Government waste

A very good idea for one-way people.

Going postal, are we?

My mailbox is only on one side of the street.

(no houses across the street)

No saving - the postman uses a bicycle.

Day off today watching the postman drive up and down every street in the neighborhood in both directions...stop & go, stop & go...can't be getting more than 8 miles to the gallon, USPS says they average 10.3 mpg.

According to the Federal Highway Administration 2008 statistics, there are 2,734,102 miles of paved public roads in the United Sates, with an additional 1,324,245 miles of unpaved public roads. This information can be found in Table HM-12 of "Highway Statistics 2008."

Interstate highways account for only 1% of this so basically the Post Office has to cover roughly 3,600,000 miles a day, six days a week.

These numbers are from the USPS site: http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/postalfacts.htm

• 1.25 billion — number of miles driven each year by our letter carriers and truck drivers
• 444 million — number of gallons of fuel used in 2009 Now say that only half is residential pick-up and delivery. If they were able to create route patterns that would eliminate 1/3 of the miles driven by putting the mailboxes on the same side of the street they could save almost 15,ooo,ooo gallons of fuel a year...forever.

Are we to assume that you live in a rural or suburban area and are using a rural post box?

Mail is still delivered on foot in many locations.

But yes, the postal service runs up and down both sides of my street wasting fuel while UPS and private companies, not too lazy to leave the truck make but one pass.

My concern would be the USPS truck running down the UPS driver who is running across to the other side to drop his package.

I'm confused. So since the government hasn't dictated that all mailboxes be on one side of the road, it's "government waste"?

Waste to the Government is 0 since the Post Office is not considered a government subsidized entity. At least not in the U.S. With the new FSS machines, they position the mail into boxes that dictate how their route goes. It is actually the most efficient since they do not retrace steps or double back. Time is money! UPS only delivers to a few houses on any block. The Postal Service usually has a drop in every home or business.

Which side would you have them on?

My side will be fine.

Put them down the middle it will help keep the traffic apart.
Del

Further following the extremely interesting idea it should be compulsory to build ALL haouses only on one side of the roads! Imagine the economies in cabling and other services. The idea can be also related to ecological aspects as for instance the other side of roads are used to plant trees increasing the green and reducing the green hous effect. Finaly I agree "One way is the solution". Now what do we do ? Do we destroy all houses on the opposite side? How do we define the opposite side ? We stay in front of very complex problems for the next decades. I think this suggestion has to be transmitted to the "greens" trhey will accept it I hope and do all politics to bring it alive. You also imagine what a business will be to build anew half of the country houses! No unemployment anymore and for decades or even centuries. An other intersting aspects is that we can narrow the rods by half since only one way are needed. This will reduce as well the number of accidents and death. Only positve aspects definitely the idea has to be analysed in the depth and may be a rep^resentative will accept to make the suggestion in the different parliaments since this should be a world wide action.

Most houses are on only one side of the roadexcept maybe this one. Not a mailbox in site tho...

I am sincerely sorry to disagree especially when I came to the conclusion to support this fantastic idea, but in ALL towns I had the opportunity to visit (even VERY small so small that the notion of "town" was almost not adecuate) houses are on BOTH sides of the roads (or streets). Only in very desert zones where the people density very low only one side is used since there is no need for a second house on the other. As you may know the trend in the whole world is to a concentration of the population and a strong reduction of rural comunities. Any way only in towns the idea has a reason to be promoted there where houses are on both sides of the roads or streets. I appologize for the writing errors in my previous note but I became so entusiastic that I did not check any more the text bas I usually do.

What if Email was made mandatory ? Snailmail users to be penalised by having to go collect their own mail ?

correction: ...same side of the road.

How about this for those living on the "wrong" side of the road_{(From Wiki):} Modern day Pneumatic tube terminal used in factories, supermarkets, banks/credit unions and medical facilities, and coming soon to your neighborhood.

People on the 'wrong' side of the road could just ask their nosy neighbor to bring them their mail.

Why did the postman cross the road?

Anyone??????????

He was following the chicken of course

Exactly, I knew someone would come up with it!