Amtrak & Millennials, Etc

[Convicted One]

oltmannd

Blah, blah, blah, 1971 deal, blah, blah, blah.

Could you please cite a source for that?  

[oltmannd]

Convicted One

 

 

oltmannd

Blah, blah, blah, 1971 deal, blah, blah, blah.

 

 

Could you please cite a source for that?  

 

I got yer source right here, buddy!  

[Convicted One]

charlie hebdo

so the reader can refer to that complete work for elucidation.

Charlie, if that was your actual intent, then I misread you, and I am sincerely sorry for the confusion. Sorry also that I could not provide an additional source beyond the one you already had. 

And if you feel that I was nasty with you, I hope that you will accept my humble apology about that also.

 

[charlie hebdo]

Convicted One

Charlie, if that was your actual intent, then I misread you, and I am sincerely sorry for the confusion.

Sure  No problem.  I hope you gained some understanding.

Moving on, it would be interesting to examine the details of cost allocation as used by one of the Class One roads. Although he was not an accountant, I have a feeling Greyhounds might shed some light on that black hole, judging by his stories about the IC's lack of comprehension of the concept of marginal revenue.

[Convicted One]

Personally, I believe that your expectation that you deserve an explanation from a  professor of cost allocations in accountancy is a little on the grandiose side. I think that is why you felt a bit of "pushing back" from me.

Bob Johnston's article as source was good enough for me, and that is why I intended  earlier  that if you wished to dispute that,  then your dispute was with him, not me.

FWIW, I've worked  for years for a national organization that allocated central costs to satellite offices, and can tell you that there is no one altruistic formula for such allocations that any professor is likely to point you to.  Such apportionment, so long as in conformance with tax law, is pretty much up the the authority running the show, and will push the agenda that said  authority desires. 

I think that is where the "treated unfairly" mentality that you alluded to earlier originates.  Those who might prefer a different agenda, specifically.

[Euclid]

BaltACD

 

JPS1

In 2018 Amtrak spent $93.1 million on advertising, down from $106.7 million in 2017 and $104.2 million in 2016. 

 

In 2017 Amtrak launched a multi-media campaign “Break the Travel Quo”.  The program featured a series of videos lauding travel by Amtrak and poking light hearted fun at the obvious alternatives.  You can sample some of the videos on YouTube.  Search for “Break the Travel Quo”.

 

Most of the Amtrak ads that I have seen have touted the NEC and/or other corridors.  Probably for a good reason!  It is were rail travel makes sense; it is where Amtrak can compete effectively against the alternatives.  Advertising the long-distance trains that are used by less than 1 percent of intercity travelers is throwing good money after bad, and Anderson probably knows it.  

 

 

 

 

It seems like Amtrak is underestimating the need for marketing and advertizing.  It is easy to say that "we don't provide that service because nobody is asking for it."  But good marketing will make them ask for the service.  And the ads have got to be really and truly good.  Those "Travel Quo" ads are thoroughly lame.  It seems to be a signature of public sector advertising to produce ads trying so hard to impress with their cleverness that they step all over the message.  The message of the Travel Quo ads is "Come and ride the train for a really creepy experience."  

[BaltACD]

runnerdude48

Most college students I know either have a car or bum a ride from a friend.  Some ride the train occasionally but only if there are no other options.  Sharing the cost of a tank of gas is cheaper than an Amtrak ticket.

WAY BACK WHEN I was in college at Purdue - Freshmen and Sophomores weren't permitted to have cars on campus.  Getting the 150 miles South to my home at the time was a chore - either trying to find a ride with someone going further South or using my thumb.  Railroad passenger service wasn't an option either, while Lafayette had service and my home town had service, there was no possible connection between the services.  This was before the formation of Amtrak.

[JPS1]

oltmannd

At the end of the day, the idea that Amtrak's "costs", properly divided [divined] by God's own cost accountants will uncover some vast moderate conspiracy and shine true, heavenly light onto the "preferred answer" is just a lot of bologna. 

I have been a CPA for more than 40 years.  If I had opined in my capacity as a CPA on the accounting and financial reporting practices of a client without having access to h/her books, I would have been disciplined by the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy.  I probably would have lost my license.

 

None of the people cited who have opined on Amtrak’s accounting policies, procedures, and practices had access to the company’s books.  None!  In many instances they relied on OIG, GAO, STB, FRA, etc. reports that were several years or more old. 

 

Without access to Amtrak’s books, an outsider simply does not know whether the company’s cost accounting policies, procedures, and practices conform to the appropriate professional standards.  There comes a time when the right thing to do is simply say, I don’t know.  And leave it at that.

[charlie hebdo]

Convicted One

Convicted One wrote the following post 19 hours ago: Personally, I believe that your expectation that you deserve an explanation from a  professor of cost allocations in accountancy is a little on the grandiose side.

I would like to suggest that you read others' posts more carefully.  I never said I had an expectation of or deserved an explanation from a professor.  Those are your distortions/projections.

My post: " I'd like to see a real accountant. preferably a professor of cost allocations in accountancy examine Amtrak's allocation formulae.  I think it was noted before on here (JPS?) that the RPA critique was not written by anyone expert in cost allocation methodolgy.  My recollections are that almost everyone feels they are treated unfairly in this endeavor in corporations."