messed up idea of what a long distance is. lilbeefer fucked around with this message at 17:18 on Jul 26, 2019 |
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Jul 26, 2019 17:11
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re: Trains, why the hell is it that a train ticket is outrageously expensive? It costs as much to go by train from LA to San Francisco as it does to fly, and it cost more to take the train to Seattle than a flight. Isn't the whole point of trains efficiency? I have to assume it's corruption and guaranteed profits from 40-75 year old government contracts, but it's hard to tell.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:21
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fickle poofterist posted:Well that is actually an extremely reasonable train ride. I bet it is a busy route too so you can actually catch a train at multiple times per day. I had a fun chat with some English dude I met because he was incredulous that I had a mutal break up with an ex because I moved to the opposite end of California from her. He was wondering why I didn't just drive down to see her.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:27
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lol jesus christ I just looked it up and it's like a 12 hour loving train ride from LA to SF are you kidding me. I could drive that distance faster, while hitting pockets of traffic. How loving slow does Amtrak go?
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Jul 26, 2019 17:31
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Telsa Cola posted:I had a fun chat with some English dude I met because he was incredulous that I had a mutal break up with an ex because I moved to the opposite end of California from her. He was wondering why I didn't just drive down to see her. My brit family called me after 911 asking if i had been evacuated due to the smoke I live in cali
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Jul 26, 2019 17:32
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Telsa Cola posted:I had a fun chat with some English dude I met because he was incredulous that I had a mutal break up with an ex because I moved to the opposite end of California from her. He was wondering why I didn't just drive down to see her. I had a job some years back with an import/export company in San Francisco. Some folks from England arrived for next-day meetings and had plans to pop down to LA for some shopping that very evening.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:33
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fickle poofterist posted:Two hours from England to London is pretty loving slow, ask a limey That's a completely common commute by car in LA.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:33
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Telsa Cola posted:I had a fun chat with some English dude I met because he was incredulous that I had a mutal break up with an ex because I moved to the opposite end of California from her. He was wondering why I didn't just drive down to see her. Exactly! Infinite Karma posted:re: Trains, why the hell is it that a train ticket is outrageously expensive? It costs as much to go by train from LA to San Francisco as it does to fly, and it cost more to take the train to Seattle than a flight. Isn't the whole point of trains efficiency? Economy of scale and the fact planes are super efficient. I would much rather ride a comfy train then a comfy plane, but it will never happen unless trains become more efficient, service as many routes as planes and serve them as quickly as planes. A packed widebody plane travelling intercontinentally has a ridiculous p/pax effiency of close to an economy car
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Jul 26, 2019 17:37
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Sydin posted:lol jesus christ I just looked it up and it's like a 12 hour loving train ride from LA to SF are you kidding me. Quite slow. There's a grade between SLO and Paso Robles that takes an hour because of all the tight turns, when the drive time is half that. The stretch between Gaviota and Guadalupe is gorgeous coastline that you can't easily see any other way, but is also pretty slow. Both Coast Starlight trains tend to hit SLO at the same time, which can lead to delays because our station doesn't have a way to reach the far platform when the near platform already has a train in it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUAng_1Fe9I But you can bring your own wine and get sauced while reading a book, so it's a land of contrasts.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:42
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Coast Starlight is a drinking train, not a commuter train. E: Capital Corridor is the train I used to ride and it took about 45 minutes longer than driving would but it was way nicer to have a 2.25 hour train commute than a 1.5 hour driving one. Admiral Ray fucked around with this message at 17:48 on Jul 26, 2019 |
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Jul 26, 2019 17:45
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Sydin posted:lol jesus christ I just looked it up and it's like a 12 hour loving train ride from LA to SF are you kidding me. If you were to drive the same route the train takes, it would be even longer than that. But yes, if you took the 5 it would be 3-4 hours faster, and also you'll want to die for long stretches.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:46
