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Re: Why Families Don't Ride Trains (or airplanes)
Author: mook
Date: 01-18-2015 - 10:46
Re. the RV: exactly! I didn't rent an RV, but did get something considerably bigger than the normal runabouts in the garage. Needed for long-distance comfort and luggage space.
And speed ... while not strictly the Autobahn, typical speeds on I-5 in the boonies of the San Joaquin Valley are in the 80-90 mph range in the left lane, and trucks running at or below the 55 mph limit are rare. In the more open spaces, cars running well over 100 are common. Official speed limit is 70, but the chances of being ticketed appear to be small given the traffic flow. With speeds like that (comparable to the fastest Amtrak runs outside of the NEC), and few stops, it's obvious why driving is faster (c. 6-7 hr. actual driving time Anaheim/Bay Area via I-5, plus stops and LA traffic diddles) than anything available now other than air travel between N and S CA, as well as less expensive for a group of 4 or more with luggage.
FWIW, I did (briefly) consider Amtrak, and (for a few moments longer) Southwest for this trip. Both serve the endpoints I needed - less than an hour from home, and convenient shuttle service at the destination. But Amtrak involves several transfers (train-bus in Bakersfield, bus-train in LA), takes about 50% more time home-hotel, is actually less expensive than driving (barely), and there is no long-term parking near the station so we would need an expensive taxi ride or beg one from friends (week's luggage on local transit is a non-starter). Southwest does the trip, and the connections are reasonable, but the cost is higher than driving (except for the super-restricted tickets), and there was no particular need for the shorter travel time.
If CAHSR had been available from the station less than an hour from home (not in Phase 1, btw) and went to ARTIC in Anaheim (also not in Phase 1), total travel time would probably have been comparable to flying - maybe an hour longer - but would the cost for 4 of us have been competitive with driving? Rhetorical question of course, but I think that while the cost would have been air-competitive but not driving-competitive, the comparison might be closer than with the other modes. IOW, HSR would have a chance for this type of trip if it splits the difference between Amtrak (relatively cheap but slow) and Southwest (faster, but you pay for it), and comes close to break-even with driving a rental vehicle.
Again, this is really an argument for a diverse transportation system. One mode doesn't adequately handle all trips. HSR cannot replace Amtrak, or even long-distance driving or buses in some circumstances; it supplements both. HSR may cut into air travel in its corridor but won't eliminate it - despite Amtrak having a big chunk of the non-driving market between Boston-NY-DC, for instance, the air shuttles still run and have plenty of passengers. Southwest is apparently not trying to kill the latest Texas HSR proposal. Perhaps the real point is that as population grows and wants to move around, more capacity in ALL modes is needed, and for rail to be relevant the speed has to go up beyond what can be done on shared freight tracks. There.Is.No.Silver.Bullet.
And speed ... while not strictly the Autobahn, typical speeds on I-5 in the boonies of the San Joaquin Valley are in the 80-90 mph range in the left lane, and trucks running at or below the 55 mph limit are rare. In the more open spaces, cars running well over 100 are common. Official speed limit is 70, but the chances of being ticketed appear to be small given the traffic flow. With speeds like that (comparable to the fastest Amtrak runs outside of the NEC), and few stops, it's obvious why driving is faster (c. 6-7 hr. actual driving time Anaheim/Bay Area via I-5, plus stops and LA traffic diddles) than anything available now other than air travel between N and S CA, as well as less expensive for a group of 4 or more with luggage.
FWIW, I did (briefly) consider Amtrak, and (for a few moments longer) Southwest for this trip. Both serve the endpoints I needed - less than an hour from home, and convenient shuttle service at the destination. But Amtrak involves several transfers (train-bus in Bakersfield, bus-train in LA), takes about 50% more time home-hotel, is actually less expensive than driving (barely), and there is no long-term parking near the station so we would need an expensive taxi ride or beg one from friends (week's luggage on local transit is a non-starter). Southwest does the trip, and the connections are reasonable, but the cost is higher than driving (except for the super-restricted tickets), and there was no particular need for the shorter travel time.
If CAHSR had been available from the station less than an hour from home (not in Phase 1, btw) and went to ARTIC in Anaheim (also not in Phase 1), total travel time would probably have been comparable to flying - maybe an hour longer - but would the cost for 4 of us have been competitive with driving? Rhetorical question of course, but I think that while the cost would have been air-competitive but not driving-competitive, the comparison might be closer than with the other modes. IOW, HSR would have a chance for this type of trip if it splits the difference between Amtrak (relatively cheap but slow) and Southwest (faster, but you pay for it), and comes close to break-even with driving a rental vehicle.
Again, this is really an argument for a diverse transportation system. One mode doesn't adequately handle all trips. HSR cannot replace Amtrak, or even long-distance driving or buses in some circumstances; it supplements both. HSR may cut into air travel in its corridor but won't eliminate it - despite Amtrak having a big chunk of the non-driving market between Boston-NY-DC, for instance, the air shuttles still run and have plenty of passengers. Southwest is apparently not trying to kill the latest Texas HSR proposal. Perhaps the real point is that as population grows and wants to move around, more capacity in ALL modes is needed, and for rail to be relevant the speed has to go up beyond what can be done on shared freight tracks. There.Is.No.Silver.Bullet.
