A man from Whidbey Island wants to meet me. I hit him with logic.
"Unless you have a plane or helicopter, it's not going to work," I said.
"When I moved to Washington State at age twenty-one, I immediately saw that Seattle needs rapid-transit trains,” I explained. "Anyone with half a brain could see it. Seattle has two north/south highways bounded by two bodies of water: the Puget Sound and Lake Washington. There is no room to build more highways.
“But for forty years, Washington residents stupidly voted down rapid-transit. Meanwhile, the population of the Greater Seattle area increased from a half-million to four million people. Now traffic jams are infinitely worse.
"Yes, Whidbey Island is lovely for two weeks in August. Once you get there.
"Driving from Wenatchee to Whidbey Island is a series of logistical problems:
"First, I have to drive three hours over the Cascade Mountains: difficult year-round and dangerous in winter. Then I hit horrendous traffic jams. Frustrating stop-and-go, inching forward, completely stopped. Hours go by. In dreary rain and fog.
"Waiting in an huge line of cars for the Mukilteo ferry. The despair of seeing the ferry leave without me. Repeatedly. I’m not willing to deal with it.
“You say we can be friends. What does that mean? When we meet, what if we like each other and feel attracted? This would make things a thousand times worse!
"I refuse to live in the constant rain of Western Washington. You don’t want to live in sunny Wenatchee. I suggest you date women who live near you."
He conceded.
13
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It's not the same topic, but I work in analyzing an aspect of the vehicle industry and there's a Washington-State-based electric vehicle company that I have always thought highly of, which makes vehicles that help combat traffic (by being motorcycle-sized even though they have four wheels and are super-stable). That company does not appear to have received as much attention from the financial community as some of the others over the last couple of years of SPAC Acquisitions and IPOs, and I am definitely not trying to say I think they are a "good investment" but on the question of their technology and market proposal, I have always liked this idea:
Solving traffic congestion with what we believe to be the world's safest car
Avoids accidents better than any car in history
Commuter Cars
Tango
[commutercars.com]
kmaz
Level 7
May 24, 2021
1
@kmaz
Traffic congestion is caused by too many cars on the road.
Years ago, Portland, Oregon wisely built rapid-transit trains to the suburbs. Downtown Portland is largely closed to cars except deliveries.
Air pollution decreased and it's easy to get around Portland.
kmaz:
Hi @LiterateHiker
Are motorcycles allowed in downtown Portland?
@kmaz
Beats me. I don't live in Portland, Oregon. Look it up.
kmaz:
Ah, I see, I was getting confused about which state, I'll try to look it up, though so far I'm not seeing an answer. My point was basically going to be that the product here does somewhat address the cars-are-the-problem approach since it's not really a car, it's more the size of a motorcycle. This is not to say it's as good as rail and such for serious congestion reductions, just to say that it's not as bad as a transporting one individual.
@LiterateHiker Agreed. I was just in Portland for 2 weeks and witnessed what you described.
Thank you.
That brought back some memories. Ex was stationed at Ft. Lewis, we lived in Tacoma. Then he retired and got a job, we lived in Bothell and Snohomish. I remember the ferries. I remember a ferry ride after a small fry puked in her car seat and started running a fever. We were headed for Whidbey Island.
HippieChick58
Level 9
May 24, 2021
4
Sounds like you've cast your net a bit too wide. Geography kind of a deal breaker for many of us.
Julie808
Level 8
May 24, 2021
3
I never chase guys. They message me first.
Logic can hit you hard when you don't follow it.
Traffic is also quite an issue in the greater Montreal area where I live. Montreal is located on a large island in the middle of the Saint Lawrence river. The downtown area is half way on the southern side of the island. The suburbs are elsewhere on that same island, on the two hundred islands around it and on both sides of the river. (I live in Longueuil - pronounced "Long-Eye" - on the south side.) So you need a whole lot of bridges to move around. Bridges that are always clogged with traffic on rush hours. Sure, there is the metro that goes all around the Montreal island and under the river to Longueuil on the south side and to Laval on the north side.
There is also the Saint Lawrence seaway passing on the south side of the Montreal island, ocean liners and cargo ships going from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, so you need tall bridges or a tunnel on the south side of the island.
QuidamOutrepont
Level 8
May 24, 2021
3
Love that first line, very good to quote.
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