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e. ^Back when I had to regularly drive down from the bay to Santa Clarita I'd always take 101. 1-2 hour longer drive on average but the view is nicer, the weather is milder, and you don't hit that stretch by the industrial-scale cow processing field that makes the interior of your car reek like poo poo for the next hour. Don't get me wrong if I was a tourist getting smashed while looking at beautiful coastline for 12 hours would be right up my alley. Not really viable for commuting or other non-vacation travel though unfortunately. Telsa Cola posted:I had a fun chat with some English dude I met because he was incredulous that I had a mutal break up with an ex because I moved to the opposite end of California from her. He was wondering why I didn't just drive down to see her. My roommate had an ex who at the time they were dating got an internship at Disney Land, and they were trying pretty hard to keep it together despite him being up in the Bay. It also turns out Disney pays interns poo poo (what a shock) and my roommate was out of work, so the only method they could afford to see one another was taking turns Greyhounding back and forth. 8-10 hours each way, poo poo just seemed miserable. Sydin fucked around with this message at 17:51 on Jul 26, 2019 |
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Jul 26, 2019 17:48
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You can get from SF to LA on Greyhound for like $50 I think. It also takes 11-12 hours tho, and that 11-12 hours on Greyhound is far less pleasant than the 12 hours on Amtrack.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:51
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Sydin posted:lol jesus christ I just looked it up and it's like a 12 hour loving train ride from LA to SF are you kidding me. (I'm exempting the Coast Starlight that goes along the coasts from LA to Seattle because the route is picturesque but snaking and not designed for expediency). So basically you go to Union Station in DTLA and take a loving bus to Bakersfield (2.5 hour trip, roughly). At Bakersfield you pick up the San Joaquin line and then you're on a train to San Francisco. Oh and there's right of way issues too so you're stopping for freight every now and then. Enjoy the trip! withak posted:that 11-12 hours on Greyhound is far less pleasant than the 12 hours on Amtrack. I did that journey on Greyhound and the way down was so terrible that I took an hour long bath when I got home. Just terrible in every way. I did see some super jacked Triple H looking guy waiting for the bus in L.A. so that was cool. FilthyImp fucked around with this message at 17:59 on Jul 26, 2019 |
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Jul 26, 2019 17:55
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FilthyImp posted:I did see some super jacked Triple H looking guy waiting for the bus in L.A. so that was cool. There's also some services that are selling sleeper bus routes up to SF
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Jul 26, 2019 18:05
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My favorite spot on the Pacific Surfliner / Coast Starlight route is just south of Guadalupe, where the northbound train has to hop over to a siding to let the southbound train pass. This is accomplished by stopping the train and having a conductor get out and manually switch the track, then switch the track back after the train is on the siding. Then the conductor has to walk to the other end of the siding, wait for the southbound train to pass, and manually switch that track. Finally, the conductor has to wait for the train to clear the siding completely, switch the track again, and catch back up to the train. Efficient! Nationalize the rails, is what I'm saying. loving Union Pacific.
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Jul 26, 2019 18:06
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FilthyImp posted:There is, no joke, not a continuous train line from SF to LA. ...
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Jul 26, 2019 18:08
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Also electric and gas companies. And ISP's. And healthcare. Hell, just nationalize everything.
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Jul 26, 2019 18:10
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FilthyImp posted:There is, no joke, not a continuous train line from SF to LA. Of course instead of wasting $$$ on planning an HSR route that goes from places that no one cares about we could have invested $$$ in fixing the issues with Starlight. Not to say that corruption was an issue with these decisions, but yeah it was corruption (Feinstein's' husband, etc.) Starlight goes to places people want to go to and it hits San Jose and Oakland. Even a modest 100mph average (eliminate at-grade crossing, roadbed, and rail improvements) would get people out of aircraft because LAX airport (and San Diego) is hell. And yes, I've taken the Starlight.
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Jul 26, 2019 18:12
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You know there's way more people along the planned HSR route than on the LA-to-SF Coast Starlight route, right?
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Jul 26, 2019 18:22
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