Friday Reads – 6 September 2019

On By In Friday Reads, New York, Pedestrians

• NYC new farecard decades behind London’s Oyster (NYPost)

• E-scooters pulled from Miami streets to avoid ‘Scooternado’ (Gizmodo)

• Toronto Green Line parkway proposal (UrbanToronto)

• Freight trains could help predict earthquakes/ (PhysicsWorld)

• First US telecommuting tax credit? (Curbed)

• Amazon Next-Day Delivery brings chaos & carnage to streets (BuzzFeed)

• New Kolkata East West Metro line about to open (Railway-Technology)

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12 comments

  1. The “Amazon” article is very scary indeed ….
    It would appear that no-one is actually responsible, except the poor schmuck at the bottom end, how convenient.

  2. The Amazon article describes the situation in the “land of the free”.

    There is a summary of UK and EU requirements concerning drivers’ hours at https://www.gov.uk/drivers-hours. Can anyone comment on how effective these rules are and what is done to enforce them?

    Also, what constraints, other than general Health & Safety legislation, are there on scheduling drivers’ activity, so they do not have to go further or do more work than is reasonably practicable within road safety rules?

  3. Well I knew it was bad, but the Buzzfeed article has convinced me to make a conscious effort to never buy anything else from Amazon ever again. I know similar pressures exist in all home delivery networks, but the treatment this particular despicable behemoth inflicts on its contractors and employees seems particularly vindictive, almost psychopathic in some of theses cases. Oh and then there’s the corporate tax thing as well. I guess we can look forward to the free market excesses seen in this sector in the US being replicated here in Blighty, once the debilitating yoke of EU safety standards and regulations have been democratically thrown aside.

  6. As an aside, the fatal Amazon van, as pictured, is surely nothing like “three ton” as it was described at the start of the article. Re. buying from Amazon, or any other supplier of goods or services, we all can choose yes or no based on our perception of commercial probity and morality. Likewise, the drivers can choose whether or not to engage in the trade. It’s a fact of life that some businesses are seen by some as exploitative. I for one see the ludicrous market in football relica shirts, inevitably changed each year (at least) to mimic the real thing, as much more iniquitous, considering the sweatshop conditions they are produced in. But the mugs continue to buy them.

  7. @LiS
    The situation in the UK is broadly similar, in that smaller vans, like the Mercedes Sprinter cited in the article, are not HGVs and drivers’ hours regulations do not apply.
    I presume though that the Working Time Directive does apply, but if you are effectively self-employed or even multiply-employed, this can be bypassed too.
    Time for a delivery tax, I think, which would also discourage the scourge of supermarket vans parking illegally and on pavements – and provide some much needed-relief for bricks-and-mortar businesses in our high streets.
    In an ideal world, I’d also tax free car parking at retail parks and the like…

  8. “Supermarket vans parking illegally and on pavements”. Even driving on a pavement, except to cross it to reach private land, is illegal. On the other hand, stopping on, say, a double yellow line, or even (if necessary) in the middle of a road, blocking it, can be legal to make a delivery. Stopping to make a delivery is not “parking”.

    Of course sometimes a supermarket van (wherever it stops to deliver) does constitute an attack on bricks-and-mortar shops. But sometimes it provides a vital service for customers who could not possibly carry their shopping home, and would otherwise be obliged to use taxis (or a friend’s car) which would be similarly obliged to stop in an equally awkward place to drop off the shopping and sometimes the infirm customer as well.

    Arguably a supermarket van, making multiple deliveries, makes better use of the road than the same number of customers, each using a separate vehicle to go to and from a high street shop.

  9. re: GARRY BROWN – As an aside, the fatal Amazon van, as pictured, is surely nothing like “three ton”.

    Sprinter 2500 Crew Van – 6 Cylinder 170″ WB
    Base Curb Weight lbs. 5,754 ( 2.877 US Tons)
    add fuel for 3

    Max. Payload, lbs. 2,796
    Max. Available GCWR, lbs. 13,550

  10. Amazon Prime van, currently in use in London – just seen stopped outside my office:

    Mercedes Sprinter 314 CDi panel van

    Kerb weight 2,113 kg

    Max payload 1,387 kg

    Gross weight 3,500 kg

  11. The fatal Amazon van was reported to be a Nissan, not a Mercedes, and the picture in the article of the aftermath of the accident indeed appears to show a US spec Nissan NV Cargo. Payload of the Nissan (and presumably all-up weight, although I can find no figures for the latter) similar to those for the Merc Sprinter.

    In any case, the figures for a Crew Van would be different as the word “Crew” implies a van with two rows of seats

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