Wayside wrote:I don't think there's a budget line item for commuter morale.
That's pretty lousy, then. Why even provide a service if you'll do nothing to make people want to use it?
In this age of environmental responsibility, we're supposed to be luring people out of their automobiles and into alternative transportation, like
electric trains! It's way beyond time for us to break away from this over-litigious society robbing us of anything that isn't serious and invalidate the puritanical mindset it brought out that if you can enjoy something it's superfluous. There are very real advantages to serving refreshments on board such as curbing anxiety caused by delays and not being able to find a seat. For a lot of people, the train ride in and home is a social event, which to those people is a very important aspect of their commute. This not only aids that camaraderie but encourages it, and in this divisive social climate we're in, anything that encourages camaraderie needs to be embraced. Providing club car service was not the "core business" of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford railroad either, nor was providing passenger service at all for that matter, but it was the business of getting people into their trains and keeping them satisfied while they were there. If the for profit company found it viable to provide on board refreshments to its commuting passengers, it certainly is viable for the public service to provide what the public that it serves is asking for.