Amtrak ridership up despite funding woes.

[TheMightyFavog]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071222/ap_on_bi_ge/tracking_amtrak

ABOARD AMTRAK'S LINCOLN SERVICE - The Illinois cornfields whizzing past Mark Hardacre's view from the Amtrak cafe car had nothing on the memorable splendor the Australian had already taken in on his trans-America adventure — the Pacific Ocean so vast and blue off California's coast. The emerald green of the Northwest forests. The majesty of the snowcapped Rockies.

But the cheery man from New South Wales was breathless about seeing a couple of things he'd not seen in his three previous Amtrak treks across this nation's rails over the past two decades — Americans seeming to outnumber tourists, and far fewer empty seats.

(snip)

The money-losing service, which relies heavily on government funding, says it is riding higher, illustrated by the hundreds of thousands of additional riders flocking to expanded routes in Illinois and California. Amtrak is chugging toward its fifth-straight record year for ridership nationwide, helped by high gasoline prices and congested highways and airports that seem to have encouraged people to keep their vehicles parked.

(snip)

In trying to hash out the federal budget for next year, Congress is weighing how much U.S. taxpayers should underwrite the passenger service. Amtrak has requested $1.53 billion, nearly twice the amount the Bush Administration wants to give it. In the past, Bush has proposed giving the service nothing.

[dbackjon]

1. Amtrak is a life saver for my folls

They can get to the station in Springfield with no problem, and then can get to my sister's in Milwaukee with little hassle.

[Stuart G]

2. If the Dems win the Presidency...

Amtrak will finally get some funding .... these jerks wanted to destroy it the minute that they got in..Especially if gas goes to five dollars a gallon which we could see any time....But to really improve it, Amtrak will need a major influx of funds, not just a band aid.

[Stuart G]

8. I was in Tokyo a few months ago.

Their trains were clean, on time, plentiful, in outstanding condition, cheap, smooth running, and gas was five and half dollars a gallon...To park in Tokyo cost ..about 100 dollars a day...quite an insentive to take a train to work..which most did......

[Warpy]

3. All they had to do was make flying a humilating experience

and people rediscovered Amtrak.

Funny how that sort of thing works.

[aquart]

4. Not to mention picking up the 800,000 on the no-fly list.

[rocktivity]

5. Who can afford to fly these days

Assuming they're not on a no-fly list?

:shrug:
rocknation

[wordpix]

6. I love to ride the rails but Amtrak needs to keep prices low to attract more people

It costs $69 one way from Stamford CT to DC, and that's a non-holiday fare. On a holiday, it's $98 or $117, depending on time of day, again one way.

So for a non-holiday, a round trip $140 or so and on a holiday, about $200. And you also have to pay to get to the station or park nearby, so there's another $10/day to park or cab fare for the round trip---unless you're lucky enough to live on a bus line that will take you there at the right time for next to nothing. My last 4-day trip holiday trip added $40 for parking onto the $200 train fare, for a total of $240.

If I drive my Civic, it's around $25 for gas and $12 for tolls one way. Round trip, that's $74. So, do the math.

It should not be so much more expensive to take Amtrak. There should be an effort to keep prices low and get people off the deadly, pollution-heavy roads and highways that we're taxed to death to maintain.

[Stuart G]

7. It needs more than low prices...

It needs more trains, faster trains, better rails, and higher gas prices (the last will come sooner than later.)

[Vogon_Glory]

9. Amtrak Needs More Than Low Fares

Amtrak needs more than low fares--it needs to have better funding and for its appropriation to be approved, neither of which is anywhere close to certain with Dubya's Duck Soup Posse in charge of the White House amd capable of wielding a veto pen.

I think that many DU'ers, many Democrats, and many progressives (Hell, even many Republicans, at least the dwindling faction still capable of rational cognition) think that passenger rail travel ought to be subsidized. Unfortunately good government is to the Bush administration what wooden Kansas farmhouses are to oncoming tornadoes--I think that there are some in the incumbent mal-administration who would be delighted to damage public transportation for the sake of ego gratification and getting high-fived by head-in-the-clouds right-wing ideologues.

There is at least one pro-passenger rail advocacy group--the National Association of Railroad Passengers. Their web address is www.narprail.org.

[terrya]

10. Amtrak needs to have trains that arrive on time....

I don't know about anyone else, but when I've taken Amtrak, I've always expected that it will always be late...one time, it was 5 hours late...

[earth mom]

11. We looked into taking Amtrak to NYC from the PNW. It was a small fortune.

Like $2600 for 3 with a sleeper car because it's a 3 night trip. I'd love to take that trip, but we can't afford it. :(