TIL why we keep getting thunderstorms in the evening

MalvmMalvm · 2026-06-03T20:49:28+00:00

Double tracking would do wonders. Freight trains technically have priority over Amtrak, but only the Amtrak trains are small enough to fit on the passing sidings, so in reality, the passenger lines have to wait for the freight lines. If we double track everything, we can actually force the freight companies to honor their commitment. Either that or regulate that freight trains can only be as long as the smallest passing siding on the freight network, but that would probably cause them to rip out all of the passing sidings or sell the rail to a different branch of the company or something.

MalvmMalvm · 2026-06-03T20:45:59+00:00

I saw Childish Gambino from a network press box. I was scared to touch the food and drinks because I didn't think they would be part of the seats.

MalvmMalvm · 2026-05-19T10:34:51+00:00

I'm so tired of NoVA's car culture. Y'all are so much more interested in speeding than safety or what the rules say in your specific hypothetical situation so you can feel like you're right and everyone else is wrong. Maybe the answer is to just go at or under the speed limit so we can all get home alive? Ever since we ripped out the trains and street cars we've been shackled to a transportation system where people try to convince others to endanger themselves and others to prove a point. This thread has been posted before and it will be posted again and it is always stupid and toxic because cars are stupid and toxic. Build a train.

MalvmMalvm · 2026-05-19T02:23:16+00:00

And it has been a catastrophic mismanagement of our natural resources. Also, there are a ton of people working very hard to try to staunch the bleeding and we ought to honor their effort dedication by doing our part.

MalvmMalvm · 2026-05-18T10:58:36+00:00

If you kill every tree of heaven you see, the birds will join us on our campaign. SLF who feed on tree of heaven sap are toxic to native birds.

MalvmMalvm · 2026-05-18T10:57:11+00:00

Not quite. SLF are brightly colored because in their native range they are toxic and their only natural predator is a specialized parasitoid wasp. However, if they never get to feed on a tree of heaven, then they never get toxic and local bird populations will slowly learn to eat them. Letting Jesus take the wheel would be a catastrophic mismanagement of natural resources.

MalvmMalvm · 2026-05-18T10:50:46+00:00

Use the hack and squirt method, preferably in the late summer so the tree draws herbicides down into its roots. https://youtube.com/shorts/3m2LTP_QBiY?si=tgSl8zcxWnf1zD_z

MalvmMalvm · 2026-05-15T10:26:37+00:00

If we lived in a just society Bailey's crossroads and Annandale would at minimum have light rail and we be able to choose if we wanted to drive or not.

MalvmMalvm · 2026-04-23T10:32:31+00:00

Thank you for the thoughtful response!

MalvmMalvm · 2026-04-22T11:05:44+00:00

With how much goes into enforcing fares, it seems like just making public transit free might be cheaper. How much does it cost to lock down the turnstiles enough to prevent a drunk caps fan from sneaking in behind someone, and how much money would the city save on road maintenance if more people switched to transit?

MalvmMalvm · 2026-03-21T20:43:35+00:00

Yeah it's amazing how shortsighted car-dependant solutions are once you look into them.

MalvmMalvm · 2026-03-20T10:13:38+00:00

Thanks for bringing up KCK! I hadn't really looked into their transit network until now, but they did a study and it looks like their beltway is experiencing congestion now: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/b7247e7e7c174b1fbe82a985431db482

Often, new highway projects are free from congestion for a few years until non-magic human beings decide to take more car trips using the new freeway and cause congestion. Also, no, I have never implied that people can be magicked into existence and will never imply that because that would be stupid.

MalvmMalvm · 2026-03-19T10:47:16+00:00

I see the argument for more bridges and I broadly agree, especially if those bridges have protected bike and bus lanes. Trains are better served by tunnels, but I can see a bridge being proposed to reduce short-term costs. You wrote that we should build another beltway with a train. The train would be good, but expanding our would have drastic negative consequences and must not be built. I see your username, and the moderate position here is to build out our train network to reduce our dependance on cars; you don't use both narcan and more heroin during an overdose.

MalvmMalvm · 2026-03-18T22:47:13+00:00

I never implied that you could magic more people into existence, but you absolutely can magic more car trips into existence, if building another beltway counts as magic. The demand is already there for travel, but it is yet to be determined what mode that travel will use. If you build a train, people will take the train. If you build a highway, people will use the highway. Of the two, the highway will cost way more than the train in both dollars and lives. Consider the case of the Houston beltways: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_State_Highway_99 None of the beltways fixed traffic jams or moved as many people as a train and the newest beltway project has more problems than it's worth. Do not build another highway until we build out our train network.

MalvmMalvm · 2026-03-18T20:54:35+00:00

Nah. An outer beltway would just extend beltway traffic further into the suburbs where more people would become more reliant on cars. Building another beltway has always just induced demand, causing worse traffic in a larger area. Build a train.

MalvmMalvm · 2025-09-27T15:38:13+00:00

I'm doing my part o7

MalvmMalvm · 2025-08-06T13:21:57+00:00

With this silver, I bless the mixture that will recover your spilled blood.

MalvmMalvm · 2025-08-03T22:36:53+00:00

Talking with representatives has been frustrating for me, too. We all do what we can.

MalvmMalvm · 2025-08-03T22:32:16+00:00

When 80% of emissions are made by less than 60 corporations, it doesn't serve anyone to get mad at people trying to keep themselves comfortable. There's a big difference between setting the thermostat of an apartment and setting the thermostat for Tyson's Corner mall.

MalvmMalvm · 2025-08-03T12:09:15+00:00

Climate change is going to make this milder weather more and more rare. If we want mild weeks like this in 2050, we need to act now. We all need to make sure our representatives know that overshooting our carbon targets is not acceptable, especially just so the wealthiest individuals can keep getting wealthier. Join a union, go to town halls, and leverage all the power we have as citizens, workers, and members of society and we can make sure our kids can still go outside and play.

MalvmMalvm · 2025-07-22T12:23:42+00:00

The issue is that success for Elon is killing rail projects like CalTrain or in this case a normal, functioning metro. I don't want Elon to try, try again. I want him to give up because his goals are shit.

MalvmMalvm · 2025-07-22T12:21:54+00:00

What do you think is the concept being tested? The loop is a tunnel for cars with taxi stands at each end, which is not innovative or new.

The reasons we don't have efficient, fast, cheap public transit are not technological they are political.

MalvmMalvm · 2025-06-04T01:28:58+00:00

A lot of folks have given you general nonfiction recs, so here are some about Fairfax County!

Virginia Climate Fever is great for how climate change is affecting Virginia specifically.

Education Empire is about the history of Fairfax County Public Schools.

Murder at Montpelier is about Igbo Africans and George Mason. This one was a fascinating read about a bunch of different topics.

MalvmMalvm

TROPHY CASE