I just read the article and in it they mentioned Boston as one of the cities that removed their highway. All Boston did was BURY their highway. it’s still there and can handle 4-5 times the amount of traffic the old system could.
One thing about the Big-Dig was the architect of the project actually wanted to see about 40% of the money to upgrade/improve public transportation. When he saw that wasn’t happening he left the project saying it wasn’t going to alleviate traffic. He was right. Commute to Boston is still horrendous.
Buffalo may actually be able to remove a freeway running through their city. It’s seen a resurgence in recent years, it still can’t keep pace with places like Boston.
Syracuse is now pondering on eliminating I-81 through downtown Syracuse. They might be able to do it except on SU game days. That could be a nightmare
In NJ, it would be impossible to eliminate any of our Interstate highways, due to the traffic congestion that we have on roads during rush hours–even with those highways.
On I-287, there are electronic signs that are activated whenever a Rutgers football game is in the offing at their stadium in Piscataway. The signs state something along the lines of…Rutgers Football Game on xx/xx, at xx PM. Plan alternate route. That sign is also activated when there are graduation ceremonies scheduled. When there is a serious-enough accident on that highway to warrant closing all lanes and bringing in the State Police Northstar helicopter for evacuation of injured people, the surrounding roads are gridlocked beyond belief.
There may be some areas where it would be possible to eliminate expressways, but that definitely doesn’t apply to Northern and Central NJ.
That seems to be the case with many administrators/managers. The Dilbert comic strip was more fact than fiction. I quickly discovered the WalMart self check-out was usually worthless. When the bar code on an item would not scan a human cashier could just punch the numbers on the register and move on.
@sgtrock21 Dilbert is my favorite comic strip. The management style of Dilbert’s boss is similar to the style of many university administrators I have encountered. Also, I had colleagues that were lazy and schemers just like those of Dilbert.
I am worried about the day when all the checkout lines at stores such as Walmart become self-scan. I like to interact with people–I guess I am old school.
We do allow people to work at home…but NOT as normal way of business. Many times I had to wait on a delivery or had something going on with one of my kids after school, it was easier to just work at home that day instead of driving all the way. I have a guy that works for me who’s wife is very sick…he works at home a lot. But he doesn’t take advantage of the situation. Produces a lot of work. Some people do take advantage of it. Large companies found it easier to just eliminate the work-from-home policy instead of eliminating the individuals who are taking advantage of it.
@MikeInNH. As long as the work gets done, I don’t have a problem with someone working from home. Where I have a problem is with faculty who live an hour or more commuting time from campus and only show up for their classes. These same people want class schedules so that they only need to be on campus two or three days a week. These faculty are only available via text or email for students and often don’t respond promptly.
My son had a 35 minute commute from the three bedroom house he owned to his campus where he is teaching and working toward a doctorate. He sold the house and moved his wife and 15 year old daughter into a two.bedroom apt 5 minutes from campus. He loves that extra hour a day he gained from not commuting.
Our nearest Wal-Mart seems to have trouble hiring and retaining employees. I believe the ones they do recruit probably wouldn’t be hired anywhere else in our small town. I only see them there. Bless their little hearts.
Many of the cashiers appear to be out of the “Cantina Scene” from Star Wars. Many have self-inflicted facial wounds with jewelry installed in lips, noses, foreheads, etcetera. Hair colors cover the same spectrum as choices on new cars. Others either have tattoos covering arms or hands or they haven’t washed thoroughly, but it’s difficult to tell which is the case.
It creeps me out to see this, even around Halloween. I have trouble with looking at some of this, especially on a full stomach, and would prefer them not handling my food. I use the Self-Check whenever possible. I guess I am old school.
Freeways:
I probably drive on freeways less than 1% of the time. There is one about 20 miles from me, but unless I’m leaving and going north or south it doesn’t help me. CSA
This was a pet peeve of mine for years. And the distance seems in many cases not to be relevant. I know faculty who live an hour from the college where I worked that were always there, and others who lived locally who only showed up for classes. When I first went from private industry to academia, I argued that faculty should work 40 hour weeks, the 40 hours to include both class time (typically 12-15 hours/week) and office time. My argument was not well received. And the idea of working summers? Heresy!!
