Any thought on the upcoming winter olympics since most people here are from BC?
my thoughts are wow! what a lot of money to spend on a 2 week event. Will BC benefit? Or Canada in general in the long term? I doubt it. I used to think of them as "Canada's" games. Until I found out most of the cost will be put up by BCers.
What happened after Expo 86? From what my dad tells me, Vancouver got expensive after 86. Toronto has been trying for the summer olympics. I am not sure if the cost would be anything close to what Vancouver and BC has to pay.
I'm not sure about this, but if I recall, the Summer Olympics are MUCH more costly to put on than the Winter Olympics....well at least more is expected from the opening and closing ceremonies.
....and as far as costs....I think it's like spending $40,000 on a wedding. You get to start your new life in serious debt with only a few seriously treasured memories. You have an event with a bunch of your parents friends....a dress you'll never wear again....photos to prove you were there....and a cake you can't eat.
oh you are probably right about the ceremonies.
I just meant it seems like Vancouver has to build every structure from scratch, including a highway overhaul.
then again, everything in TO is outdated and they would have to build too.
you just can't win.
I love our woman's hockey team. the men's are cool too. But the woman's are not high paid athletes.
yes, not only for the olympics, but skiers too hey? Residents of Whistler must appreciate it too.
God it looks so nice there.
They're worth a repeat. (http://discoverseattle.net/forums/richedit/smileys/Happy/3.gif)
Michel wrote: A classic view from the Sea to Sky highway. Yep, we drove a little further than our hike for this view. Probably the only pullout worth stopping for pictures in the entire province since the view is not ruined by electric lines as usual. Although they've been able to destroy the view with a transmission line there too... sigh...
[img style="WIDTH: 550px; HEIGHT: 365px" src="http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/517/dsc3062xtu9.jpg[/img][img style="WIDTH: 548px; HEIGHT: 365px" src="http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/1173/dsc3063xxc6.jpg[/img][img style="WIDTH: 548px; HEIGHT: 376px" src="http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/8519/dsc3064xss4.jpg[/img][img style="WIDTH: 550px; HEIGHT: 376px" src="http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/7853/dsc3067xpw9.jpg[/img]
ok, so I am moving now. haahaha! WOW!
At your service, oh ye...master of the zoom. (http://discoverseattle.net/forums/richedit/smileys/Happy/12.gif)
Michel wrote:
Violet :
Reply #2742 on: Jul 24 08 12:21 at page 183 of the pictures only thread should show you that there's more to see than the sea to sky hiway in this part of the World. I don't see the pics from here, but for what I remember I marked them so they should be undeleted.
Now I hope you will definitely want to move and see more than the Lower Mainland lol
(//richedit/smileys/Teasing/18.gif) [span style="color: rgb(192, 0, 0);"]He means himself.[/span] [span style="color: rgb(192, 0, 0);"] [/span]
[A href="http://discoverseattle.net/forums/index.php/topic,73.2730.html"]http://discoverseattle.net/forums/index.php/topic,73.2730.html[/A]
Posts 2742 .......from Pics Only.
The province and the city of Vancouver will be struggling to pay off the debt for most of my adult life most likely.
Yeah we get a highway that's expensive when there was much cheaper transportation options available, i.e rail and ferry services up the sound, and we also get the Gateway Project.
have fun for 2 weeks. :)
is ferry services cheaper? that would be cool. take your skis on the ferry and it drops you off at the hill.
actually, that sounds really sweet.
Instead of building the highway which will be prone to even more massive slides.
You could of had a BC Ferry service from Horseshoe Bay up to Sqaumish and a high speed BC Rail passenger and freight line up to Whistler.
But the ferry service isn't going to happen and BC Rail was sold off.
Very true. The other road that probably needs to be fixed is Highway 4, people complaining about Tofino getting commercial, well it can only go so far with that death trap of a highway. Yeah the rich people can fly helicopters, big deal. lol Although I do like the remoteness of the road, its just an insane highway around those blind cliffs.
