"The Last Mile" Problem

I think most of the responses in this thread misinterpret what "last mile" means. The term, originally from telecommunications, and now in transportation refers to getting bits or people from their origin to the the hub and from the other hub to their *final* destination. We all can see that it is lucrative and easy to move a high volume of bits and people from hub to hub; getting them to their widely scattered homes, businesses, hotels, points of interest, etc. is far more complicated. (New Haven State St, ferries, and even most of those buses are not really last-mile solutions.)

I think bikes and rideshare are excellent last-mile solutions for a huge swath of passengers. No I'm not advocating Amtrak get into bike rental or ridesharing businesses, rather they should make significant efforts to make sure their stations embrace these transportation options.

Uber pick up spots should be plentiful, right close to the platforms or station exit, with clear signage and easy access for drivers. Really thinking outside the box: Amtrak/Uber should allow a passenger to enter their train number when reserving a ride-- late trains would automatically alert the driver to the new arrival time and let the passenger know the ride will still meet the late train. Amtrak could even cover the cost (within reason) of surcharges or surge charges incurred by the late train. Wishful thinking I know, but such an automation would be welcome to a wide range of passengers, and therefore indirectly increase ridership.

Amtrak can’t even through ticket with commuter rail lines. You literally either have to have multiple aps, or trudge around Penn Station to buy tickets to connect between trains that might literally be next to each other at track level. Forget busses/subways.

Meanwhile, interconnected ticketing is a thing in Germany, Switzerland, Japan, and heck, even the UK. They seem to have figured it out long ago…

(My last visit to Germany, I landed at Frankfurt, took the S-Bahn to the main station, and transferred to DB to Stuttgart, where I saw two old drunken bums fighting a few days later by a church)

Tadman wrote: ↑Thu Feb 01, 2024 11:38 am The Hudson River crossing is absolutely "last mile". Don't forget PRR had the H&M or PATH trains as well.

A similar situation could the 30 Street-Center City connection as SEPTA allows Amtrak passengers at no charge
between Center City and 30 Street.

Until Penn Station opened in 1910, the LIRR used "last mile" ferry service from the western end of the line at Long
Island City. This continues today with the 34th Street-Hunters Point ferry and the 7 Line being the last mile to
Grand Central Terminal from Hunters Point Avenue, at least until ESA opened.

Nasadowsk wrote: ↑Thu Feb 01, 2024 5:40 pm Amtrak can’t even through ticket with commuter rail lines.

CTRail Hartford Line is one of two rare exceptions, with interchangeable tickets, the other being NJT's AC Line
with through interline fares available at any ACRL station.

R36 Combine Coach wrote: ↑Fri Feb 02, 2024 12:36 am
A similar situation could the 30 Street-Center City connection as SEPTA allows Amtrak passengers at no charge
between Center City and 30 Street.

This is smart. Would be even smarter to expand the service to the entire system. Consider the marginal revenue foregone if SEPTA said "any passenger with an inbound Amtrak ticket and an out-of-state license may use an outbound regional train free of charge that day" and "any passenger with an outbound Amtrak ticket may use an inbound regional train free of charge that day". That marginal revenue foregone is probably pretty minimal.

I'll add Charleston, SC, to the list of places lacking public transportation between the city and Amtrak. I seriously looked at Amtrak vacation packages to Charleston, but the station is 8 or 10 miles from the hotels in Charleston that were part of the package (not to mention 8 to 10 miles from the sites I would like to visit), and I found no transportation offered. "Hire a car" (taxi, rideshare, etc.) was the advice. As best I could tell, the local buses require two rides to get from Amtrak into town. I didn't have to go to Charleston. It would have been a vacation, but it looked like too much hassle.

Charleston is an interesting case as it is such a big tourist draw in such a small space. An express streetcar from the airport to downtown would be great. The Amtrak station is right on the way. There is also a huge New York/Philly/Washington component to that tourist trade and a reliable train focused on that market would be nice. I guess that's what the Palmetto does fairly well. The Meteor shows up at 4am and that just doesn't work. Nobody wants to bail off the sleeper and wait 12 hours to check into their hotel.

Alas I think that market mostly rents a car at the airport or grabs a taxi downtown.