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Amtrak is clinging to an unprofitable business model (outside the Boston-DC route). 85% of adults in America have a car. The 15% (plus children) who don't can
by rhino369 6y ago
Amtrak is clinging to an unprofitable business model (outside the Boston-DC route).
85% of adults in America have a car. The 15% (plus children) who don't can use Greyhound/Megabus buses, which are fine. Flights are generally more convenient for trips over 300 miles anyway.
There is no significant use case for Amtrak. It doesn't take a conspiracy to make it unprofitable.
- klyrs 6y agoThere was a significant use case when Amtrak was gutted to make way for "modernization" of transit, which resulted in the urban sprawl and high rate of car ownership that you see today. And also, Amtrak is a quasi-public corporation like USPS. Its existence is meant to be a public good, not to be profitable.
- freeopinion 6y agoI wonder how things might change if 1% of highway funding were diverted to rail funding. And if 1% of USPS funding went into funding mailcars on Amtrak trains. And if 1% of federal unemployment stimulus went into hiring new employees for rail. Maybe current funding dwarfs all those accumulated 1%s. I don't know. But maybe a dozen 1%s could help out a dozen other challenges and give a huge boost to passenger rail in the U.S.