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DavidPuddy666 t1_ix9x0j7 wrote

I have no clue why they want to shovel all this money at this dumb highway instead of fixing Nj Transit.

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fasda t1_ix9y4q7 wrote

But then less people would drive on the turnpike which would cause the turnpike authority to lose money. And if highways lose enough money and popularity, their highways might get demolished, and they'll be out of a job.

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specialgravity t1_ixb98ho wrote

Go on, I’m almost there

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fasda t1_ixbdds3 wrote

The right of ways would be turned rail and stations would have mixed use development with low and midrise buildings and at the same time connecting most warehouses to containerized shipping cutting the number of trucks on the road dramatically.

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specialgravity t1_ixcaa9x wrote

That’s be nice too but we really need to cut down on the number of cars in the road. People keep moving here, and it’s never going to stop. Our train system is good for US standards, but if we connected cities instead of making everyone go to Secaucus or Newark people would actually have a reason to use it.

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Hand-Of-Vecna t1_ixcdk2e wrote

> Our train system is good for US standards, but if we connected cities instead of making everyone go to Secaucus or Newark people would actually have a reason to use it.

Oh, I agree here. You need three things to get people to use public transportation:

  1. Clean & Safe.
  2. Reliable.
  3. Cost effective.

  • Clean & Safe (ok, technically two words) - but someone should be able to take a train (or a bus) and it shouldn't feel like you are taking a cattle car. You make the ride a pleasant experience and people will associate that with taking a train. Example? Take a train in France. They are really much nicer than what we have at NJ transit. It's not first class, but taking a train in France is a pleasant experience.

  • Reliable, you need the train (or bus) to operate in such a way that you can calculate the timetables and it's faster or equal than driving to work. People would give up their cars if they knew they could drive to a train station or a bus depot, park their car, and get on a high-speed mass transit solution that is faster (or equal to) driving to work.

  • Cost effective, this is my biggest pet peeve. You really need to design tolls to discourage people from driving from NJ into NYC. Congestion pricing needs to be embraced. Far too many people choose to drive to work because the first two things I pointed out discourage them from driving into work. Some people work 'off hours' and can quickly drive into Manhattan, pay a toll and find street parking.

One key I didn't point out was with the turnpike extension, they hopefully add a 3rd lane to design high speed bus lines during rush hour (like they have at the Lincoln Tunnel near Weehawken). Also, if they can figure out a way to bypass traffic at the Jersey City/Hoboken area - maybe create a 2nd level that goes over the lights and directly to the tunnels?

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Manadox t1_ixd7fy9 wrote

I'm sorry but this is simply one of the most deranged things I've ever read. Nothing short of a nuclear war could ever facilitate the demolition of the NJ Turnpike. There's a lot of ways to reduce traffic on it sure but it's simply too vital of road for private use and commercial trucking. It serves literally hundreds of thousands of passengers and thousands of tons of freight per day. There is frankly no substituting all of that with bus and rail.

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smokepants t1_ixdmtr9 wrote

you dont understand - all they have to do is build 1000 train lines instead and everything will be magically fixed

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alphanovember t1_ixhfmdk wrote

You have to remember that modern Reddit is almost entirely idealistic trend-chasing teenbrains. They're so detached from reality that they think the average person will suddenly want to take 4 times as long and 10 times the effort to get somewhere via bike/train...instead of just driving. They have the reasoning abilities of a sheltered teenager, and it doesn't help that in most subreddits they actually are that.

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vague_diss t1_ixar8h3 wrote

Crap ton of people use that tunnel. That area is a blight and it would be great to fix some of its many problems. Bridges have needed replacing for decades. Some of this is that NJ and actually most of the US desperately needs to update its infrastructure.

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HobbitFoot t1_ixck7rv wrote

They need to replace the whole viaduct from Exit 14 to the Holland Tunnel. Since they are replacing the entire viaduct, they are looking at potential demand including from Hudson County. That is why the cost is so high. It is being discussed in the media as a widening only while this is both a widening and replacement. It will still cost a lot of money to replace the viaduct even if they don't add any extra lanes or shoulders.

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sue_me_please t1_ixbiaj0 wrote

And piss off the fossil fuel industry that's made NJ their home?

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