[/div][div]
I don't begrudge a nickel that's going into improving that highway. It's been overdue for improvement since I can remember. It truly is one of the most practical uses of the insane amounts of money being spent for a 2 week event....at least this one will last.
I can't see the Horseshoe Bay to Squamish ferry route being cost effective. I'm not even sure if there would be the depth of waters required to support that. Very rocky and narrow channels through there (under water)
Michel wrote:
Just wait until you explore other roads, like the sea to sky after Whistler, or the number 3, or Williams Lake area, or the Cassiar highway (nearly killed myself there). No place to stop, trucks never slowing down, wild curves in mountainous area and no asphalt. In Muncho Lake area, all the bathrooms on the way are full of graffiti of truckers fighting against tourists. These two groups of users don't mix well up there, some being rushed by profits, others being tired and interested into enjoying the view on their way up or down from Alaska.
The train for Whistler would have been great, but hard to swallow as it would have been used only by sers of the Ski center. True, they compose the vast majority of the trafic, but still, it would be extremely annoying to pay for their leisure only.
I feel disapointed that they didn't seems to have think to make nice loop-out with unobstructed view on the new sea to sky. That's not bright. There might be a furure in that field SD. It's not urban develp,et, but it sure would be a big plus in BC. That can attracts lots of tourism and enhance the pleasure of roadtrips.
-----------------
what field? If I get to what I want to do, it'll be transportation oriented, I learnt to read on maps, drew out where roads should go since 10 on those street guides. No magazines in the bathroom, just provincial and state maps and country State Farm road atlas, memorized where all the cities were etc. lol anyway..
Yeah the unobstructed view of the new highway, that's a major concern I see. The Sound is so beautiful and when I drove up to Squamish last year I about killed myself looking at the scenery and driving into the sun and construction at the same time. With H. 4 I was able to stop and soak it in at places (and well there were logger trucks which slowed everything to a crawl and I went way below the speed limit which ticked off a few crazy 4x4s).
I wasn't thinking in terms of tourists for Whistler, the aim would be bigger. The region is next growth area of the Vancouver area. People live in Squamish, work in Vancouver. And eventually there will be a high speed rail link with Portland-Seattle-Vancouver, the besides political will the actor always slowing down this idea is BC. When the California line is built, BC/Wash/Oregon should come together and create their own. Then link the Oregon line up with California and you've got the entire West Coast connected by high speed 350kph an hour (220mph) trains. As fuel becomes scarce, the idea of interstates will wain and planes can't fly on anything other than crude oil. It could be realized by 2030ish at the earliest but more likely 2050.
Squamish is a deep water port and they had a ferry service from Vancouver until the highway was built.
They did ?
sounds interseting in theory. Not sure how many skiers/boarders you would be able to convince to go through a ferry, train, then what from there? Taxis? Buses.
I foresee a lot of people saying Fu** IT, lets just drive.
I mention skiers because, who else would go to Whistler?
anyone see the movie Singles?
Seattle movie where the transportation engineer got shot down by the city because "PEOPLE LOVE THEIR CARS".
Although, I would take the train if I could. More time for shut eye. haha.
The car is run on a scarce resource that isn't widely available. There is no other alternative for the car on long distance trips, and the North American mentality will end, the 1950/60s view of cars that is promoted will die off in a decade or just raise gasoline up to 4.00 a gallon and people start thinking like the Japanese and Europeans. Gas goes back down, buy the Hummer.
that sounds like a possibility. don't ferries and trains use an insane amount of energy to run also though? Also, to manufacture in the first place.
They also thought in the 60s, that by 2000, everyone would have a flying car, running off of water.
I agree on the mentality. I drive a tiny car, and live pretty close to our shop. No suv for me.
