Re: (erielack) Railroads "That Should Never..." A&GW

[jwmutter_@_comcast.net]

Sorry to prolong a topic that has gotten rather off-topic, but this is a pet peeve of mine....

- -------------- Original message -------------- 
> --- Njricky2_@_aol.com wrote: 
> > In a message dated 8/16/06 12:41:14 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, 
> > martinpl3_@_earthlink.net writes: 
> 
> > One in particular is the Scranton-New York run, departing daily 
> > from Scranton at 12.30pm, arriving in Manhattan at 2.10pm, with no 
> > Pocono or NJ stops. No train is going to beat that running time 
> > and the cost round trip is $73.50 for a 135-mile trip, 
- ------------------------------------------------
That works out to $0.54 per mile.  Allowing $0.20/mile for depreciation/maintenance/insurance/etc, they are asking $0.34/mile.  Assuming a car gets 20 mpg and gas is $3.00/gallon, it costs about $0.15 in gas to drive a mile. These numbers may not be exact, but I think you get my point -- it's much more expensive to ride the bus or train.

Taking the bus or train typically doesn't save time over driving (how often does their schedule exactly match your own?), plus you have the local transportation issue when you arrive at your destrination, so in order for pople to switch to the bus or train there must be another tangible benefit to not driving.  If Amtrak and the bus companies want to attract more of the car-driving public, they need to lower their prices to complete with automobiles.  The problem becomes even more pronounced when there is more than one person travelling.  I'd love to take the Metroliner from Baltimore to NY to visit my parents, but tickets for a family of four would cost about $300.  Gas and tolls is less than half that.

Jeff Mutter

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