Re: Why Worldcons aren't perfect Re: Just got our first PR after joining... W

Paul Dormer wrote:

In article <e9e5il$k9i$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, kfl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Keith
F. Lynch) wrote:

Dan Goodman <dsgood@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Every time the Twin Cities bus company makes major changes to some
routes (which they do four times a year), two kinds of letters to
the editor show up in the Star Tribune. 1) "I bought my house
because it was on a bus route, and now I have to walk three blocks
to a bus stop! It's not fair! Mommy, make Metro Transit give me
back my bus!" 2) "I bought this house because it wasn't on a bus
route, and now they're inflicted bus-rider cooties on me! It's
Unconstitutional!"

That's one advantage of rail over bus, an advantage I've never seen
mentioned: People make decisions on where to live, and on where to
work, based on transportation. Bus routes may disappear at some
bureacrat's idle whim, leaving you in a world of hurt. But there's
so much sunk cost in a rail line -- especially a subway line --
that it's far less likely to be suddenly shut down.

Ever heard of Dr Beeching? He was chairman of British Rail in the
early sixties and closed down a lot of rail lines in Britain.

Not the same thing. Not at all.

Subway lines are local urban transit. (Though at least one set in the
US cross state lines).

Railroads are transit _between_ urban areas (usually).

Now, if Dr. Beeching also closed London Underground lines, that would
be talking about the same thing.

--

Dan Goodman
All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies.
John Arbuthnot (1667-1735), Scottish writer, physician.
Journal http://dsgood.livejournal.com
Links http://del.icio.us/dsgood
.

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