Amtrak Ethan Allen and Vermonter and Translines Vermont Bus Out of Service as of today...

[divebardave]

Yankee Trails from still running Albany Bus Station runs 4 trips a day to/from Bennington VT.No or little info is avalible from state on train service or the internet. I am in Toledo and was told that the service was cut today with little or no notice. VT Translines runs a 2wice bus from Albany-Benington-Rutland-Middlebury-Burlington.

[PJS1]

divebardave

 Yankee Trails from still running Albany Bus Station runs 4 trips a day to/from Bennington VT.No or little info is avalible from state on train service or the internet. I am in Toledo and was told that the service was cut today with little or no notice. VT Translines runs a 2wice bus from Albany-Benington-Rutland-Middlebury-Burlington. 

According to Amtrak’s Service Adjustments, service on the Adirondack north of Albany has been canceled.  The same for the Ethan Allen. 

 

For FY19 the average load factor on the Adirondack was 51%.  For the Ethan Allen it was 42%.  I suspect the average load factor south of Albany was significantly higher than north of the Empire State capital. 

 

If the trains can be dispensed with during a trying period, it makes me wonder how important they are as a transport alternative for the region that they serve?

[blue streak 1]

If gasoline stays at this price how can Amtrak even compete with autos and airlines ?  Just paid $0.929 for 35 gallons of regular. 

[PJS1]

blue streak 1

 If gasoline stays at this price how can Amtrak even compete with autos and airlines ?  Just paid $0.929 for 35 gallons of regular. 

For a lot of people along the I-35 corridor in Texas, which includes DFW, Waco, Temple, Austin, San Marcos, and San Antonio, an alternative to the traffic choked highway could be attractive irrespective of the price of gasoline.  Moreover, it is not likely to stay at the lows seen this week.

 

The price of gasoline is only one cost component of driving.  The variable cost of driving my economy car, which includes gasoline, tolls, and part of the maintenance, is 8 cents per mile.  But the fully allocated cost is 30 cents per mile.  And my costs are low compared to the cost for most Texans.  

 

Whether Amtrak could devlope a viable alternative to driving along the I-35 corridor is debatable.  But an innovative service provider, using a Brightline model as an example, offering a frequent, fast, economical, dependable alternative to driving might be able to make it.   

[divebardave]

Myself and thousands of other people up here have no choice but bus and train do do disabliity for transport. VTRANS/Amtrak/ NYDOT could have given us a week notice to get home instead of leaving us to high and dry. New York Trailways does run to Plattsburgh but does not make the local stop at Whitehall or the other half dozen local stations along lake Champlain.