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While I agree with what you said can’t these things be done in tandem? There is a lot of working being done in almost every major city to make them more public

While I agree with what you said can’t these things be done in tandem? There is a lot of working being done in almost every major city to make them more public transit and pedestrian friendly. That work needs to be done by the city and county governments. Amtrak is federal. Amtrak should def work with local governments on station location and design to make sure they’re convenient and accessible with local transit. Nashville <-> Atlanta is 4 hours and a lot of people (including me) just hate driving for long distances like that. It’s dangerous and boring. While yes you might need a car to fill your last mile obligations if you’re not going too far outside city limits ride shares like Uber and Lyft can fill that hole.

treis 5y ago
Because money, political capital, organizational resources, etc. is mostly a zero sum game. Effort spent on rail is effort not being spent on solving the most pressing problem. And at least in my locality the money and focus is on rail. I'm pretty dubious about the demand. There's not even a megabus between Nashville and Atlanta.
- spothedog1 5y ago
  Hmm I gotta disagree with that. While yes they are 0sum they are totally different organizations operating these things. If Atlanta DOT isn’t improving their local transit networks it’s not because they’re focusing on Nashville rail connections. I’ll give you the demand aspect sure, but a 2.5 hour link between dense downtown Atlanta and Nashville business districts can also become a catalyst for increased demand. Depends how much cost goes into the project. Maybe it’s worth pursuing maybe not. I think the biggest obstacle is how much state and local governments cooperate. State and local governments that are supportive are going to reap the benefits while hostile ones will suffer in the long term. Nashville recently voted down a comprehensive light rail plan so not sure how much support there is on that end.
  - treis 5y ago
    I said the focus on rail in general, not just Amtrak. MARTA and local transport activist in general have focused their efforts on rail expansion. It's consuming a large majority of capital improvement resources available. The "if you build it they will come" is an argument I've seen a lot. But it's hard to square that with the decline in usage of exiting rail. I know in Atlanta ridership is down 15% despite a 40% increase in population.

treis 5y ago

Because money, political capital, organizational resources, etc. is mostly a zero sum game. Effort spent on rail is effort not being spent on solving the most pressing problem. And at least in my locality the money and focus is on rail. I'm pretty dubious about the demand. There's not even a megabus between Nashville and Atlanta.

spothedog1 5y ago
Hmm I gotta disagree with that. While yes they are 0sum they are totally different organizations operating these things. If Atlanta DOT isn’t improving their local transit networks it’s not because they’re focusing on Nashville rail connections. I’ll give you the demand aspect sure, but a 2.5 hour link between dense downtown Atlanta and Nashville business districts can also become a catalyst for increased demand. Depends how much cost goes into the project. Maybe it’s worth pursuing maybe not. I think the biggest obstacle is how much state and local governments cooperate. State and local governments that are supportive are going to reap the benefits while hostile ones will suffer in the long term. Nashville recently voted down a comprehensive light rail plan so not sure how much support there is on that end.
- treis 5y ago
  I said the focus on rail in general, not just Amtrak. MARTA and local transport activist in general have focused their efforts on rail expansion. It's consuming a large majority of capital improvement resources available. The "if you build it they will come" is an argument I've seen a lot. But it's hard to square that with the decline in usage of exiting rail. I know in Atlanta ridership is down 15% despite a 40% increase in population.