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So if it's funded, more people will use it? I don't see the correlation here.
Throwing money at a problem doesn't fix it. Look at our public schools for evidence of that.
Yes! A company can't expect to provide inadequate investment in its products and services yet attract and retain customers. No one's asking for gold-plated rail or taj-mahal's for stations but rather funding to simply upgrade what exist in the same way highways and airports are and for new, much needed corridors for high speed train service in the same way airports and highways are built to serve growing needs. Throwing money at things doesn't fix all problems however massively underfunding things definitely can create them and that's what has happened to mass transit. It's impractical to expect massively underfunded rail service to compete with highways and airports which receive nearly 80% of transportation funding.
Sorry for hijacking the thread. Just answering some questions.
Last edited by Greenestgrass; 05-03-2009 at 07:02 PM..
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,335 posts, read 25,586,592 times
Reputation: 3982
Quote:
Originally Posted by rcsteiner
Most of my friends and family are in the Twin Cities. Try taking Amtrak from ATL to MSP. Look it up. It ain't viable.
I'll provide examples.
Let's say I want to travel from ATL to MSP to spent the weekend with my family on May 30-31.
Right now, I can fly coach from MSP<->ATL (round trip) for $148.01 on Delta if I leave Friday the 29th and arrive on Monday the 1st of June. Not bad.
Flying time maybe 2 hr 45 min, and add two hours on front side and an hour on the arrival end for fun. Say 5:45 total time each way. 11:30 in total, and two days of vacation spent away from work for two complete days with my family up there. I could be more efficient if I wanted to fly out Friday evening and fly back Sunday night, but I don't. I can take a couple of days off.
* * *
Amtrak wants me to ride the train for roughly 39-40 hours EACH WAY by routing me through either Charlottesville VA or Washington DC and then through Chicago, and the fare is considerably more ($225 out + $263 back right now = $488 in total). Expensive, and that's an awful lot of time to be sitting bored on my butt.
I'd have to leave on the 27th to get to MSP by 10:30 on the 29th, and if I left MSP on the 1st, I wouldn't arrive back until the morning of Wednesday the 3rd. Six days of vacation burned as well as three times the $$. I could work Wed morning, of course, but I wanted to take a vacation, and that means no redeye flights or trains.
* * *
I suspect high-speed rail would be a lot better, but I'm only talking about a 1,200 mile trip here as the car drives. Someone wanting to go to Seattle has a much longer ride ahead of them on Amtrak, even at high speeds, unless new tracks are laid to make things a bit more direct...
Train service is inferior to air service? What kind of phantom airline do you use?
You're kidding me, right? Do you fly? Have you ever flown JetBlue from say Dulles to Orlando? Would you rather take Amtrak from DC to Deland? If so, then you need to see someone.
I fly several times a month and in some cases commute the same day between ATL and various southeastern cities, and I've logged hundreds of thousands of miles on AA, UAL, DL, JetBlue, and Southwest. Most air travel is quick and easy, provided you know what to expect and don't mess with checked luggage. Most people who have bad airline experiences are novice flyers who check their bags.
I've also ridden the Acela, Metroliner, and the Amtrak Crescent between NY/Atlanta (been a few years but have done it 4x roundtrip). I grew up in NYC and rode many hours on the LIRR, MNCRR, and NJ Transit, and the NYC subway. I liked the Acela, but it was VERY expensive, took several hours, whereas I could fly and take the US Air shuttle from Logan to DC Reagan and be there in an hour and change. I won't even compare taking the Crescent with flying Delta from ATL to LGA.
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,335 posts, read 25,586,592 times
Reputation: 3982
Quote:
Originally Posted by neil0311
Most air travel is quick and easy, provided you know what to expect and don't mess with checked luggage. Most people who have bad airline experiences are novice flyers who check their bags.
I think you're absolutely correct. As a former airline employee who was used to non-revving (flying standby) and flying light, I normally have a single carry-on bag. If I go someplace for longer than a few days, I wash my clothes. Airport luggage systems are generally controlled by the airport, not the airline I'm flying, and I don't want to subject myself to them in any way...
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