San Francisco most prepared for oil crisis?

Wellington Council has implemented ePetitions, which in themselves are rather ridiculous… but petitions are stupid anyway, collect some signatures? yeah, that’s a great way to ensure the right people get their say. And then they only need such a small percentage anyway.

Public petitions should be conducted the same way that bills are called form the floor in parliament. Actually scrub that, parliament should be effectively dissolved. We should have a council of representatives that represent us to the rest of the world and also help inform us and legislative drafters of the implications of particular pieces of legislation. Then everyone should vote on which bills should be enacted and which require revision.

We have the technology, so why not…

Anyway, the Wellington ePetition isn’t too bad. You must fill in contact details and say that you won’t fill in the petition multiple times or enter fraudulent information. It is just a petition after all, so it is probably secure enough.

I’m not necessarily against this particular petition: Bring Back the Trams - Make Wellington a Pedestrian, Cycle and Tram friendly city. But do people really think that San Francisco is most prepare dfor any coming oil crisis?

The city most prepared for the oil crisis is San Francisco - what does San Francisco have? TRAMS!

San Francisco is a lovely place, at least parts of it. But unfortunately (or fortunately) trams only accomodate a small fraction of the areas transportation needs. Effectively the Trams in San Fran are as useful as our cable car and is mostly a tourist attraction. Though the traffic in San Francisco is quite light.

San Francisco does have the BART tube and rail system, but this seems to predominantly cover central lines. Though I presume nobody wants to dig rail through the Wellington areas that don’t already have it.

It would be pretty pointless putting in a Tram system without connecting the dots. It would just congest traffic more in different places. Amsterdam has a pretty good Tram system and a love of cycling; wouldn’t it be amusing watching Courtenay place empty at 3am with drunken cyclists? But in Amsterdam motorists are much more forgiving of the cyclists and the cyclists actually have a good amount of room to ride.

In New Zealand, most motorists are w@n43rs! And the cyclists actually on the road have pretty hardened attitudes as well. It would be as worthwhile changing driving attitudes, as it would be reducing the congestion.

Some San Francisco links: