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The ticket price is driven by demand, which is influenced heavily by alternative modes of transportation, e.g. bus and car in the case of a trip from Gainesville to Fort Worth.  Whether one opts for the train or bus or drives is a function of value, which consists of many variables, e.g. options, convenience, timing, economics, safety, etc. If you are going to Fort Worth for a weekend, let's say to attend the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show, whether it would be a better deal to drive or take the Heartland Flyer depends on how many are going, where you stay, and how you plan to get to the stock yards.  For one person, who does not qualify for one of Amtrak's discounts, the cost would be $22 return.  The fare is slightly higher on the weekends, since the train draws its largest crowd on Fridays and Sundays, as well as holiday periods.  For a family of four, again without any discounts, and children between 2 and 15, the fare would be $72.It is 66.54 road miles from downtown Gainesville to downtown Fort Worth.  The cost to drive would depend on your personal vehicle.  If you stuffed the family into my Toyota Corolla, it would cost you $38 return.  This includes driving from Gainesville to Fort Worth plus adding 10 per cent to run out to the stock yards.  It is also based on a fully allocated cost model.  Accountants talk about variable costs and fixed costs, which is an important concept, but at the end of the day all costs are variable.  I was an accountant for many years.  Even if you have an SUV that you coughed up $35,000 for, and it gets about 22 mpg, you can haul a family from Gainesville to Fort Worth and back for approximately $65.  You would still beat the cost of taking them on the train.  Of course, the actual cost is a function of your vehicle, how long you keep it, how well you maintain it, etc.  Shockingly, how fast you drive can also have a significant impact on the cost.Fort Worth has a good public transit system.  If you stayed downtown you could walk to the hotel from the railway station (Intermodal Transportation Center).  And you could take public transit to the stock yards, although you might run into some seemingly creepy people late at night.  There are several nice hotels in downtown Fort Worth, as I am sure you know, but they tend to be more expensive than the many motels that ring the city.As a rule it is less expensive for a single person to go by public transport, e.g. plane, bus, train, etc.  It is equally true that it is generally less expensive for a family to take the family chariot.  At the end of the day this is the reason why most families in America opt for the family buggy to go to and from work as well as take a vacation at the seashore or in the mountains.
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