I don't think anyone thought of flying cars, logically they don't make sense. We'd need air traffic controllers everywhere and an accident in the air would mean almost certain death, people watched the Jetsons too much and the whole Space Age, that comes from the whole futurist era I bet. The future in the 60s was computers, space and robotics from what I've seen in movies and literature at least. St Louis seems to be full of Space Age stuff, I kind a like it, kinda don't, long for that era though. Post Modernism is boring, makes me sad, destroys history, I weep every time I go into the Main Library at UBC.
lol, yeah right. The Literature you read. haha. Are you for real? ok KNOWER OF ALL.
When I say "they" in the 60s, yes, the dreamers. Most likely Jetsons fans. Just like your predicted dates into the 2030s and 2050s. You have no clue.
If you had a real crystal ball, you wouldn't be bored ass wasting your time on a forum. haha.
i hear you about the history thing. that is what i found appealing about montreal compared to TO.
I don't think you would find much history at UBC would you? Barely over 100 years old or so no?
I can't see a ferry being profitable in the least. It's only half way to Whistler....so you still need a second mode of transportation.
The ferries to the Island are hurtin....and have been for some time AND there's no alternative. You can be certain, that if there was a highway running along side the ferry route, the ferries would die a rapid or instant death.
It was an idea floated for just for the olympics, I think. Although I could give you an article where the Squamish mayor was disappointed in not having the option seen through. Squamish like it or not is a bedroom community for Vancouver, so less cars on a highway is always a plus, but then the West Coast Express to Squamish would better fit that problem.
lol on 'the literature' I picked at up in one of my classes from a know it all 30 something lawyer phd student who was our TA for the final discussion class. He kept going on and on about 'the literature' and then correct the prof who is considered to be in the top 10 of people in the world in his field, that he didn't know anything. That guy was something else. haha
so 'the literature' is when I'm mocking this one guy. lol
UBC's library was old and cool, then they proceeded to tear it down except for the middle section (because it is considered historic) and turned the library into a sea of ugly glass.
Basically they did what happened to Soldier Field in Chicago
Before:
(http://www.greenroofs.org/img/grhc2004_soldier_field2_medium.jpg)
(http://football.ballparks.com/NFL/ChicagoBears/aerial.jpg)
After:
(http://academics.triton.edu/faculty/fheitzman/soldier%20field.jpg)
They destroyed any historical significance of the stadium to the point that people don't consider it historic anymore. UBC in my opinion did that with the library. They ruined it.
It was an idea floated for just for the olympics, I think. Although I could give you an article where the Squamish mayor was disappointed in not having the option seen through. Squamish like it or not is a bedroom community for Vancouver, so less cars on a highway is always a plus, but then the West Coast Express to Squamish would better fit that problem.
Yea....I don't think a ferry is the solution at all. The old Squamish dock would not support a ferry system, so starting there, you're already into the millions to replace that. Then you have the wildlife issue. Our eagles winter up there and the herring spawn up there. It's just not good all the way around.
[img style="CURSOR: pointer" onclick=url(this.src); src="http://www.cheesebuerger.de/images/more/bigs/c001.gif" border=0]
PC, Squamish has a port that has ocean vessels going up it all the time with logs and such, its not a wildlife area. So I don't know how a ferry would alter something that's already being altered by a road, and ships.
PC, Squamish has a port that has ocean vessels going up it all the time with logs and such, its not a wildlife area. So I don't know how a ferry would alter something that's already being altered by a road, and ships.
Well...I'll tell ya SD. As a kid, our family used to picnic at Horseshoe Bay ALL the time. My Uncle lived there, so we were there frequently. We swam in the clear water, and we caught little fish off the wharf with a piece of fish line and a hook. We caught crabs and dug clams.
Now you have a look at Horseshoe Bay, and tell me if you'd swim in that swill. And you could sit there all day, and you won't find a crab, or a clam or see little fish in that water. So please don't try to tell me, that it wouldn't be altered.
I don't get what you're saying, the Sound is already altered by the port in Squamish. If we could turn back the clock and set things back the way they were, that's be awesome, but the reality is British Columbia is growing and will continue to grow and we've got to facilitate that in a way where we least alter the environment and surroundings. Never again will we see what the people did here in the beginning of the 20th century when they clear cut the entire region, that won't happen anymore.
