Submitted 3 days ago by InevitableList@beehaw.org to technology@beehaw.org
https://www.economist.com/china/2017/01/13/china-has-built-the-worlds-largest-bullet-train-network
Why do we have to consider public transport “a waste of money” when they are not being run as a business???
China considers HSR a public good! They are meant to give convenient transport to everyone!
Also, do people realize road maintenance takes a lot of money too? Should governments stop doing that because they don’t make money?
FXXK this everything has to make money attitude of neoliberliasm!
Not only does it have to make money but it must make at least 10% more than last year.
Why do we have to consider public transport “a waste of money” when they are not being run as a business.
Because, even if it isn’t being run as a business, it is still being run as a government service. Since no country has infinite money, there is still a cost benefit ratio that should be looked into. There are a lot of government projects or there which are bad investments and should be deprioritozed over other better investments.
This ties into use. A lot of Chinese still use low speed rail because they can’t afford the high speed rail tickets. There may be some lines where it is better to fund and and expand low speed rail because the demand isn’t there for high speed.
(I just realize that the link posted by OP is a 2017 article)
Of course. I agree that cost benefit ratio needs to be considered. I also agree that in some cases low speed rail already suffice, but is it the argument they are making? I can’t read the article despite I want to because there is a paywall.
are a lot of government projects or there which are bad investments and should be deprioritozed over other better investments.
Like cars and roads
12 foot ladder- archive.ph/XRppG
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InevitableList@beehaw.org 3 days ago
A somewhat shallow look at China’s HSR network that nevertheless provides some insights into how new lines are transforming some regions.
I don’t understand why western media is so reluctant to acknowledge the broader social, economic and political benefits these lines are intended to provide. Failing to consider such questions means they will never understand China.
jabjoe@feddit.uk 3 days ago
The car is king is the problem. Which is dumb. Also, in densely populated Europe at least, with private property right, and hundreds, if not thousands, of years of legacy, environmental regulations, it’s hard to build train lines and stations. Also, the rich own so much of the country’s wealth and power, and they just fly, so don’t care.
flora_explora@beehaw.org 3 days ago
I doubt it would be hard to actually have better train infrastructure in Europe (and some countries do). For example, as a German, my perspective on this is that our government just doesn’t care to invest in most infrastructure because it isn’t seen as prestigious enough. The only projects that do get build are some shiny new additions that no one needs, like a new train station in Stuttgart that has been in planning for over 3 decades, will cost many billions and has seen huge protests against it from the start till today. But any project that is just basic maintenance, be it for cars or trains, just gets ignored and postponed. The German Autobahn is just as defunct and on the brink of collapse in many parts of Germany as its train network. And our infrastructure ministers have been corrupt and utterly incompetent for many decades now.