Amtrak has golden opportunity this summer

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ive livedin sandiego. Detroits is Sunday driving compared to there. GRand rapids to Kalamazoo is slow Iadmit but it Moves. And has 3 lanes eachway inseadof 5 wach way in cali.
That’s not my point. You said Michigan doesn’t have commuters.

You didn’t specify how long a traffic jam on 275, the Lodge, 696, or 94/23 through Ann Arbor had to be to qualify as “commuting”.
 
I spent a little time poking around the Flix, Greyhound Lines and Amtrak booking sites today, May 11th, now that the gas shortage ritual is underway.

1. For a different reason each time we start with curtailed public transport service.
2. For a different reason each time fuel supplies are interrupted or constricted.
3. State and federal officials reassure everyone that there's no problem.
4. Some people then rush to fill their tanks before the hoarders get it.
5. More people see the first line of eager gas buyers and cancel plans for the day so they can sit in line.
6. An inventory of almost double normal is carried in almost always full gas tanks.
7. Politicians blame someone.
8. Some transport systems respond to demand and others throw up their hands.
9. Very slowly, motorists seek alternatives. Even when the shortages in Oregon began in 1973, Greyhound Lines ridership peaked in February 1974 and then was unable to go higher due to shortages of drivers and buses.
10. If the problem is brief enough, whining is all that will result.

So far, travelers (testing Richmond to Baltimore pricing) do not seem to have shifted to either Flix, Greyhound or Amtrak. New Orleans to Baltimore looks tighter, but the big takeaway is the awful impression given by tri-weekly trains. Depending on the day of the week, New Orleans>Baltimore results in either no trains, an itinerary via Chicago or the Crescent route. Segments of these itineraries were already selling out before the public was alerted to the fuel supply glitch. There was no indication of extra cars being added.

One of the reasons for the early success of the Coast Starlight was the availability of lots of spare equipment left over from the huge cut in western lines. The second reason is that the management in LA expanded the consist with every spare car they could clean up, so that the tri-weekly train was run with 18 cars. Working at ODOT I was asked not to compliment them for this as DC headquarters did not know that was happening. In subsequent rushes for diverted riders the lid was kept on by raising fares.
 
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