Sunday, October 25, 2015

Monday, October 12, 2015

Build and they will come, or The Black Hole Theory of Highway Investment




These incredible scenes reminded me of a quote by Plane (1995) about the Black Hole Theory of Highway Investment:
"Initial investments in improved highway facilities result in greater ease of travel and hence altered travel patterns, including an increase in average trip length and in the number of trips being made. Over time, as shown in Figure 18.1, this increased demand stimulated by the initial investment in increased transport supply fuels the need for even more facilities, and the feedback process repeat itself. This familiar phenomenon has been called the black-hole theory because some people claim that investing in highways is like throwing money into a black hole" (Plane, 1995 p.439)

photo credit: Rafael Pereira


Reference:
  • Plane, D. A. (1995). Urban transportation: policy alternatives. In Hanson & Giuliano (Eds.) The geography of urban transportation. (2nd ed.) New York ; London: Guilford Press.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Urban Picture

Solar Farm in Spain

[image credit: Google Maps]

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Compare the subway systems of Rio and Shanghai between 1979 and 2014

A nice GIF comparing the expansion of the subway systems in Rio de Janeiro and Shanghai between 1979 and 2014.

[image credit: ? via Lucas Gaspar on FB]

We've seen this before, but I couldn't resist posting this GIF (it covers a wider time span, it is quite straightforward and I love gifs

The hidden inequality of who dies in car crashes

Emily Badger has written an interesting piece on The Washington Post covering a recent study that discuss socioeconomic inequalities in car crashes in the US between 1995 and 2010.



Friday, October 2, 2015

off-topic: feeling of the day


When you're arguing with someone online
source: somewhere on facebook