h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://organictransit.com/faq/

I think that most long-distance treks have been done mostly on bicycle paths, not public roads. And, I would not try to ride one in the deep snow or late at night.

We all need more happy.... more happy as to where we are... if we were all more happy at being where we were at, then we'd not need all this traveling nonsense. Nothing good ever came of a motorway. well, asides a few songs, and at least one album before you know it, people want bipasses… and that never works well, just ask the vogons… Its far simpler to just bypass reality, or at least what passes for sanity.

Yes... Why can't we get back to just marrying the girl next door and doing the same job our parents did (and their parents before them). That would save a lot on transport... Hang on, I think I didn't mean a word of that. (Unless the girl next door is really worth it and your parents had a job you'd like to do..)

But more happy is always welcome.

I just suspect that there are no simple solutions.

We need much more public transport that is reliable, cheap, frequent & goes where you need to go.
(Just heard that local Mayor wants to build another village next to ours & a car park...)

In the last ten years, (in the Netherlands) the price of public transport has gone up 30%, while driving a car went up 25%.

Guess what happens...

They go online for more things?

About 10 years ago I set out three requirements for me to purchase an electric motorcycle. I'd love to have one, but it needs to meet the following:

1. Have a range of at least 100 miles per charge. Some gas powered bikes only get that far per tank, so that's the minimum.

2. Have at least 100 mph top speed. Much of my riding is on interstate freeways and Texas drivers go fast when the roads allow them to.

3. Purchase price under $10,000. ($7000 ideally, as that's a decent price for a decent gas model, but $10,000 is more realistic.)




So, several years ago, a few models began to meet the first two criteria, and there are some, mostly off-road/dual use models that meet the third. But after more than a decade no one makes a good E-bike that meets all three. The ones that meet the first two are typically nearer to $20,000 - $30,000.

Also, from some reviews, they may not really be meeting the first two criteria either. Real world users report their ranges are really not what they advertise.



But while were on the subject of electric vehicles, I recently saw some video previews of a new electric vehicle company called Rivian who will be introducing two models in the next one or two years, and SUV and a pick-up truck. They're advertising them as having a range of over 400 miles per charge (depending on model) and a towing capacity of over 7000 lbs!

And for an electric vehicle they have a comparably affordable retail price starting at around $72,000. I can't afford that but it's much less than I expected.

http://www.caranddriver.com/rivian

Here's one answer to the subject line "where is everyone?"

Stuck in traffic. Bostonians spend eighty hours a year stuck in gridlocked traffic. This wastes about $1,400 worth of fuel. Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington is almost as bad. I don't know about Houston.

Houston is nearly as bad as Boston at 75 hours/year.

The really surprising one is Austin. Whoever is in charge of the roads in Austin will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.

Austinites spend 100 hours/year in traffic according that same recent study.

One of the largest freeways through Austin has a stop light on it! ON THE FREEWAY!

Chances are, the freeway won't be free forever. Government authorities everywhere are considering putting tolls on more and more highways.

The traffic jams are taking their toll..

They have been talking about (extra)taxing of car use for years around here, with all kinds of expensive electronic monitoring solutions.

The most balanced way of taxing, in my opinion, is in fuel price. This gives incentive to drive less or at least drive more fuel efficient, without privacy infringement.

In the UK about 90% of car journeys are under 2 miles, and anyone who drives will have notice that jams increase exponentially when school starts again and disappear to a large extent during school holidays.

A pretty obvious solution is for people to get off their arses and walk when they can - it's not rocket science.

That's the UK where distances are much shorter in general however. US situation is a lot different I think

Even more so in Canada. The continental US of A covers only slightly more that 31% of land that Canada does - and yet they have nearly 10-times our population. So for us, it can sometimes take some fair miles to see someone that we need to.

And this mythical wonder called "public transit" only begins to appear in towns, etc that bear populations of 75,000 or more. There are MANY places here that have populations under 5,000.

Lots of areas that you can drive 60 or more MPH for one to many hours, and not see another human creature. Which is very nice.

Doesn't sound like traffic jams would be a problem around those places though

Goat carts are the answer for small, rural areas.

Goats eat things like poison ivy and kudzu and bitterswet

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30583512

If only they could be trained to eat just the plants you don't want - we'd welcome one! We have visiting muntjac which browse pretty much everything at their level.

Geese might be good for that. Roses, irises, and corn can be safely weeded by geese, who will eat everything *except* those plants.

Geese will not work so well for pulling people around in carts, though.

I really want to see geese pulling a wagon now.

Won't they break your arm when you try to feed them?

I suppose you get a free horn though - honk honk!