MikeM
OBS Chief
Ran across this article today, thought I'd share it for everyone. Pretty fun when you vote down train service to your own constituents then hope your vote is overridden by someone else.
Iowa Service Funding
Iowa Service Funding
Rail Service to Iowa City
- Thread starter MikeM
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Tumbleweed
OBS Chief
............... :angry: ............ <_< ........ :lol:
A
anon
Guest
Show of hands, who's surprised?
Edgefan
Service Attendant
Wow, kinda hard to get rail to Iowa City when you're getting beat up on both sides of the river! University of Iowa fall census yields more than 30K students, of those 33% are from the chicagoland area. Add in 3+ buck a gallon gas and you can bet those trains will be filled. Kinda hard to be an advocate for rail to Iowa City though when it might not even make it to the Mississippi river! hboy:
hboy:MikeM
OBS Chief
Well, I think without the funding for track improvements, we'll never know if this train would be successful or not. Sadly, it seems Amtrak and rail service is turning into this year's "I hate you Democrats!" topic, to the detriment of everyone who wants to see affordable passenger rail. Oh well. Keep writing your congresscritters I guess...
Tumbleweed
OBS Chief
"CongressCritters"........ :lol:
Green Maned Lion
Engineer
Welcome to the Jungle, it gets worse here every day.
There was a fun canard article at one of the papers at (I think) the University of Iowa beating up on the proposed train there. Why do I call it a canard? The guy writing the article tried to compare the cost of a train with a $1 Megabus ticket...you know, the type that you get if you're extremely lucky and that they only have a handful of on each bus (I've heard it's around 4-5 per bus), and that necessarily not everyone on campus could hope to purchase? I'll go ahead and grant that to a lot of those students, comfort is at best a secondary concern and that many of them would rather save a small amount of money than travel in a more comfortable service, but though I know Amtrak also uses buckets, I'd be shocked if you could get those $1 tickets as easily as a low bucket Amtrak fare.
coachseats
Service Attendant
- Joined
- May 11, 2003
- Messages
- 231
Today's Des Moines Register had the results of a state wide poll on a number of different issues- one of which was support of passenger trains. The proposed Chicago-Iowa City train enjoyed a wide margin of support- with 56% supporting "Committing state financial support to establish passenger train service from Iowa City to Chicago." 39% opposed the idea and 5% were not sure. Hopefully our elected officials will take notice of the results of this and rather than playing politics get down to the business of representing the views of their constituents.
If it weren't for the old Interstate Commerce Commission, not only would there be service to Iowa City on this route, but the California Zephyr would in all likelyhood also be on this route.
Back in the 1970's, the Union Pacific was trying hard to purchase the CRI&P. The Rock was in trouble, and UP saw it as a great opportunity to finally gain Chicago (and many other points) on its own rails.
In true government bureaucratic form, the ICC studied, held hearings, and delayed decision until the Rock was reduced to an almost useless streak of rust, that no one wanted any longer. Instead, after the thankful demise of the ICC, the UP instead purchased the C&NW.
Back in the 1970's, the Union Pacific was trying hard to purchase the CRI&P. The Rock was in trouble, and UP saw it as a great opportunity to finally gain Chicago (and many other points) on its own rails.
In true government bureaucratic form, the ICC studied, held hearings, and delayed decision until the Rock was reduced to an almost useless streak of rust, that no one wanted any longer. Instead, after the thankful demise of the ICC, the UP instead purchased the C&NW.
wayman
Engineer
When a given Megabus service is pretty new, tickets in the $1-3 range are easy to score. I think the low bucket must be pretty much the whole bus. After a few months, when service is established, the low bucket is shrunk to maybe two seats. But they can still advertise service "for a buck" just as before. It's just that you've now got a 95% chance of paying $15 whereas for those first few months, you probably had a 95% chance of paying under $5. Still, $15 is pretty cheap.
Right now, it's still easy to score $3 tickets for Megabus running from Amherst to New York (with free parking in Amherst); compare that with $40+ for Amtrak from Amherst or with greater frequency from Springfield (with $8/day parking in Springfield or another $20 r/t bus from Amherst to Springfield). Even when those $3 fares essentially evaporate and become $15 fares, it's still a $50-100 round-trip savings over Amtrak for a weekend in New York.
So while it's a canard to assume those $3 will always be there, it's not a canard to point out that the bus will always be far, far, far cheaper than Amtrak.
That free parking must belong to the town or someone else. Megabus is notorious for freeloading off of others, so I'm sure that the parking lot doesn't belong to them.
wayman
Engineer
Nope, it belongs to the Hampshire Mall, whose parking lot is about five times as large as it needs to be.
Exactly what I figured. And that's why Mega can offer such fares, because they freeload off of everyone. Go to Chicago and they tell you to use the Amtrak station to go to the bathroom.
NY City is currently working on a law that will ban and/or regulate street pickups both for the Mega's of the world and the Chinese bus services to stop some of these abuses.
It's about time!
While I support free-enterprise for the most part...when it comes to public safety, I think some regulation is in order.
I believe that Boston requires even the cut-rate Chinatown lines to terminate at the South Station bus port.
R
ryan j
Guest
There are cities where Megabus "freeloads". But if they're in the parking lot of a mall, they've gotten permission, probably telling mall owners that Megabus passengers are likely to buy things at the mall while waiting. That's not freeloading. It's just a business agreement. I'm sure there are loads of malls that would love to have intercity bus service scheduled from their lot (along with many that wouldn't allow it.)
rrdude
Engineer
While standing on the 2nd floor, outdoor balcony of Richmond's Main Street station on Sunday evening, what pulls into a little public turn-around directly in front of the station? Why a "$1.00 a ride" painted MegaBus, that's what!
While I too am a strong supporter of free enterprise, and applaud the bus companies for making transportation affordable for a whole lot of people, all carriers need to pay their fair share, whether it's fees for using the Interstates, or a fee to "park" in front of a train station, and "use" the sidewalk for their boarding area.
While I too am a strong supporter of free enterprise, and applaud the bus companies for making transportation affordable for a whole lot of people, all carriers need to pay their fair share, whether it's fees for using the Interstates, or a fee to "park" in front of a train station, and "use" the sidewalk for their boarding area.
Given time rail service to Iowa city should return. Yes it will need to be subsidized but it should be pointed out that the train will not be free but will charge a fare. If the demand is there, the fares should take care of a good portion of the operating budget.
When the price of gasoline dips over $4 per gallon and fuel shortages start to occur , watch and see what happens.
When the price of gasoline dips over $4 per gallon and fuel shortages start to occur , watch and see what happens.
GlobalistPotato
Lead Service Attendant
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2011
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- 344
Ah, another sensible rail project that politicians are against!
I'm not in Iowa... can I still contact those CongressCritters?
I'm not in Iowa... can I still contact those CongressCritters?
Why would there be fuel shortages? So long as there aren't price controls in place, prices should rise as much as they need to and there won't be shortages.
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