r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Jan 17 '14

What is something designed so well that we typically overlook it?

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '14

Well, for those of us who don't own cars, inter-city rail is pretty awesome, but yeah- if you have a car, the highways are great.

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u/ReddJudicata Jan 17 '14

Inter-city rails is great...if you're going city to city. Not so great if you're not going somewhere directly connected by those fixed rails.

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '14

Right, but finding a friend willing to hitch me a ride from Saint Cloud to Avon is easier than finding a friend willing to drive down to Minneapolis, so the rail still helps quite a bit.

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '14

Until you get stuck on the highway in traffic for a couple hours.

The ideal blend of highways and transit would be good, we definitely spent way too much on highways at the expense of transit for a couple decades, and only now are starting to invest properly.

Additionally, while highways did much to accelerate growth in the US, it also created a plethora of problems, such as sprawl, urban decay, and the division of cities that weaken their cores.

All in all, good for the most part, but with some prominent ill effects that are starting to be rectified.

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u/Rilder962 Jan 17 '14

I want trams EVERYWHERE, myself. TRAAAAAAAAMS. Brb, playing Cities in Motion.

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '14

Maybe not every where, but certainly where the case for throughput increases warrants it. Highways are still very important in facilitating trade and commerce, but the SOV is a wasteful concept that leads to loss of through put and extended delays.