Come on a journey with Brandon Johnson, Brian Mitchell, and Ian R Buck as they explore the intricacies of planes, trains, and boats.
Transportation Miniseries
CyclingPublic TransitIndividual Car OwnershipThe FutureOverview:
PlanesWhy Flying is So Expensive – YouTubeThings that go into the cost of a flight:FuelCrewAirport feesTaxesFAATSAInternational Transportation TaxAirplaneMaintenanceAdministrative costs of airlineInsuranceVery little of it goes to profit for the airlineHow Budget Airlines Work – YouTubeBudget airlines reduce costs by:Ordering planes in bulk.They still buy new planes because they are the most efficient.Only use one type of plane. Reduces cost of training staff.Less luxury features.Seats don’t recline.No seat pockets to clean in between flights.Flight attendants in the beginning of their careers, with as little training as possible.Flight attendants do more roles, like check people in and clean the plane.Food and drinks are not included with the ticket.Duty-free sales.Don’t operate out of big airports, or when they do they fly at less busy times.Schedule planes for many flights a day, so they are always making money.Not having assigned seats encourages passengers to show up early.Use the point-to-point model.No connections.Have customers print tickets at home, or a kiosk.Having passengers walk up steps to the plane instead of jetways.Phantom flights | The EconomistHidden-city tickets are a way to take advantage of the weird economics of airline pricing.Hypothetical Delta prices:
Atlanta -> Cincinnati $251 (they’re the only ones who fly direct)
Atlanta -> Cincinnati -> Dallas $197 (other airlines fly Atlanta -> Dallas)
You could buy the cheaper ticket and just get off in Cincinnati.This exploit only works as long as few people use it.Big Plane vs Little Plane (The Economics of Long-Haul Flights) – YouTubeHub-and-spoke modelHub airports allow airlines to run far fewer routes; hub-to-hub trunk routes, and hub-to-secondary routes.Trunk routes require large capacity, so you see really big planes flying those.Point-to-point modelDirect flights from secondary airports to other airports.Less demand for most of those routes requires smaller planes.Until recently, smaller planes could not make long enough flights and were not efficient enough.Now that small planes have longer range, we see a rise in Long and Skinny routes.E175Boeing: 787 DreamlinerTrainsWhy Trains Suck in America – YouTubeCities 200-300 miles apart are in the sweet spot for trains to be quicker than planes.Trains were a huge factor in the economic development of America.Freight hauling is where the money is, so passenger cars existed primarily to advertise a railway to the business executives who would be deciding which company to contract with.Once cars and planes took those executives away, there was little point to keeping passenger cars.This Is Why Americans Can’t Have Nice Trains | Al Jazeera AmericaPassenger trains in America operate on other companies’ lines, so they are not given priority.In Europe, not much freight is transported via rail.American cities are much less densely populated than European cities, so they are less walkable.Amtrak is not subsidized enough to get out of the vicious cycle: no money means they can’t improve, which means low ridership, which means no money.Amtrak offers a “fellowship” for writers, artists, creatives — this is part of the aesthetic draw of train travel, as efficiency isn’t really thereWriting Powered by Amtrak – The New YorkerLower cost of tickets and lower supervision (TSA checks aren’t really present on trains) make law enforcement raids of Amtrak somewhat frequent?DEA, Amtrak, and Civil-Asset Forfeiture – The AtlanticHigh speed rail in the Midwest is unfortunately stalledMinnesota | Midwest High Speed Rail AssociationBoatsSlowerCheaperFar less pollutive than planesThough cheap dirty fuel is legal in international watersWater-lockedMore effective for shorter distance and pleasure cruisesFerriesPeopleCarsTrains
Train ferry – Wikipedia
Image: train_ferry_sirkeci_ank14_mp.jpg
CargoWater taxisWater bussesCruise shipsSome longer distances in Northern EuropeBlends with pleasure cruiseHow Maritime Law Works – YouTubeMaritime law!Arrested Development – You’re A Crook Captain Hook – YouTubeA country owns the sea up to 12 miles from shore. “Territorial Waters.”Innocent Passage is allowed through Territorial Waters. Innocent purposes do not include:FishingPollutingWeapons practiceSpyingInnocent passage must be done quickly and without stopping on shore.Another 12 miles out is the Contiguous Zone.Four types of laws can be enforced by a country here:CustomsTaxationImmigrationPollutionWithin 200 miles from shore: Exclusive Economic ZoneIt is International Waters, but the nearest country is the only one allowed to harvest natural resources there.When two countries’ shores are less than 400 miles from each other, it is up to them to figure out who gets access to what.Most times they divide it at the equidistant point.International WatersAll Oceangoing vessels are required to be registered at some country.When the vessel is in International Waters, the home country’s laws apply onboard.When the vessel enters another country’s territorial waters, the laws of that country applies.Baby nationalityAccording to the UN, a baby born in International Waters should inherit its parent’s nationality, regardless of what country the vessel is registered to. Most countries follow this.If a baby is born in Territorial Waters of the US, it automatically gets American citizenship. Not always true in other countries’ Territorial Waters.In an Age of Privilege, Not Everyone Is in the Same Boat – New York TimesBoats, and to a lesser extent planes, are places where we increasingly see a differentiation between rich and middle classSome cruises physically separate the most expensive, exclusive rooms. If you’re not in, you don’t even know they exist.Other cruises make the expensive stuff visible; it advertises the services, but can lead to resentment among the passengers.FRENCHMAN FULFILLS LONGTIME DREAM OF MANKIND BY `WALKING’ ACROSS ATLANTIC OCEAN IN 61 DAYS | Deseret NewsEnvironmental comparisons for Brian’s tripPlane would be ~900 kg/person of CO2 emissionsBoat was ~20 kg/person of CO2 emissionsTrains while moving can have zero emissionsAttributions
“Fireflies and Stardust” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
“It’s a Wonderful Life” Paramount PicturesCopyright
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This episode of The Extra Dimension has a Fringe episode. You should really listen to The Fringe #407: The Plan Was Planned!
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