But at the same time, people decided to continue to build up the mountain in West Vancouver or the crazy growth of Nanaimo where now they just see trees as nothing (Cable Bay) the expansion into agricultural lands in the Fraser Valley. People decided to make a goat path road into a highway and call it the Sea to Sky.
There's been pluses, in the 70s with SPOTA and the highway that was going to go through downtown Vancouver up Stanley Park to West Vancouver. There's been minuses the Gateway Project which will only increase more cars on the road in a time when that's not what the region needs.
The road to Whistler is fine, its a solution for now at the present but its a 20th Century solution to a 21st century world.
I'm sorry about the terminal, you could probably tell me when it was built, for me I don't understand why its not in Vancouver, but the people who decided to have the terminal built at Horseshoe were the people themselves ultimately.
I was watching CNN an hour or two ago, a train company was promoting itself and their trains, it can go 400 miles with full cargo on 1 gallon of fuel. Trucks can't do that.
I don't get what you're saying, the Sound is already altered by the port in Squamish. If we could turn back the clock and set things back the way they were, that's be awesome, but the reality is British Columbia is growing and will continue to grow and we've got to facilitate that in a way where we least alter the environment and surroundings. Never again will we see what the people did here in the beginning of the 20th century when they clear cut the entire region, that won't happen anymore.
I'm not saying anything complicated. I'm just saying that a ferry system into Squamish is not the answer. When the roots of planning for progress are based in the attitude, that something is already ruined, so what does it matter....is simply wrong.
We always need fresh ideas, young ideas....but one of the drawbacks with that, is that they are dealing with what IS....with the notion that that's just the way it is or the way it always was. They have no concept of what it was, what it should be, or what it could be again.
So, in getting back to basics here....who in their right mind is going to shell out 50 bucks for a 50 minute ferry ride, when there is a new and improved highway that might cost 8 bucks worth of gas for a 30 minute drive. I just can't find any logic in that at all.
Never again will we see what the people did here in the beginning of the 20th century when they clear cut the entire region, that won't happen anymore.
Oh yea.......and just how old do you think I am ???? [img onclick="selecte('stern.gif');" alt=emoticon src="http://www.pushupstairs.com/images/emoticon/blehnet/stern.gif" border=0]
1 gallon of fuel per second? lol I think you're wrong
I know. I was erring on the side of caution....basically trying to make a point. (I don't think your math is accurate either )(http://discoverseattle.net/forums/richedit/smileys/Happy/4.gif)
As for the rest of your comment....that's pretty much what I've been sayin. As I said in my first post on the subject....a ferry to this destination, just isn't cost effective. (not to mention the multitude of other problems it would create)
I agree.
The rate of population growth in the region has been consistently higher than the provincial average, although there has been a province-wide slowing trend over time. The population of the SLRD more than doubled from 16,232 residents to 35,225 residents in the thirty year period from 1976 to 2006 (Census Canada). During this time period, the population in the region increased at an annual rate of approximately 3.9%, while the provincial population only increased by 2.3% for the 1976 – 2006 period. Some of the primary factors driving growth include lifestyle reasons, increasing demand for recreational services, economic and employment opportunities, natural beauty and environmental qualities, and proximity to the Lower Mainland.
Strong, sustained growth is predicted for the SLRD in the next thirty years. The population of the region is projected to almost double again in the period from 2003 to 2031: from 35,141 residents to 68,153 residents (Urban Futures). Figure 1 shows a gradual increase in the annual growth rate from less than one percent in the near term to approximately 2.8 % per year by 2016 before declining to 2.2 percent by 2031 (Urban Futures).
