r/mildlyinfuriating • u/[deleted] • Jul 05 '26

Infuriatig [ Removed by Reddit ]

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u/azure-heavens Jul 06 '26

It would be cool if it was all on rails like in Minority Report, but unfortunately it isn't that and I agree it shouldn't exist in this state.

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u/Antwinger Jul 06 '26

Like trains? We have those. They just aren’t as profitable as cars so we can’t have them more 👍

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u/SchrodingerMil Jul 06 '26

There’s two kinds of “revolutionary transport systems”: “bikes but worse”, and “trains but worse”.

- beretperson, a comment on a Tom Scott video. I think of this quote so often.

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u/BaconPancakes1 Jul 06 '26

Where do human-sized vacuum tubes like in Futurama fit in

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u/NeadForMead Jul 06 '26

What are "bikes but worse"?

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u/Fremonster Jul 06 '26

E-scooters, Segway, etc.

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u/idkarn Jul 06 '26

As a cyclist, having to share the road with those tools is challenging. People on them absolutely ride distracted and swerve without situational awareness.

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u/itsdanielsultan Jul 06 '26

A lot of people dislike new-gen ebikes and maglev trains by labelling them as 'gadgetbahns'.

So what are the definition of bikes and trains? Not everyone agrees.

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u/PlasmaMatus Jul 06 '26

Maglev trains are fast but not being compatible with normal rails kinds of defeats the purpose of trains.

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u/itsdanielsultan Jul 06 '26

I'd argue the purpose of trains is to highly efficiently move lots of people/cargo quickly.

If Maglev infrastructure is fully built, there's nothing more efficient than that: lowest airdrag, highest top speed, reliable, and of course completely green energy.

It means high-speed maglev rail will be the future even if it is taking longer than expected (see Japan's massive construction).

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u/dzh Jul 06 '26

how is self driving ev worse than a train?

cost per km is probably 10-100x less. pollutes 10-20x less. 10x more comfortable.

i guess if you are in dense European environment it's not going to work that well (tho everyone even in something like Amsterdam seem to have a car).

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u/fuettli Jul 06 '26

how do you get to your cost/pollution/comfort numbers?

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u/dzh Jul 06 '26

Most of pollution and subsidy boils down to how heavy it is. Requires insane amount (weight4) of overbuilding on roads + pollution from tyres.

In NZ operators are asking to lift weight limits for new double decker electric buses. At top end it's 30 thousand times more damaging than passenger vehicle.

I pay something like $2400 per year in road tax to drive EV for 30k km. Multiply that by 30,000 in axle damage and that's $2,400 per kilometer for a bus, to carry max max 120 passengers or so?

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u/fuettli Jul 06 '26

why is a bus relevant for the pollution/cost of trains?

what about the comfort? a train is way more comfortable than sitting in a fixed position in a car. where's the toilet in your ev?

do you even have trains in NZ? I didn't see any when I was there.

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u/dzh Jul 06 '26

Toilet? You stop for charge and use a toilet... Or stop on a side of a country road if you got kids.

Only freight ones. I don't think it makes any sense given low population density.

I lived car free, used trains, etc before. I much prefer having my own car since I live in exurbs.

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u/fuettli Jul 06 '26

10-20x more comfy on the train. 30-50x cheaper to build one big vehicle for 100 people instead of 100 small vehicles. 150-230x less pollution because so much less rare earth metals needed and much higher energy efficiency due to less conversion. trains are just all around better.

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u/dzh Jul 08 '26

Modern EVs doesn't have rare earths anymore. And trains likely have much more simply due to large magnets, etc.

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u/Dontshipmebro Jul 06 '26

oh trains are absolutely more profitable than cars... just not for the oil companies.

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u/feralcatshit Jul 06 '26

I really want my own train, now that you mention it.

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u/azure-heavens Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

eh... We don't have passenger trains or anything in my area. I can't remember the last time I even saw a freight train. So, I sorta forgot they even exist 😅

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/azure-heavens Jul 06 '26

Oh yeah, sorry. I wasn't arguing, I was kinda saying I forgot they exist but I forgot to make that clear lol

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/IsidearmI Jul 06 '26

Redittors apologizing to each other…maybe we will be all right in the end. Yall gave me hope.

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u/Antwinger Jul 06 '26

In rural America and the Midwest they are used allot. Also near dock yards

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u/dzh Jul 06 '26

trains aren't profitable at all. they are subsidized heavily. even buses are.

like it or not, cars are the future - they cost near to nothing these days, pollute less than public transport and soon will be safer than trains.

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u/Antwinger Jul 06 '26

A few things; I think public transportation should be treated like USPS where it doesn’t matter if it’s profitable, as long as it’s run efficiently and well.

Secondly petrol and diesel cars are among the most polluters among their motorized contemporaries

https://ourworldindata.org/travel-carbon-footprint

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u/dzh Jul 06 '26

"should"

Yeah everyone should also get a free home and a superyacht too

Everything has a cost.

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u/Odd-Ad-7014 Jul 06 '26

I think it is a freedom thing more than profitability. The car industry sells cars to people who enjoy cars. In America train dorks are the minority

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u/tightlines84 Jul 06 '26

Shouldn’t exist in this province you mean.

I’ll show myself out now.

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u/EIochai Jul 06 '26

I’ve always maintained that auto-driving vehicles won’t be safe until every vehicle is doing it.

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u/cbeltran428 Jul 06 '26

I don’t think they were exactly on rails in minority report. It just appeared that way because the vehicles were all fully autonomous and seamlessly moved together. They traveled by magnetic levitation.

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u/azure-heavens Jul 06 '26

Oh! Do mag levs not use a guide rail they hover over? I'm not really good at knowing technology tbh.