The benefits of competition

26Jun08

For anyone travelling between Toronto and New York, I whole-heartedly endorse Greyhound’s new Neon Express service. I have to admit I barely even noticed the ‘express’ modifier, since that term rarely seems to apply to inter-city buses. But it’s actually express – there is a single rest stop, the mandatory customs stop, and nothing else. [...]

Filed under: economics, nyc, toronto, travel   |  1 Comment

Post-trip statistics

23Mar08

Start
Finish
Mode
Distance (km)
Cost ($)

Edmonton
Vancouver
Train
1153
209

Vancouver
Seattle
Bus
230
43

Seattle
Portland
Train
279
36

Portland
Salem
Bus
74
11

Salem
Sacramento
Train
718
59

Sacramento
Richmond
Train
50
19

Emeryville
Merced
Train
197
29

Merced
Yosemite
Bus
103
24

Yosemite
Merced
Bus
103
24

Merced
Bakersfield
Train
265
32

Bakerville
Los Angeles
Bus
179
21

Los Angeles
San Diego
Train
193
29

San Diego
Los Angeles
Train
193
29

Los Angeles
Santa Barbara
Train
153
21

Santa Barbara
San Luis Obispo
Train
171
25

San Luis Obispo
Emeryville
Bus
368
34

Emeryville
Salt Lake City
Train
1169
68

Salt Lake City
Denver
Train
859
82

Denver
Chicago
Train
1618
119

Chicago
Buffalo
Train
863
72

Buffalo
Toronto
Train
158
37

Toronto
Ottawa
Train
453
90

Total Distance
9549

Dollars/km
0.063776312

Total carbon emissions (kg)
467.901

 

Total value of rail pass
1113

Money “saved”
504

Hopefully this will be useful to anyone researching the North American Rail Pass (which I got for $609 Canadian). Obviously, I got good value out of it — [...]

Filed under: economics, travel   |  3 Comments

What is beetle probing?

16Dec07

This is the question I asked a month ago, and the interweb had no answer. Let now this knowledge be added to our collective memory:

 
Beetle probing is a seasonal occupation in the forestry industry that is a combination of surveying and pest control. It involves assessing which trees in a given [...]

Filed under: economics, work   |  2 Comments

True cost pricing, in the present

25Oct07

In my honours thesis, I wrote about how the tendency of humans to discount future value is what makes sustainability so problematic – whenever we can create an advantage in the present by disadvantaging the future, we do so. My friend Josh points this out when he says that it’s “too good to be true” [...]

Filed under: economics, environment   |  1 Comment

Barriers to knowledge

28Jun07

The Google Public Policy Blog reports that Google is asking the US government (among others) to consider pursuing a WTO complaint against China on a matter that seems to combine the good and the profitable: that censorship constitutes a barrier to trade for the information industry. Despite Google’s much-publicized agreement with China to co-operate in [...]

Filed under: economics, law, tech   |  Leave a Comment

Post-geographic pollution: Debunking the eco-city

15May07

In this lecture the man who invented the term “ecological footprint”, William Rees, rips apart the notion that any North American city could declare itself sustainable.

Looking at Shanghai and Vancouver, it’s easy to think that there is a sharp difference in environmental practice is going on here: coal-generated electricity and overpopulation make Chinese [...]

Filed under: economics, environment   |  3 Comments