JOHN PRIVARA Re: The Marie Antoniette strategy - let them get automobiles. Seems to me the "Marie Antoniette strategy" is - let them ride on substandard rail transportion. Who wants to ride something designed for the 1950's, with speeds from the 1920's, and train-frequency from the 1860. It's time to daylight the LD trains, and convert them into short segments that would be useful to people other than rail-enthusiast and (mostly rich) old-people with lots of time on their hands.
Re: The Marie Antoniette strategy - let them get automobiles.
Seems to me the "Marie Antoniette strategy" is - let them ride on substandard rail transportion. Who wants to ride something designed for the 1950's, with speeds from the 1920's, and train-frequency from the 1860.
It's time to daylight the LD trains, and convert them into short segments that would be useful to people other than rail-enthusiast and (mostly rich) old-people with lots of time on their hands.
+1
I hope someone is going to push for Federal Legislation to create a national long-distance bus network. It's hard to imagine a country as great as ours abandoning the long tradition of fast and convient long-distance buses.
I would suggest they call is AmHound.
There should be one bus per day on EACH of the interstates serving every Denny's in the country.
JPS1 Victrola1 The question is becoming will any form of surface, long distance passenger service exist in America. Part of the answer depends on what you mean by long-distance. Moreover, I assume you mean commercial surface transportation as opposed to personal vehicles. Assuming Amtrak does not cut all of the long-distance trains, it probably will be possible to ride a train from Chicago to the west coast for decades to come. According to Amtrak, in 2017 the average ride for a coach class passenger on the long-distance trains was 497 miles. The average for a sleeping car passenger was 991 miles. Only four to ten percent of the passengers on the trains from Chicago to the west coast ride end point to end point, which shows that very few people want to travel “long distances” by surface mode. Most Americans prefer to fly long distances. Greyhound has six schedules a day from Dallas to Los Angeles. I have taken the bus from Dallas to El Paso just for the experience. If it was indicative of that for most travelers, very few people ride a bus from Dallas to Los Angeles or from end point to end point for the routes that cover "long distances". Most of them ride from one intermediate point to another. I expect these services to be around for a long time, but few people will opt to ride end point to end point. Megabus and Greyhound compete vigorously for passengers between Dallas and Houston, as well as Dallas and San Antonio. The distances are roughly 250 miles. If this is what is meant by long-distance surface commercial transport, I believe it will be viable for a long time to come.
Victrola1 The question is becoming will any form of surface, long distance passenger service exist in America.
Which is what LD trains are all about. Not the Origin-Destination passengers, but all the intermediate locations served. The mind set about 'public transportation' in todays world views anything other than O-D passengers as being 'fly over' in nature and not worth of service - either rail or bus. The Marie Antoniette strategy - let them get automobiles.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Intercity bus service was as overregulated as railroading at both the state and interstate levels. Look at Greyhound or Trailways timetables from the 1960's-1970's era and review all of the conditional stops, reference marks and special notices. As an example, you could ride Greyhound locally between downtown Chicago and Hammond but not between Chicago and Chicago Heights. The distances are similar but one route is interstate while the other is intrastate.
Victrola1The question is becoming will any form of surface, long distance passenger service exist in America.
"I second that emotion."
The question is becoming will any form of surface, long distance passenger service exist in America.
Victrola1You used to see Railway Express cars on the head end of long distance passenger trains. You used to see a lot express packages under the bus seats with passengers' luggage. The express package business has left the bus for Fed Ex and UPS.
The express package business has left the bus for Fed Ex and UPS.
Greyhound Express is much more affordable for items that 'cube out' than are UPS or FedEx. Send a fiberglass piece of bodywork to my son - Florida to Kansas. UPS wanted $150 based on the boxed dimensions of the part, it went Greyhound Express for about $30. Drawback, I had to deliver the box to Greyhound and my son had to pick it up from Greyhound on his end.
UPS and FedEx have their pick up issues (UPS Store etc) and both deliver to the door on the destination end.
You used to see Railway Express cars on the head end of long distance passenger trains. You used to see a lot express packages under the bus seats with passengers' luggage.
Knew a retired Greyhound driver who ran between Kansas City and Colby Kansas in the glory days wherein another driver brought the bus into Denver. Met a modern- day Greyhound driver who does the whole run by himself. He talked about how tiring the 600 mile trip was. Safety!
We are not usually concerned with buses at Railway Age, but what would happen if Greyhound buses suddenly disappeared from American roads, and Amtrak became the only provider of passenger transportation with a nationwide reach? That speculation is not as far-fetched as it would appear at first blush, as a similar scenario is being played out at this writing in much of Canada.
https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/america-without-greyhound-and-no-replacement-passenger-trains/
Who killed the long distance passenger bus?
Long distance bus service is begining to resemble rail passnger service in the 1950's. Profits are so low reinvestment in the business is a money loser. More routes are being discontinued. Large areas of the country, especially rural areas, no longer are being serviced.
If you want travel long distances and not fly there, get a car.
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