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  • Post COVID - Passenger Rail

  • General discussion of passenger rail systems not otherwise covered in the specific forums in this category, including high speed rail.
General discussion of passenger rail systems not otherwise covered in the specific forums in this category, including high speed rail.

Moderators: mtuandrew, gprimr1

 #1563839  by Literalman
 
MattW mentioned that "the morning commute load will be more spread throughout the day." If the evening rush were spread out too, this traffic pattern could be beneficial to commuter rail. Fewer crews would be needed without the intensive peak hours, and equipment sitting idle during the day would be less common. Off topic, but during the time I was freelancing, which was in the last century, to be deductible a home office had to be exclusively an office. I never could take the deduction. The rule may be different today, though …
 #1563852  by STrRedWolf
 
This is a lot of speculation but based on news (mainly NBC, some online via major sources such as CNN, CBS, mainstream newspapers, etc) and observation on the rail heading into work and back.
  1. Yes, businesses will embrace a work-from-home model and will reduce their office space... and how much they travel. Zoom et all works well. Most meetings can be done all remote. This means you really don't need to travel unless a value-benefit analysis says it's worth it.
  2. Certain businesses require people for them to work, even if it's a monitoring station where someone has to be there in case something goes wrong. This includes Internet-connected data centers (note: I work for a company that hosts a good chunk of the Internet).
  3. Based on this, it's likely that we'll see 65-75% of office capacity once we get to "masks off" and a new office dynamic is shaken out.
  4. Local transit (bus, subway, light rail) will recover quickly. Folks gotta work!
  5. Commuter rail will take longer to recover, but some speed-ups are basically location based.
  6. MARC/VRE will recover quickly because it's connected to DC. The value-benefit is too high here when you're dealing with regulators. It's likely that both will resume full schedules within a year of "masks off"
  7. Stock and commodity exchanges will also re-energize commuter rail. Metra (Chicago) will recover fast as it has numerous commodity exchanges. NJ Transit, Metro-North, and LIRR will also recover because Wall Street. Given pre-pandemic crowding, I doubt you'll see many trains trimmed off the old schedule.
  8. Everywhere else? Slow recovery, and likely many schedule changes. There probably won't be full service past the 1 year post-"masks-off" marker.
Year two is approaching. We are starting to recover. Year three is where we'll see it up to 90%, and the rest is change.
 #1563970  by lordsigma12345
 
I think many workplaces will take a huge dive into continuing remote work indefinitely especially at first to try to save money. I think eventually some will throttle it back due to other pressures. Remote work will take some time for some of its major pitfalls to surface - such as onboarding new employees and employees getting to know each other and collaboration - it works great when you have an established team that has pivoted from working in person but when you talk about employees starting a new job and training and things like that it's just not the same and it will take a while before some of these issues become more visible to managers. Eventually when everyone comes out of COVID lockdown mode more and more people aren't going to be just content to hang around at home all the time and some employers more forceful about remote work may start to see issues with retention of employees who want to have at least some time in the office/some travel/etc. Some of us are more introverted than others and may be perfectly happy with the remote work model but by and large humans are social creatures.
 #1563975  by Alphaboi
 
One interesting side effect of the "hybrid model" is that it could actually make super commuter more attractive. A 2 hour commute becomes much less of an ordeal if you only do it once ir twice a week.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 #1564032  by STrRedWolf
 
Alphaboi wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 6:27 pm One interesting side effect of the "hybrid model" is that it could actually make super commuter more attractive. A 2 hour commute becomes much less of an ordeal if you only do it once ir twice a week.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
Very true. I can't see how anyone will want a 2+ hour commute in one direction. 2 hours in totality (from getting out of work to getting into home) is my limit... and yet we got 2 hour commuter trains.
 #1564062  by west point
 
NYP - PHL on Amtrak will soon be a less than hour on Amtrak. Connecting to SEPTA may give us the less than 2 hours to / from home ? Longer distance commuting may be coming.
 #1564066  by electricron
 
To commute that distance in less than 2 hours, you are going to pay Amtrak a small fortune in fares.

If you book your ride two weeks in advance, the regular price is $19 for a one way trip leaving Penn Station at 6 am or so. Would a round trip be twice that? Confusing results on internet sites? Let's assume the worse. $38 a day just riding an Amtrak Regional train between Penn Sta and 30th St Sta. Is this a 5 day commute every week ($190/week), or a once a week ($38/week)commute? And not to break your bubble, the Amtrak Regional trains will not be going any faster than the existing 125 mph speed limitation, only the Acela trains will go faster.

"Good Luck" finding an Acela train for $19 for a one way trip.
 #1564161  by STrRedWolf
 
electricron wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:12 pm To commute that distance in less than 2 hours, you are going to pay Amtrak a small fortune in fares.

