Comments by "MacAdvisor" (@MacAdvisor) on "DownieLive" channel.

@iliashdz9106 The big benefit of HSR of fast speed is lost if we slow the train down to work on existing tracks. I don't know if you've ever taken the train from Seattle to Portland, but almost none of the existing tracks now run through low population rural areas with open land. I doubt there is an available stretch as long as 100 miles of open land between the two cities unless one goes very far east. Doubling the travel length at twice the speed isn't much of a gain. I suggest the current Amtrak train is about as nice and as fast as we could manage without significant lengths of new track. The number of people currently using the train is about a tenth those using planes.
1
@iliashdz9106 The existing tracks between Bakersfield and Merced, the current HSR build in California travel mainly through suburban areas because most of the strip between the two cities is highway 99 or Interstate 5 and housing development has followed along the roads. To take the train out into the rural areas and then back in to the towns along the route would add significantly to the length. The West Coast did not control for urban sprawl and, therefore, there are long stretches of homes between towns.
1
@iliashdz9106 Have you ever even driven highway 99 between those towns? The areas between are nearly an unbroken strip of development.
1
@iliashdz9106 Except, of course, Highway 99 more or less follows the long existing rail line that connect the valley agricultural towns. Notice, btw, Pixley is just down from Tipton and is the town mentioned in Green Acres and Petticoat Junction.
1
@henryhui7045 That HSR is infrastructure doesn't give it a pass in cost-benefit analysis. HSR will move far fewer people for far more money than autonomous vehicles. There just isn't the benefit to make them worthwhile except in very rare places in the US.
1
@darthmaul216 Tell that to the High Speed Rail Commission here in California. Do you know how mach land for right-of-way costs?
1
@DownieLive He was a very fun guy. He was a DI in the US Marines, the football coach for the local jr. college, and collected everything from 1959 Cadillacs to Jim Beam bottles to Erector sets. When I came out to him, he set me up on a blind date with one of his gay football players. He had poker nights and block parties. Because both my Mom and Dad were teachers, we had the summers together as a family and went on adventures together. I miss him and Mom every single day. I urge you to enjoy every minute with your folks while you can. Keep up the great videos. They are truly a G-d send in these times.
1
Forgive me for commenting, but I notice your hair is getting a little long. I understand, in these times, how difficult keeping ones sartorial appearance crisp can be, but I have a suggestion that would put the longer hair to good use. One of my classmates in law school grew his hair all term and then had it cut off and sent it to a non-profit that made wigs for kids with cancer. What cancer kid wouldn't love a wig made from real Mike Downie hair?!?! You can read more at www.WigsForKids.org/donate-your-hair .
1
Except this is a route of about 180 miles that would be 2-½ hours by autonomous vehicle and relatively easy and far less costly road improvements. Autonomous vehicles will be here in five year, ten at the most, while the train upgrades are 20 years off. An average of 274,000 vehicles per day already travel on I5. Even assuming only ONE passenger per car, far lower than the actual usage, that means 274,000 people per day travel I5. Amtrak single most used route is the NortheastDirect with about 24,000 daily passengers. That is not even 10% of the automobile traffic on the I5 route currently. Dollar for dollar we get far better increase in carrying capacity by improving auto lanes that train tracks. Plus, autonomous vehicles leave when you want from where you want, go to where you want, bring far more stuff with you, including passengers that add directly to carrying capacity. We could have autonomous buses on this route far sooner and for far less money than trains. There are already fabulous buses available between NY and DC for as little as $22 (please see: https://www.washny.com ). Make them autonomous and you have all the aspects of the train for little more than the rolling stock, plus it is far more scalable. Sorry, HSR, or even higher speed rail, isn't going to happen. There is not the political will or the demand and the alternatives are vastly better. This is sad, but facts are facts. Not. Going. To. Happen. Here. Not. Mike can answer this, but I think this is the longest single thread on DownieLive ever. What do you have to say, Mike?
1
@YaBoiScrumpo The gobbledygook about mining material for batteries and such is such nonsense. Do mining lithium make a mess? Yes, but it can be cleaned up and regulations can stop it from happening. You put your finger on the heart of the matter and my very point, "ail travel went under in the 70s and hasn't recovered to date." It simply can't recover because Amtrak doesn't own the right of way and purchasing it now is wildly cost prohibitive. I am not arguing rail travel isn't nice, I am arguing it isn't practical in our country. It is like trying to build a canal network now. The conditions that made both work are gone. Autonomous vehicles are all upside. They are going to do nothing buy get better, faster, cheaper, and easier. Trains are already at their limit. I think we need an award from Mike for the longest running thread. Maybe he could take us all to lunch in Vancouver, BC. I'd drive up for it.
