OwenAug 14, 2023
Genius explanation of congestion and marginal trips.
Show thread🚲Aug 14, 2023
@owen @sanae This makes me wonder if there have ever been any interesting experiments in public transit but for stuff. A lot of things need to move around a city, and some of the same arguments for it being inefficient for humans to travel by car still hold for things too.
Show threadsanae   (SF)

@dx @owen I guess for nonperishables that would be USPS

I have wondered about whether home delivery is on average better than driving to the store, for those who don't live close enough to stores, and whether USPS, which has those carts and does a bit less driving, is better than private alternatives

Aug 14, 2023 at 5:17pmWeb
Show threadOwenAug 14, 2023

@sanae @dx since congestion is a function of space at a specific point in time, my guess is that USPS style delivery is much more efficient than people driving to get what they need.

In the latter situation you're much more likely to have two "things" taking up twice as much space (two vehicles) at a given time than if one vehicle delivered those things at separate times.

Show thread🚲Aug 14, 2023
@sanae Yeah, I think there’s a way for home delivery to be more efficient, especially in suburbs where you’re potentially consolidating tens of individual car trips into a single delivery vehicle trip.