this post was submitted on 06 May 2024
872 points (96.9% liked)
Technology
60067 readers
5626 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Recently, yes. California's spent 16 years not building rail. The Gulf Coast states have been tearing their rail out and replacing it with highways for over a decade. The Upper Midwest has just kinda given up on doing anything useful, and just watched its transit infrastructure collapse.
My point is is that the tech is there. There's just an unwillingness.
In the states, certainly. Elsewhere, its wildly popular.
The problem is that highway advocates don't solve the problem of "who's going to pay for all this?". The reason infrastructure in America is in disrepair is that funding for highways is supposed to be gotten from tolls and road taxes. But since everywhere in America is a freeway... there's no funding for repairs.
Expecting the Government budget to cover maintenance of infrastructure is wishful thinking... unless you're also willing to agree that the military is allocated too much money.
Regressive taxation leads to overfunded main roads and underfunded side streets.
Roads are fundamental to the operation of any government. It isn't simply that states need to maintain roads. It is that states need roads in order to exist.
Is it right to say then, that the users of the roads pay for maintenance? Do you expect the government to print more money to pay for maintenance?
Edit:
As opposed to both main roads and side streets being underfunded without tolls and road taxes? Do you expect Government to print money to pay for all this?