Figure 3
Source: Urban Futures, 2004
took it from the regions planning docs that they published in Jan. 08
So 68,153 people in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District
[FONT size=2]The rate of population growth in the region has been consistently higher than the provincial average, although there has been a province-wide slowing trend over time. The population of the SLRD more than doubled from 16,232 residents to 35,225 residents in the thirty year period from 1976 to 2006 (Census Canada). During this time period, the population in the region increased at an annual rate of approximately 3.9%, while the provincial population only increased by 2.3% for the 1976 – 2006 period. Some of the primary factors driving growth include lifestyle reasons, increasing demand for recreational services, economic and employment opportunities, natural beauty and environmental qualities, and proximity to the Lower Mainland.
Strong, sustained growth is predicted for the SLRD in the next thirty years. The population of the region is projected to almost double again in the period from 2003 to 2031: from 35,141 residents to 68,153 residents (Urban Futures). Figure 1 shows a gradual increase in the annual growth rate from less than one percent in the near term to approximately 2.8 % per year by 2016 before declining to 2.2 percent by 2031 (Urban Futures).
Figure 3
Source: Urban Futures, 2004
took it from the regions planning docs that they published in Jan. 08
So 68,153 people in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District[/FONT]
[FONT size=2][/FONT]
None of that has anything to do with whether a ferry is viable or not.
Just looking at the growth of the region, I don't have a problem with the highway, I just think its a bit dangerous to be playing a game of chicken with the mountain side and I've always been partial to train transport as I don't see the car surviving this century unless we somehow can find a non-carbon based fuel. The Squamish mayor on the other hand was apparently bummed about the ferry thing not going through. When rock slides happen again I think it would be wise to have a ferry dock set up just in case for emergencies so supplies can get up into the region. When the last big slide happened, BC Ferries said they could go up there for emergency situations.
Oh just if you hadn't enough Olympic talk, Vancouver and Seattle are thinking about proposing a joint 2028 Summer Olympics bid apparently. A couple months ago the US Federal department asked some regions to submit proposals for high speed rail development, Portland-Seattle-Vancouver was a priority list. Obama has 13 billion for high speed rail development in his budget.
Communion wafer. (http://discoverseattle.net/forums/richedit/smileys/Happy/12.gif)
ratzinger
Michel wrote:
lol pc communion waffer indeed (//forums/richedit/smileys/Happy/4.gif)
Yed SD, you're partial to trains. No problem with frequent trains where the population and the landscape allow it. But not in that case. Make no sense at all. Trains don't stop at the begining of every hiking trail. Car are mandatory to bring your camping stuff, ski, mountian bike whatever you do, and they won't disappear for remote area and low density places. Actually here, we're talking more about wilderness with 2 urban patch of a few square kilometers of suburbs. In town it's different, the sonner the car disappear, the better.
They do on the train from Winnipeg to Churchill and the Amtrak train that goes through New Mexico! They stop in the middle of the mountains and let you off at trails. How cool is that? :)
Yeah I know about the road. lol
You win :) . But I win on my master plan of high speed rail (hopefully fingers crossed). lol Been dreaming about a high speed rail network my whole life, it better come because my idea of moving to Europe as a kid to live in transportation freedom (lol) doesn't look like it'll happen.
Although the utopian society of transporation has to be Japan.
Sounds great, can't wait.
I'm not really looking for desolate in Europe, I know that doesn't exist. I've never seen Europe in that way.
Ahhh....Transportation Freedom.
Truckers strike somewhere in Italy.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GpIqc5vZK3c/R7ppeRfMTYI/AAAAAAAAYwE/907eGlVdApc/s400/1.jpg)
Paris...
