Revenue is the thing, no doubt.
Slightly off the original topic, but in the revenue vein, did anyone else here see the 5-part series on weeklystandard.com a few weeks ago about the outright gov't fraud in the intersection speedtraps/stoplight cams? The first of the 5-part series is located
here . The other parts can be linked to therein.
Rant coming, all but TimT feel free to skip...
Commence Rant
TimT -- Sorry to make you regret posting, and I completely agree with what you've said about construction zones, but given your occupation, I've got to know a few things -- Why is so much of the metro NYC area road infrastructure in a condition that would embarrass a third-world country? Don't take this as an accusation at all, but if you've got experience with this stuff, I'd be interested to know a few things:
(1) why "we" as a city can't seem to string together 2 consecutive miles of road w/o dangerous potholes/tanktraps/mysterious humps/general disrepair --motorcyclists in this area take their lives in their hands, even w/o considering other vehicular traffic;
(2) who is the freaking genius that decided that the storm drains on the LIE (and elsewhere around here) ought to be INside the left edge of the "fast"lane (as opposed to being on the inner shoulder and outside the actual traffic lane), so you cannot help but hammer your suspension every 100 yards on drainage grates that are either 2" above the pavement surface, or 4" below; and
(3) is there a centralized road work planning "organization" that (i) ensures that every single major highway in Brooklyn and Queens is under construction at the same time, so escape is impossible and/or (ii) deliberately waits until 6-12 weeks*after* an entire street has been torn up and repaved
to rip 3' wide trenches along/across the new, smooth road surface to lay conduit/fiberoptics/sewer/etc. -- with the result that once the trench(es) are spackled closed (by what I have to assume are blind, drunken stucco school dropouts) the road is as bad as it was before the 6-month repaving?
Damn, I've lived in Brooklyn too long. Again, sorry -- I assume "population density" and "incompetence" (maybe the same thing, hehe) will feature prominently in your responses, if you're patient enough to reply, but I've been dying to find out the answers to these questions. Thanks in advance.
/Rant
- jPp