inferiorhuman
5131
Karma2015-07-04
CreatedRecent Activity
Commented: "US cities pay too much for buses"
As far as I can tell the author is making a bad faith argument. SORTA's purchase was about one third diesel-electric hybrids, while RTD's was almost certainly diesel only. AFAICT the RTD buses don't have air conditioning while the SORTA buses do.The issue here appears to be: Why is SORTA's purchasing so incompetent that they are buying 17 busses for the price of 35? They are over double the price of RTD.SG vs the US? Economies of scale, simpler drivetrains (hybrid vs non), and less expensive smog equipment.
Commented: "US cities pay too much for buses"
Federal funds for transit vehicles come with an expected lifetime.
Commented: "US cities pay too much for buses"
The wikipedia entry for SORTA claims that in 2024 they took delivery of 19 buses: 7 diesel-electric hybrid and 12 diesel. They also list four more hybrid coaches on order. Presumably some or all of these are the 2023 order.The 2 bus contracts were with the same manufacturer, which is headquartered in California.RTD's web site shows far more than 10 buses delivered in 2023 and nothing beyond that. They talk a bit about diesel hybrids but from what I can tell RTD does not operate any 40 ft hybrids.
Unsure what to say about the Bloomberg article but it smells like bullshit to me. Regardless, hybrid drivetrains will increase the unit cost significantly.
Commented: "US cities pay too much for buses"
It's been a while since I've been on Muni but most of their bus fleet did not have AC as of 2019.
Commented: "Is a movie prop the ultimate laptop bag?"
A plurality do (35% in 2022 vs 17% via transit). Remote work knocked down the percentage that commute by car a bit, but took a bigger chunk out of the other modes (e.g. 34% used transit in 2018 but 17% in 2022).The majority of all commuters in SF do not commute by carI've used a messenger bag for decades and never felt marginalized in the least. Plenty of other folks seem to rock employer swag backpacks. vOv
