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Samantha, you've made your point many times over. You are obviously well qualified to analyze numbers. But numbers don't tell the whole story, and shouldn't be the sole basis for deciding what services should or should not be provided. One fellow who serviced equipment in our workplace was barred from flying for five years after sinus surgery. I met a woman on the train with a heart condition who cannot fly, either. I have a relative who doesn't fly because she finds even the normal sensations of flight to be extremely uncomfortable, and she is also not skilled enough behind the wheel to drive long distances or in unfamiliar territory. And Greyhound these days is barely fit for man or beast. I would be very upset if people like these lost their ability to move about the country in comfort and safety just because the numbers don't work for you.There are many other reasons why people choose LD trains. Some are Amish or Mennonites who don't fly. Many are traveling coach on limited budgets to attend to personal business,  family matters or to shuttle to school (as I did many years ago). Many are combining their need to get somewhere with a desire to see the country along the way. Their reasons are quite diverse. People aren't numbers. If you go strictly by statistics you get a distorted view of the world.  Individuals have individual needs. You can't turn them into statistics and tell them to do what you think they should do. Some people choose long distance trains because that is the best option given their needs. My philosophy is that we're all in this together, that everyone is my brother or sister. Thus I have no qualms about spending money for a service that benefits a relative few, but that does, indeed, make life better for them. This is one reason why the politicians didn't pull the plug years ago.  As I've stated before, I believe there are steps that could be taken to improve the Sunset's bottom  line, such as daily service, and I really wish Amtrak would take a more serious look at them. I want to make the long distance trains as efficient and useful as possible.  But there's no way you're going to convince me with a set of numbers that they should just go away.
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