Amtrak Pets on Board Trial

[CalifMomX5]

Thanks for clarifying Sara.

 

[CalifMomX5]

Sorry SarahZ for misspelling your name.

 

[SarahZ]

Sorry SarahZ for misspelling your name.

It's okay. I'm used to it.

When people ask if it has an H or not, I sometimes say, "With an H. My parents paid extra." Sometimes they smile. Sometimes they look at me like I'm crazy.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Actually some dogs that don't look at all like service dogs are in fact service dogs. For instance, my sisters ex boyfriend had the weirdest problem I ever heard of- he either couldn't synthesize or couldn't break down properly potassium in his body.

When he got low on potassium, from forgetting to take pills or running out of them or even just a freak occurrence (he had gallon jars of hundreds of huge horse pills of potassium and would go through a jar in a day or two) he would become increasingly paralyzed. It could happen slowly, or it could happen very rapidly.

It prevented him from working, or even having energy in many cases. It was the primary cause of their eventual break up. Anyway, when they were together they had a fairly bright Corgi named Elvis who after some custody wrangling, when to him.

When he was alone, he was quite depressed and wasn't taking care of himself properly. Elvis learned to react to the symptoms before he even realized what was happening. After some brief training Elvis was taught to a) alert him early, 2) bring him an emergency tray of pills and help him take them, and 3) push an emergency button on the floor which called 911.

Besides those three items, he's just a very friendly, slightly doofy, extremely playful, overweight Corgi. But he is a certified service dog who has saved his masters life many times.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Dogs are mans best friend (and cats are women's!LOL) and as service animals are fantastic! Its just that Pets don't belong on LD Trains! As we say, YMMV

 

[tonys96]

Dogs are mans best friend (and cats are women's!LOL) and as service animals are fantastic! Its just that Pets don't belong on LD Trains! As we say, YMMV

Agreed. Just as some ppl have allergies to some pillow stuffing and should not be forced to use those pillows or go without, some people are allergic to cat/dog dander and should not be forced to be exposed to that allergen or go without, except in cases where another's health is also concerned (service animals).

Putting animals (service and pets alike) in a single car will alleviate a large portion of that problem, though. KUDOS to Amtrak for adding that to the experimental plan.

As Jim says, YMMV.

 

[SarahZ]

Right, so just like I solved my pillow problem, Amtrak solved the "but the dander will get everywhere!!!" problem.

I actually have a strong dog allergy, but dogs in kennels don't bother me as long as I take my medicine and wash my hands after I pet them. I've been next to them on airplanes before, and I'd happily sit in the pet car on a train.

Now we just need a separate car for people who wear too much perfume.

 

[tonys96]

Now we just need a separate car for people who wear too much perfume.

That would be nice!

 

[Eris]

Putting animals (service and pets alike) in a single car will alleviate a large portion of that problem, though. KUDOS to Amtrak for adding that to the experimental plan.

Just to clarify for you- service dogs cannot be limited to a single car- Amtrak "must allow service animals to accompany people with disabilities in all areas of the facility where the public is normally allowed to go."

http://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Typical of the ADA's sledgehammer approach to conflict resolution.

 

[Steve4031]

Let's stick to the discussion of how this works on Amtrak and leave the personal preferences out of it.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum

 

[MattW]

Typical of the ADA's sledgehammer approach to conflict resolution.

It makes sense in this case. People don't just need a service animal while they're sitting in their coach seat, they may need also need them when they go to the cafe. The pet however can stay in the coach seat and does not need to accompany its owner to the cafe.

If you want to talk about sledgehammer approach, let's talk about the insistence on level boarding for all trains at all stations even when a wheelchair lift could work well at some stations.

 

[tonys96]

Putting animals (service and pets alike) in a single car will alleviate a large portion of that problem, though. KUDOS to Amtrak for adding that to the experimental plan.

