Built like a Mercedes (?)

Bingo. What they've done up there is compare operating and capital
costs of cars (including the rather large part of the cost of the
roads covered by gas taxes) to the transit fare which covers none of
the capital cost and probably less than half of the operating cost.
While the out-of-pocket comparison might make sense for an individual
deciding between the two, it makes no sense on a larger scale, because
if you _do_ start getting a lot of drivers over to mass transit, and
actually expand mass transit to handle the load, you actually dig
yourself into a deeper hole.

 

All that means to me as a consumer is that they've invented a way to
structure price for more profit.

--
Max

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)

 

Learn to read you pompous jackass. What is the SG of diesel fuel,
compared to gasoline? I CLEARLY stated by UNIT OF VOLUME. You don't
buy fuel by the tonne.

Since you read at a Kid's level, I'll give you a Kid's page to explain
it. See:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/non-renewable/diesel.html
where it clearly states "Diesel fuel contains between 18 and 30
percent more energy per gallon than gasoline", proving I was being
conservative, and you, Huw, were WRONG.

 

"Can carry" is right. In peak hour it might. And the rest of the day?

DAS

 

I see that you take the word of the DOE when it serves you, albeit the kids
page.
These are the volumetric densities.
Gasoline has 29mj/l
Diesel has 32.18 mj/l




From this you can deduce that diesel has around 11% more energy per given
volume with a range of 10.5% to under 12%.

This contrasts with the 18 to 30% more given in the kiddies page to which
you provide a link, which gives a totally ridiculous 65% variation in the
range of density LOL with an inaccuracy to the nearest figure of 65% and to
the furthest figure of nearly 200%. Not even good enough for the kiddies.

Huw

 

We may also be msixing up 'long' and short' gallons.

BTW, my Honda 175, which I had in the late 70s returned about 70 mpg
(imperial)

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

[...]

[...]

 

I find it interesting that UK long-distance coach (bus) fares are genrally
lower than rail fares, AFAIK.

Buses are not subsidised, whereas rail is.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

[...]

[...]

 

I think that's where some of the disagreements/ interpretations arise.

You assumption is "to its fullest". I don't think on that there is
disagreement, hence comments about full long-distance trains, whether for
freight (say coal for 1000 miles) or passengers (say Paris - Lyon or
Washington DC to NYC).

Unfortunately there only way you could achieve that is to make car travel
impossibly expensive or prohibit cars (and lorries). The former existed in
the communist countries in eastern Europe and, indeed China. I doubt the
rail systems of eastern Europe ran at a surplus despite relatively high
rates of utilisation. (Sorry I am not supplying figures.) Just a thought.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

[...]

[...]

 

In the Netherlands especially cyclists are largely excluded from a lot of
the main road network.

Could one build such a network of cycle paths now in the US or UK?
Possibly.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

[...]

[...]

 

It looks like it's going to be a case of 'statistics at dawn' 'twixt you
and Huw...

;-)
DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

[...]

 

What do you call an imperial gallon btw ? 16 or 20 fl oz ?

Graham

 

I'm having fun just watching everyone duke it out here, but had to chime in on
this one with my own $.02.

Since a gallon of gasoline contains ~19,000 BTU/gallon the value of 7,380
BTU/pass-mile works out to 2.6 miles/gallon, or when my wife rides along with me
only 1.26 miles per gallon. Planning a trip through Death Valley pretty soon -
doesn't look like we're going to make it across with only a 16 gallon tank in my
car.

This one didn't quite pass the smell test.

Frank

 

160 last time I checked. Compared to 128 for a Yankee Gallon

 

Silly me. I was thinking of pints where the difference arises.

Ok. So the British one anyway ( not that we really use it any more ).

Graham

 

The idiot you refer to is a troll, and I plonked his sorry excuse for
a person the first day. May I suggest you do the same. Even judy has
more brains than that fucktard.

*************************
Dave

 

It's not that simple: Imperial fl oz and US fl oz. are not the same. The
US measure is slightly larger, so the ratio between a US and an Imperial
gallon (or pint) ends up closer to 5/6 than 4/5.

 

1 US gallon is 0.8326738 UK gallons

1UK gallon is 1.20095 US gallon

HTH.

Huw

 

Dear Dave.
This us Usenet where even the lowest tenth percentile of society, who never
have anything useful to contribute to anything, have the same posting rights
as myself and others here, as you so aptly and gloriously demonstrate.

Huw

 

No, a "fifth of scotch" is one US quart. There are exactly 5 US quarts
to the imperial Gallon. I lived with the imperial system for most of
my life, right next door to the U S of A.

There are 128 IMPERIAL fluid ounces in a Yankey gallon, and 160 in an
imperial (or Crown) gallon..

 

Actually Apple's Safari is the first mass distribution browser to pass
the acid2 web standards test AFAIK.

You can try it in your browser here:

http://www.webstandards.org/act/acid2/test.html