If you book your ride two weeks in advance, the regular price is $19 for a one way trip leaving Penn Station at 6 am or so. Would a round trip be twice that? Confusing results on internet sites? Let's assume the worse. $38 a day just riding an Amtrak Regional train between Penn Sta and 30th St Sta. Is this a 5 day commute every week ($190/week), or a once a week ($38/week)commute? And not to break your bubble, the Amtrak Regional trains will not be going any faster than the existing 125 mph speed limitation, only the Acela trains will go faster.

"Good Luck" finding an Acela train for $19 for a one way trip.
I remember bumping into a guy who had a monthly Amtrak pass, Baltimore/Philadelphia. He did the round trip three times a week.
 #1564185  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Mr. Wolf, one must wonder what kind of ticketing that guy had, who once rode almost daily between Wash and Wilmington?

Somewhere I learned that he has a new job nowadays, but he just "Works From Home".
 #1564246  by STrRedWolf
 
Gilbert B Norman wrote: Thu Feb 25, 2021 8:30 pm Mr. Wolf, one must wonder what kind of ticketing that guy had, who once rode almost daily between Wash and Wilmington?

Somewhere I learned that he has a new job nowadays, but he just "Works From Home".
It probably was monthly paid by the job. Currently it's $876/month between those two points. I would imagine air travel on a short "pond skipper" would take longer, and still involve some rail travel.

Now? I hear any such trip involves a lot of coordination and won't make his fellow passengers quite as happy.
 #1564263  by electricron
 
STrRedWolf wrote: Fri Feb 26, 2021 10:39 am
Gilbert B Norman wrote: Thu Feb 25, 2021 8:30 pm Mr. Wolf, one must wonder what kind of ticketing that guy had, who once rode almost daily between Wash and Wilmington?
Somewhere I learned that he has a new job nowadays, but he just "Works From Home".
It probably was monthly paid by the job. Currently it's $876/month between those two points.
$876/ month, assuming 4 weeks of 5 work days, calculates to $43 .80 day.
Math = 876/20 = 43.80/day.
That commute between Wilmington and DC takes 1 hour and 29 minutes each way, or 2 hours and 58 minutes each day. So your basic 8.5 hour workday (assuming an half hour off for lunch) turns into an 11.5 hour work day, or a 12 hour workday with a full hour off for lunch.

That is much too long for me.

p.s. I do not think back when he was Vice President he commuted every day, nor while he was a Senator either.
 #1564268  by STrRedWolf
 
electricron wrote: Fri Feb 26, 2021 11:50 am
STrRedWolf wrote: Fri Feb 26, 2021 10:39 am
Gilbert B Norman wrote: Thu Feb 25, 2021 8:30 pm Mr. Wolf, one must wonder what kind of ticketing that guy had, who once rode almost daily between Wash and Wilmington?
Somewhere I learned that he has a new job nowadays, but he just "Works From Home".
It probably was monthly paid by the job. Currently it's $876/month between those two points.
$876/ month, assuming 4 weeks of 5 work days, calculates to $43 .80 day.
Math = 876/20 = 43.80/day.
That commute between Wilmington and DC takes 1 hour and 29 minutes each way, or 2 hours and 58 minutes each day. So your basic 8.5 hour workday (assuming an half hour off for lunch) turns into an 11.5 hour work day, or a 12 hour workday with a full hour off for lunch.

That is much too long for me.

p.s. I do not think back when he was Vice President he commuted every day, nor while he was a Senator either.
I would think said person would of commuted on the weekends while Senator, but did not at all as Vice President.
 #1564508  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Read and take to heart this Peggy Noonan column appearing today in The Journal:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-old-ne ... eatst_pos1

Fair Use:
In the past year the owners of great businesses found how much can be done remotely. They hadn’t known that! They hadn’t had to find out. They don’t have to pay that killer rent for office space anymore. People think it will all snap back when the pandemic is fully over but no, a human habit broke; a new way of operating has begun. People will come back to office life to some degree, maybe a significant one; not everything can be done remotely; people want to gather, make friends, instill a sense of mission; but it will never be what it was.......The closed shops in and around train stations and office buildings, they’re not coming back. The empty towers—people say, “Oh, they can become luxury apartments!’ Really? Why would people clamor for them, so they can have a place in the city and be near work? But near work has changed. So you can be glamorous? Many of the things that made Manhattan glamorous—shows, restaurants, clubs, museums, the opera—are wobbling. .
Peggy is the most level headed and insightful columnist in the Journal's "stable". She is always the first thing I read on Saturday.
 #1564625  by electricron
 
STrRedWolf wrote: Fri Feb 26, 2021 12:06 pm I would think said person would of commuted on the weekends while Senator, but did not at all as Vice President.
So, in other words, he was not a "daily" commuter.
Should it be called a weekly commute to work, or a weekly weekend retreat from work?
I'm sorry, I think it should be called a weekly weekend retreat!
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