And it’s gotten worse. Colleges and Universities have dumped (through attrition) many full time faculty for adjuncts in order to reduce “loading” costs, and it’s made the problem much worse.
The impact on traffic of faculty working from home may be a reduction in same, but the impact on the quality of the education provided is also IMHO a reduction in same.
I grew up with women wearing tasteful earrings and veterans with tattoos (usually just one). I wish I could feel sorry for peoples choices but them being “self inflicted” prevents that. The Illustrated Man’s job (If anyone remembers the short story or movie) was in a freak show.
@the_same_mountainbike. We are of the same mind. When I began my university teaching career in 1965, were told that our primary function was teaching. I took that very seriously. Twenty years later we were told that published articles was the only way to tenure and promotion and we were to just keep the lid on in the classroom. The.college in which my department was housed had 23 departments and was administered by a Dean and an assistant to the Dean. When I retired, there were just 20 departments because three departments split off and formed another college. However, the college was now administered by a Dean, three Associate Deans, a.business manager,.an assistant business manager,.and a.fund raiser. At a college meeting the Dean paraded his entire staff onto the stage of the auditorium. The Dean then admonished us to bring in grants because the university rsked 46% off each grant for overhead and some of that money supported his staff. I decided I didn’t want to support his staff, so the next day I put my papers for retirement.
And I’ll bet they reduced the number of full time faculty, replacing them with adjunct, at the same time they were bloating the administration.
I too di the grant thing. I came to the conclusion that life at the college wasn’t about education, but rather about dollars and politics. Fortunately, we still had some great and dedicated profs. Hopefully there always will be.
@the_same_mountainbike. You hit the nail on the head. Mrs. Triedaq puts some of the blame on me. My department had two chairman die in office in a three year period. Some of my colleagues tried to get me to put my name in for chair as did Mrs. Triedaq. My colleagues said that they had the votes to get me elected. I figured with the last two chairman dying in office, it was a plot to get rid of me. Besides, I enjoyed teaching too much to be a high priced clerk shuffling papers. I was sent by my department chair to a department chairs’ meeting in my college. The Dean tried to force a policy through that I thought was detrimental to education. The other department chairs were silent so I started a riot. The other chairs agreed with me and the Dean backed down. I never had to attend another department chairs’ meeting.
My last effort at driving through D-FW was at 6:00am on a Sunday and it was mayhem from end to end. I would prefer to go via Omaha if that were my only other choice.
That is so common. Many colleges are now staffing their professors with 80-90 percent adjunct professors. Average salary is between 20 and 25 thousand a year. Universities like Harvard - adjunct professors only account for 30% of their staff. I know one adjunct professor who teaches at 4 different universities in the Boston area.
Coincidentally, I grew up in Buffalo, and I frequently crossed the Scajaquada Expressway on my bicycle using a pedestrian “curly Q” bridge at Delaware Park. If the locals want to get rid of the expressway, that’s fine with me. I believe in local rule. I just hope the locals don’t regret tearing it down and wasting all the money spent to build and maintain it over the years.
As a motorcyclist, I know several riders who will go out of their way to avoid freeways, but when I ride long distances, I get uncomfortable and choose to expedite my arrival by getting to my destination ASAP. I’ve found I’d rather take freeways than avoid them.
The biggest problem with I-35 from San Antonio to Dallas is that the traffic volume is at a critical mass where someone slowing down to ogle at a stalled car on the shoulder triggers a chain reaction that results in a parking lot. There’s no actual wreck on the highway, but you could call it a “ghost wreck”. You also have ghost wrecks long after an actual wreck is cleared, traffic slowing to a stop near where that wreck used to be for a long time afterwards.
Here’s an animated video that describes the phenomenon.
Those simple solutions only work for simple minds that are eager to get in line and go with the flow. Those of us who are borderline genius understand that we can jockey for position and rush ahead of all the simple minds and get to our destination several minutes sooner where we can pop a brew and drink half of it before everyone else even gets to their driveway. There’s no holding us back with silly logic.
