Recent posts

#1

General Highway Talk / Re: Metric Signs

Last post by Scott5114 - Today at 06:53:09 PM

Secession is illegal in the US, and has been since, de facto, 1865, and de jure since 1869 (and if you include the Articles of Confederation, then since 1781).  So, no, it's not likely at all.

What the laws of the United States say only matters if the government of the United States remains a going concern. Or if the government of the United States remains able and willing to enforce them.

I'm not convinced all of those will remain true.

#2

General Highway Talk / Re: Metric Signs

Last post by LilianaUwU - Today at 06:23:49 PM

By contrast, Canada has an act that allows for session, the Clarity Act: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarity_Act

And yet, when Québec tried, Canada meddled in, and rigged, the referendum to make sure we remained in Canada.

#3

General Highway Talk / Re: Metric Signs

Last post by Brandon - Today at 06:21:27 PM

With the way things have been going recently in Canada, should some of those western provinces eventually gain independence and then join the USA . . .

With the way things have been going in America, I think it's more likely that it will have fewer states rather than more in the future.

Secession is illegal in the US, and has been since, de facto, 1865, and de jure since 1869 (and if you include the Articles of Confederation, then since 1781).  So, no, it's not likely at all.  Texas v. White: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_v._White

By contrast, Canada has an act that allows for session, the Clarity Act: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarity_Act

[only]

#4

General Highway Talk / Re: USA Toll Transponder Inter...

Last post by Brandon - Today at 06:15:40 PM

mentioning that only the PRO / hardcase / Uni transponders are E-ZPass interoperable

That might not be true any more.  E-ZPass agencies have been upgrading their equipment to accept stickers, and Illinois has switched to issuing stickers (nearly?) exclusively.

ISTHA only issues the stickers now.
https://agency.illinoistollway.com/about-ipass

#5

General Highway Talk / Re: USA Toll Transponder Inter...

Last post by Brandon - Today at 06:12:37 PM

So if I have a KTAG and need to drive up to Chicago in September, should I open an I-PASS account associated to my Kansas license plate before I go, or will my KTAG work on the tollways?

As far as I'm aware, Kansas has not joined the IAG, so even though it's a sticker, it won't work. Only SunPass would work in both KS and IL given that FDOT has a separate agreement with the central hub in addition to being an IAG member.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Don't think your statement needs correcting. I-Pass stickers usually need 14 business days from the time of ordering to the time you receive. If traveling before this period elapses, Sani should probably register for pay by plate instead, since once I-Pass registration begins you're locked out of your account until the stickers are ready.

That's only if you do it by mail.  Stop by a Jewel-Osco or Road Ranger and pick one up.  That will be activated on the spot.

#6

Off-Topic / Re: Minor things that bother y...

Last post by LilianaUwU - Today at 05:23:40 PM

I also think constant doomposting is unhealthy. And don't get me started on social media shoving it in my face... I'm trying to watch YouTube or scroll Reddit and I get constantly reminded of it because people won't shut the fuck up about it.

YouTube (which I otherwise love) is awful about that.  It sees what you like watching, and then it feeds you ever more far-right or far-left videos—depending on which side you started out leaning toward.  So, the videos you enjoyed watching in the beginning may have been somewhat moderate, but they become less and less so over time.  And, with that, you have two possibilities:  (a) your political ideologies fall in lock-step with the radical progression of video content, in which case you become more and more angry with the state of affairs in the word;  (b) you don't, in which case you get more and more angry with the content you're watching.

It's half the reason I ditched my smartphone shortly after the pandemic started.

The thing is, I don't even watch anything by political content creators. I watch gaming content, and yet YouTube STILL wants to shove politics down my throat.

[4]

#7

General Highway Talk / Re: Lowest numbered route you ...

Last post by jlam - Today at 05:07:08 PM

I got an image of a 3 in Alaska, grainy as it may be. Now I'm all the way up at 4.

#8

General Highway Talk / Re: No more 'rainbow' crosswal...

Last post by kalvado - Today at 04:59:19 PM

Usual response is that while some top brass are political appointes, lower level bureaucracy stays and keeps things going. But looks like those lower level professionals are no longer there, most likely boomers going into sunset.

A few reasons why there are a lot fewer people there.  I'm most familiar with the NY division since I know people there, but they lost a very large chunk of people in the last six months.  Not many retirements, either.  They lost a couple (which percentage-wise is a lot, since division offices aren't very big) in the DOGE layoffs, and between those, the current administration making working conditions a lot worse (r/FedNews can summarize that a lot better than I can, but suffice to say this isn't a case of "they won't let us telecommute any more so I quit"), and threats of future, more wide-scale layoffs, a very large chunk of staff took the last deferred resignation offer.  Two of the displaced feds now work for NYSDOT.

You are talking about short term trends, which are largely driven by desperate need for budget cuts. There are also a long term trends, you actually gave a very interesting insight at some point when talking about very nysdot conservative design approaches.... That was a few years ago...

[Lived in]

#9

General Highway Talk / Re: State Clinches - Various C...

Last post by jlam - Today at 04:49:09 PM

An update after a road trip out west. New in blue:

Lived in

2 - AZ, CO

Been in, including visits where you never left the vehicle or the landed plane

32 - AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, (DC), FL, GA, IA, ID, KS, MB, MD, MN, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WY

Set foot in, including airport-only visits

32 - AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, (DC), FL, GA, IA, ID, KS, MB, MD, MN, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WY

Set foot in, excluding airport-only visits

32 - AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, (DC), FL, GA, IA, ID, KS, MB, MD, MN, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WY

Set foot in, excluding clinch-motivated border crossings with less than a mile of penetration

29 - AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, (DC), FL, GA, IA, ID, MN, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WY

Spent the night in

24 - AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, (DC), FL, GA, IA, ID, MN, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OR, SC, SD, TX, UT, WA, WY

Spent more than one night in a row in

17 - AK, AZ, CA, CO, (DC), FL, GA, ID, MN, ND, NE, NM, OR, SD, TX, UT, WY

Driven a vehicle in

8 - CA, CO, MT, ND, NV, OR, WA, WY

Ridden a plane in (landing or taking off only)

8 - AK, AZ, CA, CO, FL, OR, TX, VA

Ridden a helicopter in

0 - None

Ridden a train in

8 - AZ, CA, CO, (DC), FL, MD, OR, VA

Ridden a moving boat in

8 - AK, CO, FL, ND, NE, TX, UT, WY

Been on a boat in

8 - AK, CO, FL, ND, NE, TX, UT, WY

Ridden a roller coaster in

2 - CA, CO

#10

General Highway Talk / Re: No more 'rainbow' crosswal...

Last post by vdeane - Today at 04:34:21 PM

Usual response is that while some top brass are political appointes, lower level bureaucracy stays and keeps things going. But looks like those lower level professionals are no longer there, most likely boomers going into sunset.

A few reasons why there are a lot fewer people there.  I'm most familiar with the NY division since I know people there, but they lost a very large chunk of people in the last six months.  Not many retirements, either.  They lost a couple (which percentage-wise is a lot, since division offices aren't very big) in the DOGE layoffs, and between those, the current administration making working conditions a lot worse (r/FedNews can summarize that a lot better than I can, but suffice to say this isn't a case of "they won't let us telecommute any more so I quit"), and threats of future, more wide-scale layoffs, a very large chunk of staff took the last deferred resignation offer.  Two of the displaced feds now work for NYSDOT.