
Underwater Tunnels Revolutionize the Faroes - scapecast
https://www.maritime-executive.com/features/underwater-tunnels-revolutionize-the-faroes
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mannykannot
In other news, it is apparently economically infeasible for the states of New
York and New Jersey to build another railroad tunnel under the Hudson river.

The GDP of the Faeroe islands is in the $2-3bn range, with 3% aid from
Denmark. That's less than 1% of New Jersey, and closer to 3 orders of
magnitude less than New York City.

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ceejayoz
The article says the new tunnels will cost €50,000 per inhabitant.

I don't know that NY/NJ need it _that_ badly, and unlike the Faroes, what the
area needs more are _alternative_ travel methods (or more capacity for
existing alternatives), not more cars.

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Retric
Tunneling costs have nothing to do with the population size.

If NYC has 100x the population they would spend 1% as much per person for the
same tunnel. At most the question is how much demand you would get and thus
how large a tunnel you want. But even then you could simply build one, charge
enough to pay for the next and keep going that way.

~~~
ceejayoz
Size and complexity of tunnels increases as the population it serves does.
Railroad tunnels have stricter grade and curve requirements than car tunnels,
as well.

It is also already _possible_ to get from NJ to NYC in a _relatively_
reasonable amount of time, which makes the cost/benefit different than the
Faroes turning things from half a day to minutes.

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Retric
Demand is related to population size, but it's far from 1:1. Many people in
NYC would have no reason to use this tunnel where presumably everyone on a
small island would use it if it's replacing the existing ferry.

Further demand is also a revenue source, if 100,000 people per day to use a
tunnel that's a much large revenue stream that's going to pay for a larger
tunnel.

What population size directly provides is easier financing. NYC could for
example build a tunnel without going into debt and then use the revenue from
tolls for other things.

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cschmidt
That reminds me of an interesting 2017 BBC article on the Faeroe islands.
Apparently women have been moving away more than men, leading to a gender
imbalance. So there are 300 or so wives imported from Asian countries out of a
population of 50k.

[http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-39703486](http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-39703486)

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crazygringo
"First Atlantic subsea roundabout".

Wow! Seems to imply there's already a non-Atlantic subsea roundabout, but my
Google-fu is failing me...

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sykh
Logically speaking if it is the first subsea roundabout then it is also the
first Atlantic subsea roundabout. But due to how we normally communicate and
interpret things one naturally might assume as you did. Our normal
communication/interpretation does not follow rules of logic. It’s interesting
that this is so.

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8ytecoder
The way US funds public transport sometimes feel really silly to me. It costs
$5 to drive across the Bay Bridge. Traffic is a nightmare. But it costs at
least $7 for the same trip on the Bart. Bart is still at full capacity showing
a clear market for it. A new tunnel would ease the traffic on the bridge and
provide better public transport. But, even the so called progressive
politicians talk about building a new bridge. Similarly costs are absolutely
outrageous - it could cost up to $400 million just to add a bike lane to the
Bay bridge.

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magissima
Misspelling public as pubic once may just be a typo, no big deal. Misspelling
public as pubic twice in the same post... Maybe that says something about
public transport in SF.