1
@bluevortex1045 A boat is often defined as a hole in the water into which one throws money. Trains are black holes that suck in vast sums of money. Roads are not profitable, but they have a dedicated funding source, gas taxes, from users to maintain them. There is losing money and sucking up vast sums. Look I am all for improving as we can. I love the Coast Starlight and ride it to and from LA several times a year. I hope to take the Zephyr to Chicago someday. I am not sure anyone is planning autonomous trains.
1
@bluevortex1045 Autonomous vehicles would likely be privately owned as they offer a profitable business model that doesn't need subsidies, as do passenger trains, but they don't require personal ownership. Just as I can now rent a vehicle for a day or a few weeks, I could rent an autonomous vehicle. I currently own a small car that I use daily, but I rent a more appropriate vehicle several times year when I am taking a large number of people or hauling material. I just rented a U-haul truck last week. I have never needed to transport 100 people, but I can charter a bus if I ever do. I can drive from my home in Sacramento to San Francisco by car in an hour, forty minutes, excluding traffic, but the train, at best, is two hours, forty minutes. I have had traffic on both with the train taking, by far, the longest. The question here isn't should we get rid of the trains we have, but should we pour hundreds of billions in to building new HSR trains. You think spending the $104 billion estimated to finish the HSR now being built will increase equity? Really?
1
@bluevortex1045 Thank you, sincerely, for letting me know. Yes, gas taxes are a small part of supporting automobiles, but they are a major part of the roads. For the most part, people support their own vehicles and that process makes a profit. I am all for subsidizing the Zephyr and the Coast Starlight. I strongly support the Capital Corridor trains. However, if I were a homeless guy or even living in a van down by the river, as Chris Farley would say, I think I'd rather a hundred billion housing for supporting low income housing rather than the same amount for the California HSR project.
1
Canada does NOT have common law marriage. SOME provinces recognize common law cohabitation, but that is not considered marriage, thought it does come with some rights and responsibilities. Please see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage#Common-law_marriage_vs._cohabitation
1
So, a typical summer day in Vancouver is going some place else (Squamish, BC)? Sounds like one here in Sacramento where we escape the heat by going to Tahoe. And THIS is what you do when you get to the top of the peak and THIS is the music you play. Don't you know popular culture?!?! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZCO40Zwt00
1
WOW! Love the new series. Can't wait. I'll be along by video the whole way!
1
The reason bodies, mostly coffins, are buried six feet deep is to be deep enough the freeze-thaw cycle and the water table does not force the coffin back up again. The problem with New Orleans is the water table is so close to the surface AND so deep, that burying someone below the table isn't practical. The harm to the bodies is irrelevant as the whole point is for the bodies to decompose, but having decomposing bodies in one's water table can be a public health hazard. Hence, bodies are kept above ground and decompose in reusable vaults.
1
What they do have in Germany are trains that run on time.
1
Do we have to wear a "Live" baseball cap while filming?
1
Nothing sounds more DownieLive than, "We're heading out with the Royal Canadian Marines." If it was on a train, would have been a grand slam.
1
@joermnyc But wouldn't the fine be in Canadian Dollars? Isn't that like Mexican Pesos? 😀😜😝
1
Mike, even an old queer like me knows, you can claim all you want this is like a date night and you've taken Nicole to a fancy restaurant, you STILL need to take her out on a real date night AND to a fancy restaurant. You don't get out of that just because you took on one of the nicest flights in the world. Sorry, you are still on the hook, date night awaits. Nicole deserves it. Great video, makes me want to fly to London just for the experience.
1
Question: can I skip the ads? I don't want to cut into your income, so I've been watching them, but now YouTube is putting Trump ads in. As a Canadian, you may not be aware of what a complete and utter d1ck he is and I just don't want to watch ads for him. I will if it makes you money, but seriously, can I skip them? Tugboat all the way. It was great and the food looked awesome.
1
@DownieLive Thank you. I so enjoy your channel I would, if it helped, watch those ads, but am so grateful I don't have to.
1
Go to Germany, very friendly people, well organized country, great food. French desserts look pretty, but German one's taste better. Street vendors sell the best sausages at wurst stands. All around best country in Europe.
1