(//%20%20Moscow%5Bimg%20style=%22WIDTH:%20563px;%20HEIGHT:%20362px%22%20height=384%20src=%22http://thegrumpiest.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/moscow_traffic_02.JPG%22%20width=589%5D%20%20lol....and%20Moscow's%20subway%20%20%5Bimg%20height=404%20alt=%22Moscow%20subway%20in%20Russia%202%22%20src=%22http://englishrussia.com/images/moscow_crowded_subway/2.jpg%22%20width=550%5D%20%20Kiev%20%20%5BA%20href=%22http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Kyiv_traffic_jam.JPG)(//%5B/A%5D%20%20Munich%5Bimg%5Dhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40820000/jpg/_40820948_carmunic203afp.jpg)
Beijing
Beijing may be the nation's capital, but according to a recent survey, it does not even rank in China's top 10 cities in terms of suitability for living. The city came 15th in the list, as compared to third in 2004, due to its bad traffic, high housing prices and heavy pollution.
[img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 295px" alt="Beijing may be the nation's capital, but according to a recent survey, it does not even rank in China's top 10 cities in terms of suitability for living. " hspace=0 src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-01/03/xin_58010303090161020301.jpg" align=baseline border=1]
Japan's utopian subway.
[A href="http://www.photopassjapan.com/densha/image19.html"][img style="WIDTH: 433px; HEIGHT: 306px" height=480 alt="Pictures of Japan : 3334 tokyo shinjuku eki homu mairu densha - train arriving at shinjuku station platform" src="http://www.photopassjapan.com/images/img%203334%20tokyo%20shinjuku%20eki%20homu%20mairu%20densha%20-%20train%20arriving%20at%20shinjuku%20station%20platform.jpg" width=640 border=1][/A]
Xiamen, South China
[img style="WIDTH: 495px; HEIGHT: 364px" height=480 src="http://www.flatrock.org.nz/topics/money_politics_law/assets/china_traff8ic_jam.jpg" width=640 border=0]
The grass is always greener. (http://discoverseattle.net/forums/richedit/smileys/Happy/12.gif)
Trains would be ok. But if you were going skiing or camping, would you just take a taxi from the train station?
haha PC.
An idiot would only drive in a European major city. China doesn't count, its madness over there and its a free for all after they've been poisoned by North American world view of transportation.
-walk
-bike
-tube
-trains
(http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1029/1315962546_eee672c1d5.jpg?v=0%22%5Dnothing%20wrong%20with%20this21st%20century%20parking%20lot:%5Bimg%5Dhttp://www.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/IMG_0283_bike_parking.jpg)
Now turn streets into malls where grubby little petrol mobiles can't reach:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Kopenhagen_voetgangersgebied.jpg)
[img style="width: 515px; height: 386px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/S-Bahn_Berlin_Baureihe_481.jpg/800px-S-Bahn_Berlin_Baureihe_481.jpg[/img]
trains to reach to the burbs.
To the nearest city:
[img style="width: 594px; height: 414px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Mountfujijapan.jpg/800px-Mountfujijapan.jpg[/img]
and in the future.. across continents
[img style="width: 631px; height: 473px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/JR-Maglev-MLX01-2.jpg/800px-JR-Maglev-MLX01-2.jpg[/img]
cool looking train!
which one? the last one? That's a maglev, costs about 9 billion to lay a couple miles of track down, but it should drop.
SD wrote: An idiot would only drive in a European major city.
It looks like they've got a shipload of idiots over there.
P.C. wrote:
[em]SD wrote: An idiot would only drive in a European major city.[/em]
It looks like they've got a shipload of idiots over there.
Not my fault they want to look rich and drive around. Who drives a car in city centres in Europe? People who think they're too good to be with the rest of us.
[a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/dec/19/transport.uk"]http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/dec/19/transport.uk[/a]
In 2025, Paris regional train network will look like this:
62km out of the region to places like Malesherbes and Creil, so it goes everywhere, you have no excuses on why you decide to take an archaic form of urban transit in those cities. Cars, congestion of the streets and of the heart the machine that kills us and makes us fat. weee
Equivalent would be from downtown to White Rock, which will explode in growth by 2030 and needs links to the city.
Vancouver needs an S-bahn that connects to New Westminster-Burnaby-Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, North Vancouver, West Vancouver (replace the Lions Gate with something that actually works), Surrey, South Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Richmond, Delta. On top of the skytrain lines, then set up a tram system for downtown, close car traffic to Robson turn it into a pedestrian mall, high speed rail link to Seattle, more ferries going back and forth between North Van and downtown.
