Why does BART use such a wide gauge?

(2022) Discussion at the time (345 points, 253 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32031131

See also Pennsylvania trolley gauge 5 ft 2 1/2 (1581 and 1588 mm): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_gauge_in_the_United_Stat...

The core shift isn’t just automation, it’s the transfer of decision-making power from labor to the platform. When the algorithm becomes the supervisor, the worker is no longer negotiating with a human institution, they are negotiating with an opaque optimization function.

This is why many gig workers describe the job not as “work” but as a kind of ongoing test they can never see the scoring rules for.

The result isn’t just efficiency. It’s dependency.