Just to clarify for you- service dogs cannot be limited to a single car- Amtrak "must allow service animals to accompany people with disabilities in all areas of the facility where the public is normally allowed to go."

http://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm

That is just fine! No one I know of has a problem with a service animal going anywhere it's "master" goes!!

But there is absolutely NOTHING illegal or immoral about seating service animals in the same coach car as pets. Everyone buys a "seat" in a car. Amtrak chooses which car, even which sleeper car.

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/59658-assigned-seatscars/

 

[TinCan782]

Now we just need a separate car for people who wear too much perfume.

That would be nice!

I'll vote for that too!

 

[afigg]

The Pets on Board pilot project is being expanded to the Illini and Saluki and had been extended through April 2015. Press release: Amtrak and Illinois DOT to Expand Pets Program To A Second Downstate Route. What I find odd in the excerpt below is the statement that almost 20 pets have been carried on board since April. Only 20?

CHICAGO -- Amtrak and the Illinois Department of Transportation (Illinois DOT) are adding the Chicago-Champaign-Carbondale route of the Illini and Saluki trains to a pilot project that allows travelers to bring their pets along on trips to and from Chicago and Downstate Illinois. Small pets have been carried between Chicago and Quincy on Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg trains since April, with almost 20 small animals safely transported.

Although the test was scheduled to end in November, Amtrak and Illinois jointly decided to give the idea an extended trial, through April 26, 2015.

 

[neroden]

It does sound low. However: the initial trial only allowed people to take pets if they started their round trip at Galesburg, Naperville, or Chicago. And Naperville only allowed pets departing on one of the *westbounds*, which eliminates the possibility of Naperville-Chicago round trips! So most of the possible trip options were really unpopular ones, with the only likely one being Galesburg-Chicago. (People from Chicago could take round trips to anywhere on the line, but how often do they do that?)

The trial has only run for about three months. Since NARP just took down their detailed ridership statistics page, I'm not sure how many people ride between Galesburg and Chicago in a typical three-month period. I'm guessing it's a pretty small number of passengers to start with.

The expanded trial will include Champaign-Urbana / Chicago which should be substantially more popular.

 

[MattW]

Well it's not exactly like Naperville would have a lot of pet traffic headed to Chicago. Since the pet trial was this one route, and 380 is the only train that even picks up at Naperville, and only carries passengers if they're connecting to another train at Chicago, it's kind of pointless to "accept" pets EB at Naperville. Though I just looked and METRA doesn't allow pets (except service animals) at all which is odd and hopefully something that will be changed as well.

I'm glad to see the expansion so soon though admittedly surprised. This seems to be a good 0-cost way of adding both revenue and riders!

 

[amamba]

I think another good trial run for this would be the Downeaster.

It is tough to gauge effectiveness when it seems that the trial is limiting to who can utilize the service.

 

[Paulus]

The trial has only run for about three months. Since NARP just took down their detailed ridership statistics page, I'm not sure how many people ride between Galesburg and Chicago in a typical three-month period. I'm guessing it's a pretty small number of passengers to start with.

Luckily I downloaded it 66,938 boardings/alightings at Galesburg for 2013 that fit the range profile for Chicago, but there are at least two other stations that meet it as well (Naperville and La Grange). Chicago is the top city pair in terms of ridership however.

 

[trainman74]

The Pets on Board pilot project is being expanded to the Illini and Saluki...

However, since the limit is 20 pounds, adult Salukis will not be allowed on the Saluki!

 

[iggy]

Honestly didn't have time to read all the comments - excuse me in advance if this has been posted.

Amtrak expanding pets-on-trains project Illinois

"Amtrak and the Illinois Department of Transportation have announced they are adding the Chicago-Champaign-Carbondale route of the Illini and Saluki trains to a pilot project that allows people to bring pets with them"

"Small pets have been allowed on the Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg trains between Chicago and Quincy since April"

 

[neroden]

OK, based on that ridership from Galesburg, roughly one in every 400 passengers wants to take their pet to Chicago. Actually, this sounds perfectly plausible.