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Re: Why don't Americans ride trains? Old and Tired?
Author: BOB2
Date: 01-09-2015 - 15:33
As has been noted, Americans do ride trains where service is frequent, reliable, and relatively fast. Amtrak and the States offer a handful of still limited services, but regional commuter services are, as often or even more often in some cases (LOSSAN?) used for regional intercity travel because they offer more frequency and reliability.
I once say a presentation of the potential impacts of hourly on LOSSAN which (based largely on the changes and observed changes in ridership that have actually been made over the last 35 years. Running time end to end was also reduced by about 30 minutes to make the trip time competitive with off peak driving times, And, low and behold, the estimates showed between 30 and 40 thousand daily trips (compared to the 5-7k days + local Metrolink Coaster we experience today).
I was once shown (back in 1980) the projections of a projected "average" 93 minute schedule, with half hour frequencies, for the original American Bullet Train, that produced 100,000 trips per day (although I didn't see how these trips were allocated-local-end to end-)
These frequencies, with 99% reliability, and a auto competitive travel times would seem to create the same loading on LOSSAN that we do, in fact, observe with similar City pairs in Europe.
As is all too usual of late, the Economist, gets America wrong again, as it is not a case of Americans not wanting to use trains (this year will be yet another record for commute and Amtrak ridership) but of our rail system offering insufficient service, speed, and reliability in so many potentially rail competitive travel markets.
I once say a presentation of the potential impacts of hourly on LOSSAN which (based largely on the changes and observed changes in ridership that have actually been made over the last 35 years. Running time end to end was also reduced by about 30 minutes to make the trip time competitive with off peak driving times, And, low and behold, the estimates showed between 30 and 40 thousand daily trips (compared to the 5-7k days + local Metrolink Coaster we experience today).
I was once shown (back in 1980) the projections of a projected "average" 93 minute schedule, with half hour frequencies, for the original American Bullet Train, that produced 100,000 trips per day (although I didn't see how these trips were allocated-local-end to end-)
These frequencies, with 99% reliability, and a auto competitive travel times would seem to create the same loading on LOSSAN that we do, in fact, observe with similar City pairs in Europe.
As is all too usual of late, the Economist, gets America wrong again, as it is not a case of Americans not wanting to use trains (this year will be yet another record for commute and Amtrak ridership) but of our rail system offering insufficient service, speed, and reliability in so many potentially rail competitive travel markets.
