@DiegoBeghin@mastodon.social avatar

DiegoBeghin

@DiegoBeghin@mastodon.social

Docteur en physique, data scientist, belgo-brésilien. Vélo et transports publics.

Blog: metrovelododo.wordpress.com

I speak: EN-FR-PT-ES. Learning DE, but it's still bad.

Fan of Paradox games since EU3.

Migration depuis https://masto.bike/@DiegoBeghin

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

DiegoBeghin, to random
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Still can't believe how much of a slog it is to leave Brussels by the train to North or East. 10 min to do the 5 km nonstop to Schaerbeek, then acceleration to 200 km/h but slow down to 110 to cross Leuven station.

DiegoBeghin,
@DiegoBeghin@mastodon.social avatar

On the approach to Aachen, had to wait 5 min for the opposite direction ICE to pass us. There's only one track at Aachen Hbf for both directions for the high speed trains.

CelloMomOnCars, to thailand
@CelloMomOnCars@mastodon.social avatar

Indonesia is moving its capital to Kalimantan island. And now,

"#Thailand may have to consider relocating its capital #Bangkok because of rising sea levels.

Bangkok’s city government is exploring measures that include building dikes, along the lines of those used in the Netherlands, he said.

But “we’ve been thinking about moving”, Pavich said, noting that the discussions were still hypothetical and the issue was “very complex”."

https://borneobulletin.com.bn/climate-change-could-force-bangkok-to-move-official-warns/

DiegoBeghin,
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@Alon @Colinvparker @CelloMomOnCars Yup. It was planned and completed before the military coup. It was part of a developmentalist plan with broad elite buy in to populate the interior. The military regime kept doing it (Sinop) and the last planned city was built after the transition to democracy (Palmas in 1989).

DiegoBeghin,
@DiegoBeghin@mastodon.social avatar

@Alon @Colinvparker @CelloMomOnCars Of those I have to say I dislike Sinop's urbanism the least. It's got cozy streets, but it lacks a real downtown.

DiegoBeghin, to random
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Green NIMBYism is a mindset of "let's make our city really pleasant to live in... but let's not share it with anybody else". If you create a nice place but don't build housing, rents rise, excluding the poor. Sure, some of your housing may be public/subsidised but those will get waiting lists if you don't build more of them.

(Sorry about the rant, thoughts triggered by my election thread)

DiegoBeghin,
@DiegoBeghin@mastodon.social avatar

And the endgame of a city that builds no housing and no rapid transit is that it will be surrounded by growing car-oriented suburbs.

Sure the core city might be really nice and traffic calmed and pretty... but that will be increasingly irrelevant as the economy gets dominated by the suburbs. Soon you'll be driving to the office park.

DiegoBeghin,
@DiegoBeghin@mastodon.social avatar

You end up like Southeast France: the pretty core city as a tourist ghetto. High end jobs in Aix-en-Provence and Sophia Antipolis, service jobs not catering to tourists will also be in the suburbs. The only people riding transit will be hotel workers and tourists.

/end rant

DiegoBeghin,
@DiegoBeghin@mastodon.social avatar

@djasa
"Of course we need new housing!"
"So let's replace this decrepit house by an apartment building?"
"That historic house you mean? No way"
"What about this greenfield location?"
"And murder that tree??"
"Ok, what about in this former industrial land?"
"We need to thoroughly study the situation."
[10 years later]
"Ok so we've come up with a really good plan, let's build the housing?"
"I'm sorry, but this former industrial land has in the meantime become a beloved park/nature reserve!"

DiegoBeghin,
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@Alon No racism would be a nice difference, but I believe the land use outcome would be the same.

DiegoBeghin,
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@failedLyndonLaRouchite @djasa Also, "turn parks into apartments" is the dishonest NIMBY framing, you're really turning undeveloped (formerly industrial) land into a mix of housing and parkland. None of the proposed plans for Tempelhof build housing on the whole thing, there's always half or more reserved to become a real park, with amenities.

DiegoBeghin,
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@Alon @failedLyndonLaRouchite @djasa Ah well, that concession didn't even appease the NIMBYs.

DiegoBeghin, to random
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I don't like it that in Belgium, you have to choose which social-green politics to support, because the parties only propose half of the package at best.

Socialists: believe in building housing (especially public housing) and metros. But skeptical about traffic calming and bike lanes.

Greens: Very enthusiastic about traffic calming and new tram lines. Skeptical about new housing and the metro.

The regional/federal/EU elections are approaching and I still don't know which way I'm voting.

