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Louisiana passenger service study released
I’m all for commuter rail, but I agree with Mr. Nichols. It’s hard to call this a good use of tax payer money. I’m sure Mega Bus may receive some subsidies, but to the tune of $300 million just to get started? I also would bet KCS and CN would put fuel in the Mega Bus to keep a bunch of over grown hacks off their industrial based lines in that corridor.
Just looked up the Megabus. Every fare was $25 to $30. They generally only have one or two $1 tickets. Plus every form of transportation runs at a loss. Megabus does not pay nearly enough for the road they use. The rest is subsidies by the taxpayer. Same is true for all roads and airports.
Does megabus have a snack car/cart? Do they have seating that’s roomy for any man between 130 and 330 pounds? Can you get up from your bus seat to make a trip to the bathroom? I have other questions about comparing Amtrak and Megabus, but for now, that is all.
This project should definitively be nixed. Megabus already operates, at a profit, between the two cities for fares that are sometimes a lot lower than a dollar without a dime of taxpayer money. Why on earth would you spend over 200 million dollars and then operate at over a 4,000,000 loss every year? Its madness.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Gov. Bobby Jindal nixes the project.
Oops, sorry, bad math…guess it is closer to $35 per ticket…but the rest of the comment still stands.
I guess my comment would be that if ridership is 210,000 a year to start, and the yearly subsidy is $6.8 million, why not charge another $4 per ticket and not require any operating subsidy? All infrastructure needs government investment to be built, but it should be self-supporting afterwards, be it road, rail, air, or sea.
All of our transportation is subsidized and I generally support passenger rail service, but $32 subsidy out of $42 cost is less than 25% farebox recovery. Most passenger services do better. I’m not saying don’t do it at all, but reconsider frequencies, fares, etc. to find a way to do better than this.
Continuing - On congested I10 a relaxing rail commute would be wonderful
It looks to be a reasonable matter. Certainly, it will need government subsidy to begin, but ridership will increase and should eventually wipe that out. As for arguing against the train service with bus service, that’s sheer folly. Train service is more efficient, less polluting, and doesn’t need to run another manned unit to increase service.
Ah, those Southern states… They absolutely hate the federal government, but happily take more from it than they pay in taxes. Perhaps their Tea Party and Koch Brothers will finance it for them…
With parking at $30 or more per day in NOLA, taking the train would be a bargain. The project won’t go anywhere as long as Bobby Jindal is governor, though.
Who will have the final word on this – Bobby Jindal or the state legislature or a transportation department or who? The GOP generally hates passenger rail and if it gets to make the call this entire discussion is going nowhere. Republican governors have a reputation for turning their backs on federal money, even when it genuinely benefits the people they are elected to serve.
$10 would get people on the train the first year. Once it’s demonstrated as a success and sustains the ridership, rather than be a novelty, fares can arrive to a proper price-point.
Louisiana not only lacks adequate rail transportation as an alternative to highways but also has no air alternative internally. If one needs, for intance, to travel from Shreveport to Baton Rouge, to New Orleans, to Lake Charles, to Monroe, to Alexandria , or to travel between these cities, the only option is hiwhway. This was not the case many years ago when both air and rail were available until Amtrak came about and cut out most of Louisiana from internal passenger service and, later, the airlines began their megamergers with similar results. Today many of us here would like to see the air and/or rail options for travel resotred but in our society it seems like what everybody wants nobody gets. This situation is not just here or just in the south but is mirrored in a lot of other states throughout the country. Therefore, I propose legislation whereby the private rail and air corportions be required to provide passenger servce to cities over a determined size that are now lacking service. They could be given tax credits or some other form of compensation in return, but the service must be compulsory. The national good and will of the people needs to be recognized by law. I’ve waited at the station for Amtrak for years with no train in sight and have gone to the airport finding no flighs to my destinations. I don’t need any more studies, I need transportation.
Not all Republican governors hate rail. What about Virginia and North Carolina recently? Virginia is one state that has worked hard tp put the partisanship aside to get things done for the good of its state. The trains continue to roll in Missouri and Oklahoma, and Indiana approved funding to keep the Hoosier State running. Trains aren’t just for blue states, but there are some red ones that need them, too.
How the hell could Megabus make any money off of one dollar fares. The math sounds fuzzy to me. and Matthew Nichols claims the Megabus makes a profit. What kind of weed are you smoking Matthew? It’s gotta be good!