Since Amtrak's stations are often derelict and in bad locations, what would the effect be on Amtrak ridership if they were in more prominent locations, and aesthetically attractive?
Examples:
1. Charlotte: The station is in a bad part of town and is run-down. Since Charlotte has numerous trains per day, making Amtrak a viable travel method, what would the impact on ridership be if the station were (as proposed) in central Charlotte, and nice?
2. Greenville, SC: The station is also in a bad part of town, invisible to most of the community. What if the station were new, nice and located in an affluent area? Clemson, SC has a fraction of the population of Greenville, but its station is fine and is very visible to the community, and its ridership, on a per-capita basis, is much higher than Greenville's, even though its service times and frequency are almost the same as Greenville's.
3. NY Penn Station: Enough said. When Amtrak's new concourses open in the former post office, will ridership be affected?
4. Raleigh: It has a new station; did ridership increase once the new station opened?
I'd like to think that better stations would make Amtrak seem like the nice mode of transportation that it is, and better locations would make Amtrak more visible to potential riders, and so nicer stations in better locations would help ridership--but by how much?
Examples:
1. Charlotte: The station is in a bad part of town and is run-down. Since Charlotte has numerous trains per day, making Amtrak a viable travel method, what would the impact on ridership be if the station were (as proposed) in central Charlotte, and nice?
2. Greenville, SC: The station is also in a bad part of town, invisible to most of the community. What if the station were new, nice and located in an affluent area? Clemson, SC has a fraction of the population of Greenville, but its station is fine and is very visible to the community, and its ridership, on a per-capita basis, is much higher than Greenville's, even though its service times and frequency are almost the same as Greenville's.
3. NY Penn Station: Enough said. When Amtrak's new concourses open in the former post office, will ridership be affected?
4. Raleigh: It has a new station; did ridership increase once the new station opened?
I'd like to think that better stations would make Amtrak seem like the nice mode of transportation that it is, and better locations would make Amtrak more visible to potential riders, and so nicer stations in better locations would help ridership--but by how much?