DiegoBeghin,
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@Alon Green is also clear to me at the EU level. But at lower levels I'm undecided! (We have all elections at once in Belgium)

jon, to random
@jon@gruene.social avatar

🚧 Construction works happen 🚧

So today my ICE is diverted between Frankfurt and Fulda

Yes the trip is longer, but it’s timetabled in, and it’s communicated well ✅

Green: the route I think we’ll take

Map of rail lines east of Frankfurt. A green stripe indicates the likely route to Fulda.

DiegoBeghin,
@DiegoBeghin@mastodon.social avatar

@jon Gotta hand it to SNCF on this one. They do all their routine LGV maintenance at night, so this is never an issue on the main lines.

DiegoBeghin,
@DiegoBeghin@mastodon.social avatar

@jon I've had to cancel a trip to Germany because of scheduled maintenance (timetable was 2h worse on paper, probably even worse in practice), but that was also a situation. DB Netz likes to schedule maintenance during peak intercity travel periods (holidays and summer).

DiegoBeghin,
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@jon For the smaller span of TGV sevice, I'm sure it makes maintenance easier, but it should also be possible with a smaller night time window like in Japan.

I'm mostly blaming SNCF's obsession with maxxing out the capacity in every single train they run for the early stop in the evening service.

jon, to random
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“Mesdames et Messieurs, votre correspondance a été assurée par… OpenRailwayMap”

TER arrives Dijon 10 mins late

12 mins planned connection time becomes 2 mins

Does train manager help at all with connections? No. Not even an apology for the delay announcement

But I know I arrive Voie 3, and depart Voie F. Thanks to OpenRailwayMap I can deduce 3 is a terminus track, exit right, front of the train - for shortest dash to underpass to F

And it worked!

DiegoBeghin,
@DiegoBeghin@mastodon.social avatar

@jon Also classic drunk French platform naming. Letters and numbers, why not.

Alon, to Eurovision
@Alon@mastodon.social avatar

Okay, I'm finally listening to the top 5 songs, and I like Rim Tim Tagi Dim. Hurricane is great, but it doesn't feel as Eurovision-y?

DiegoBeghin,
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@Alon My fave was Ireland. Cathartic.

Alon, to random
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At , at a talk about solarpunk and Games for Future. Speaker talks about positive change needed for decarbonization and gives the historic examples of women's suffrage in 1918 (1971 in Switzerland), indoor public place smoking bans starting 2017... and the closure of the nuclear plants last year. In a talk about the future and climate change.

DiegoBeghin,
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@Alon Indoor smoking bans should be 2007, no?

DiegoBeghin,
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@Alon If anything third spaces are growing in Europe, with the rise of board games cafés and cat cafés and the like.

DiegoBeghin, to random
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Every debate about reducing the use of polluting modes of transport (driving, flying, etc.) goes like this:

  • Driving is harmful to the environment, let's reduce it.
  • But what about this POOR RURAL PERSON who needs to drive all the time?
  • Well, we're not banning it, just making it more expensive.
  • Isn't it unfair that the rich can buy their way out of being green?
  • We'll improve transport alternatives with the tax money.
  • But what about this poor person living in a REALLY remote area?
DiegoBeghin,
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If the environmentalist loses their nerve they'll create a complex set of subsidies and exemptions which will address most sympathetic cases... but probably also defeat their entire primary purpose, reducing car use.

Because there's no magic solution when a behaviour is (1) widespread and (2) harmful to the environment. No matter how gentle you make the transition, there'll be some poor person out there relying on the harmful behaviour to barely get by, and they'll need to do less of it.

DiegoBeghin,
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And if you're angry that the rich can "get away with it", your problem isn't with environmental policy but with income inequality.

Anyway, it's not even true that the rich don't change their behaviour with financial incentives, if by rich you mean the upper middle class. They'll still be able to drive as much as they want, but there'll be fewer SUVs on the road.

DiegoBeghin,
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The alternative to "sin taxes" is heavily regulating or outright banning the harmful practice and that way lies dystopian nightmare. Do you really want to set up a bureaucracy determining how much you're allowed to drive/take the plane based on your life circumstances?

DiegoBeghin,
@DiegoBeghin@mastodon.social avatar

And I get it, I am actually part of a sympathetic group. My family is spread out across 2 continents, even if I only see them once in a while it's still multiple 1000s of flying kms a year on average.

But I can still meaningfully change my behaviour. Let's say flights were dirt cheap, I might go to Brazil twice a year for one or two weeks at a time, why not? But if they were way more expensive maybe I'd only go once every 2 years, and stay a whole month there each time.

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