News San Francisco will spend $212 million to bid 5.25-inch floppy disks goodbye — Muni Metro light rail upgrade represents a $700 million investment

[Admin]

San Francisco's light rail system will soon replace floppy drives.

San Francisco will spend $212 million to bid 5.25-inch floppy disks goodbye — Muni Metro light rail upgrade represents a $700 million investment : Read more

 

[emike09]

Insane that they're still using 5.25" floppies. I started learning computers when 5.25" was still common, but 3.5" was quickly becoming the new standard. 35 years ago. Are they going to replace them with zip disks?

 

[tom2tec]

This happens because the greedy people in charge direct all the financial resources towards their own salaries, pensions and benefits so there's nothing left over for upgrades. This is typical in a corrupt self-serving and irresponsible bureaucracy.

 

[Co BIY]

Do they even bother to collect fares ?

Does the ridership justify further investment ? To invest nearly a Billion dollars I'd want to hear more about what the city is getting for it's money.

Annual rides - 24.3 Million.

 

[subspruce]

Do they even bother to collect fares ?

Does the ridership justify further investment ? To invest nearly a Billion dollars I'd want to hear more about what the city is getting for it's money.

Annual rides - 24.3 Million.

this is the chicken and egg problem of transit. oh wait this is tomshardware not NotJustBikes comment section

 

[bradhouser]

Do they even bother to collect fares ?

Does the ridership justify further investment ? To invest nearly a Billion dollars I'd want to hear more about what the city is getting for it's money.

Annual rides - 24.3 Million.

Fares cover about 25% of the expenses. Public transit if heavily subsidized.

https://www.sfmta.com/system/files/finance/fy2023_sfmta_financial_statements_-_final.pdf

2023 : (Thousands)
Total operating revenues $ 350,656
Total operating expenses $ 1,423,618

These agencies do not plan for upgrades, they defer them while the costs keep going up.

 

[Co BIY]

Fares cover about 25% of the expenses. Public transit if heavily subsidized.

https://www.sfmta.com/system/files/finance/fy2023_sfmta_financial_statements_-_final.pdf

2023 : (Thousands)
Total operating revenues $ 350,656
Total operating expenses $ 1,423,618

These agencies do not plan for upgrades, they defer them while the costs keep going up.

When you waste three dollars for every dollar you bring in doing nothing is about the best thing you can do!

Busses are almost always a much better public transit solution. Totally flexible but no "Sexy" and much smaller more manageable contracts that no one gets rich on.

 

[Co BIY]

this is the chicken and egg problem of transit. oh wait this is tomshardware not NotJustBikes comment section

What is the chicken and egg problem here?

They have a well established system , fully built out. They already provide free rides to anyone under 20, over 65 or disabled or poor. Where is the demand going to come from?

Don't understand the "Notjustbikes" comment. I'm fairly pro bike. Of course no one is taxing me to pay for their bike.

 

[Co BIY]

This happens because the greedy people in charge direct all the financial resources towards their own salaries, pensions and benefits so there's nothing left over for upgrades. This is typical in a corrupt self-serving and irresponsible bureaucracy.

I see no evidence presented that there are greedy people dragging down the public transit system in arguably the most progressive city in America.

Seems like a lack of demand and inefficient delivery typical of rail solutions unsuitable to anything except the most densely populated cities in the world. You need a density and total population similar to Tokyo, London or New York for metro rail to work. That excludes most cities.

 

[tom2tec]

I see no evidence presented that there are greedy people dragging down the public transit system in arguably the most progressive city in America.

Seems like a lack of demand and inefficient delivery typical of rail solutions unsuitable to anything except the most densely populated cities in the world. You need a density and total population similar to Tokyo, London or New York for metro rail to work. That excludes most cities.

You see no evidence that public officials are overpaid? You obviously aren't looking. Six figure salaries while poor people are homeless, hungry and dying on our streets. This sound like an affluent person who never bothers to look down and see how many others are suffering so you can enjoy your privileges... that doesn't sound very 'progressive', just saying.

 

[Co BIY]

You see no evidence that public officials are overpaid? You obviously aren't looking. Six figure salaries while poor people are homeless, hungry and dying on our streets. This sound like an affluent person who never bothers to look down and see how many others are suffering so you can enjoy your privileges... that doesn't sound very 'progressive', just saying.

True, I haven't seen many drug addicted homeless people supporting my extravagant lifestyle. But I'm not in the Bay Area where they are such a large and important part of the productive economy.

 

[tom2tec]

True, I haven't seen many drug addicted homeless people supporting my extravagant lifestyle. But I'm not in the Bay Area where they are such a large and important part of the productive economy.

a criminal economy based on classism and economic exploitation which is in the process of collapse

ever notice how the overly affluent dwell in denial and self-justification

 

[cgilley]

only government can spend 200+ million to replace floppy drives using other peoples money.

 

[cgilley]

a criminal economy based on classism and economic exploitation which is in the process of collapse

ever notice how the overly affluent dwell in denial and self-justification

wth are you babbling about?

 

[tom2tec]

only government can spend 200+ million to replace floppy drives using other peoples money.

nah, if this was the military, that'd be twice as expensive and it would be 'top secret' of course

 

[cgilley]

nah, if this was the military, that'd be twice as expensive and it would be 'top secret' of course

smart a$$ 😉 but you forget. For anyone to sell anything to the DOD, it has to have sufficient paperwork to document the part. When the B1B was built, the documentation (that no one EVER reads) weighed more than the plane.

True story: I worked at Hughes Aircraft in Tucson in the mid 80s. The DOD was pushing efficiency. Hold that thought. At the time, every item in the thingie being bought was priced out. Screws, bolts, it was stupid. Toss on the paperwork. So, back to efficiency - the Missile Systems Group where I worked made the Roland, the Phoenix, the TOW, the Maverick and were starting on the AMRAAM. There were some other projects I won't comment on.

In the end, a screw is a screw. But HAC was legally required to purchase the screw as specified by contract. We could not buy the perfectly acceptable screw that was 0.01, no, we had to buy the $1.00 screw. If the buyer changed from the contract, the company was accused of product substitution. We simply could not save the government money. Now, we weren't saints, but this went on an on. But wait, it gets better.

So, to save $$, the DoD forced on us SAS (biggest abortion I have ever seen). So, SAS rolls out, looks at all the parts, screws and bolts ALL of the projects need and starts combining orders. So, 5 missile systems use one screw that costs one cent. But according to contract, they each have to be charged differently. Worse, SAS might order parts (screws) that aren't to contract terms. Product substitution lawsuit. And this happened.

The problem is the beauacracy and the idiots that have no idea what they are doing. This goes from E8 all the way to 5 stars. You lose track of the mission, people die. When it's not dangerous, you get lazy.

 

[cgilley]

I was out on the road the other day. Very, very few people take public transit to go from place to place. There is some that have to go into the city because the federal state and local governments will only build offices and other debris in the downtown area. They are 40 years behind tech, but hey, we're talking about floppies here, right?

So, I'm sitting at a light and a local county's bus goes by. 1 rider and the driver. Over a decade , i have never seen more than 5 passengers on a bus; hell our local school system is required to continue to provide busses but the helicopter parents won't use them. So, 100+ busses go out for 5% ridership.

This is ridiculous. In my area, and well SF lost its brains decades ago.