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It's less the transit creators I'm worried about, since that's pretty niche. It's if a general influencer starts sharing aesthetics of train travel on eg Instag

by cdrini 2y ago

It's less the transit creators I'm worried about, since that's pretty niche. It's if a general influencer starts sharing aesthetics of train travel on eg Instagram which I think would cause its usage to boom.

alamortsubite 2y ago
I understand where you're coming from, but in the long run it'd be a great thing to see this kind of boom in the U.S. If only a tiny fraction of the gobs of cash that are being shoveled into political ads right now were going to some of these influencers to promote train travel instead...
- ghaff 2y ago
  Though most people really aren't in a position to take the train instead of flying for anything other than a vacation. Good luck with your 4x expense account for taking an extra day to travel from NYC to Chicago--much less anything further.
  - alamortsubite 2y ago
    What you're missing is that it's a chicken-or-egg problem.
  - cdrini 2y ago
    Trains aren't that expensive, at least in coach. Eg a trip from San Francisco to Reno for Jan 15th is $69 flying, or $72 by train riding coach. If you get a private room, then it's expensive, $430 ! And I've also found you don't have to book as far ahead with trains. Eg for tomorrow, that same trip is $287 by plane, or $60 by train.
    - ghaff 2y ago
      Well, yes perhaps. But I’m not taking a coach seat on an 18 hour trip from NY to Chicago.
      - cdrini 2y ago
        Ah I see what you mean; I agree, for longer travel, you'd be budgeting the train more as part of your vacation as opposed to travel towards a destination. Personally, I want to take the Chicago to SF train, and do a few day stops in various cities instead of getting the sleeper car. So it would probably be about ~1w of travel.
- cdrini 2y ago
  Yeah I get that sentiment. My concern is that the ways in which the train system would grow to handle the new scale might be non-ideal. Eg it would probably be higher prices, more packed trains, smaller seats, long before it's what I imagine is what you're hoping for which is more trains, better trains, more tracks. Although long term that might be the better approach!

by cdrini 2y ago

alamortsubite 2y ago

I understand where you're coming from, but in the long run it'd be a great thing to see this kind of boom in the U.S. If only a tiny fraction of the gobs of cash that are being shoveled into political ads right now were going to some of these influencers to promote train travel instead...

ghaff 2y ago
Though most people really aren't in a position to take the train instead of flying for anything other than a vacation. Good luck with your 4x expense account for taking an extra day to travel from NYC to Chicago--much less anything further.
- alamortsubite 2y ago
  What you're missing is that it's a chicken-or-egg problem.
- cdrini 2y ago
  Trains aren't that expensive, at least in coach. Eg a trip from San Francisco to Reno for Jan 15th is $69 flying, or $72 by train riding coach. If you get a private room, then it's expensive, $430 ! And I've also found you don't have to book as far ahead with trains. Eg for tomorrow, that same trip is $287 by plane, or $60 by train.
  - ghaff 2y ago
    Well, yes perhaps. But I’m not taking a coach seat on an 18 hour trip from NY to Chicago.
    - cdrini 2y ago
      Ah I see what you mean; I agree, for longer travel, you'd be budgeting the train more as part of your vacation as opposed to travel towards a destination. Personally, I want to take the Chicago to SF train, and do a few day stops in various cities instead of getting the sleeper car. So it would probably be about ~1w of travel.
cdrini 2y ago
Yeah I get that sentiment. My concern is that the ways in which the train system would grow to handle the new scale might be non-ideal. Eg it would probably be higher prices, more packed trains, smaller seats, long before it's what I imagine is what you're hoping for which is more trains, better trains, more tracks. Although long term that might be the better approach!