Vancouver Island- Commuter Rail from Nanaimo to Victoria, LRT for Victoria
the s-bahn idea won't happen in Vancouver, skytrain won't get extended into the growth areas, we'll still be subservant to cars.
coffee is wearing off. lol
since there's no alternative to oil, you delay peak oil and the decline of development much as possible before resources start running out and we start nuking each other for coal and stuff. When it happens, we won't have nation states anymore they'll have to be dissolved too big in the post-oil world, therefore its in our best interests to build an infrastructure now before we are unable to do to loss of the earth's capacity to sustain us.
sleeep, wait meeting in 15mins, ughhhh
"Not my fault they want to look rich and drive around. Who drives a car in city centres in Europe? People who think they're too good to be with the rest of us."
'Not my fault they want to look rich and drive around' ? LOL You know that's nonsense, right ?
What an odd conclusion as to who these people are and why they are there.
People who drive think they're too good to be with the rest of us ???....again....pure nonsense. Wasn't that you driving around in a gas guzzling Bonneville last year.
"Vancouver Island- Commuter Rail from Nanaimo to Victoria, LRT for Victoria"
News flash. We have a rail system from Victoria to Courtenay. It has passed by the back of my property twice a day for 20 years. The maximum load is seldom more than half a dozen passengers....more often, less.
"coffee is wearing off. lol"
May I recommend a Scotch ?
"Since there's no alternative to oil, you delay peak oil and the decline of development much as possible before resources start running out and we start nuking each other for coal and stuff."
Since there's no alternative to oil, doesn't it make sense to work on the development of things being powered by renewable resources ? I don't know if I'm over simplifying things, but the solution is solar or wind generated power.
If a European drives a car, they are acting rish and snooty? I missed something here.
Peak oil and such is very true though. I just can't see how trains are going to solve the worlds transportation issues. It is a good start though. Oil is low today, but I feel it is temporary. I am not an analyst though, I am just assuming.
what about the manufacturing of these trains? How much energy does it take to build them? And where does that energy come from? Once built, what kind of energy will drive them? That is one massive wind farm that it would take to have enough power for a high speed train.
I'm not certain if it's possible to power a train from the wind, directly....but it certainly has the ability to power peoples homes....so it stands to reason that it could power manufacturing plants etc. There are people who are not only powering their homes with one fairly small simple structure....but they have enough to sell their excess back to the power companies.
oh yes. I agree wind energy is fantastic. I am just cautious about how fantastic trains are supposed to be when they don't really run off the passengers peddling.
Ah yes....the ol Flinstones train. lol
I wonder sometimes, if part of the problem, is our inability to give up speed. Would it help ? We have the technology NOW to produce solar and electric vehicles. One of the reasons they are having difficulties breaking them into the mainstream, is because they don't have the ability to travel at 120 kliks. I don't know....just a thought.
yes, society is in a hurry, to go nowhere. haha.
I find Toronto actually has a pretty decent train, subway, and highways system. it isn't the best, but it has come a long ways. the 401 is pretty smooth until snow hits, haha. then chaos!
rotfl
i was 'off the rocker a bit' on a caffeine withdrawal. Omg coffee is the new crack. This morning I had my 10th cup of McDonalds coffee in 4 days and my heart beat started beating faster for some reason.
well you could always electrify the trains develop some electric motor and have the electric power lines to nuclear.
Maglev don't need oil, it runs on magnets or something.
I'm thankful coffee doesn't make me mental. (http://discoverseattle.net/forums/richedit/smileys/Happy/12.gif)
Well.
[FONT size=1]More mental.[/FONT]
haha yeah I was talking about diet coke with my chemical engineer roommate and he said they've done studies about aspartame and its put holes in people's head. I'm like, well I was diagnosed with ADD in grade 2 so what's a few more holes in my head.