RRspatch wrote: ↑Sun Aug 09, 2020 12:38 am Amtrak does offer through ticketing to the NJT Atlantic City line at Philadelphia. I believe the only reason this is offered is because Amtrak pulled off of the AC line and turned it over to NJT. It would be nice to offer through ticketing on more Amtrak - commuter connections but sadly I don't see this happening. The main reason is the "balkanization" of public transit in this country. Cooperation between various agencies just doesn't happen, heck crossing state lines (with a few exceptions) doesn't happen either. Buying a German rail pass and transfering from an ICE train to an S Bahn in Munchen is easy because DB calls all the shots even if the S Bahn partly paid for by the city of Munchen.I think part of that is having a route to areas not served by Amtrak or an affiliate bus service (Thruway). I would not be surprised if Amtrak would partner up with regional agencies "if they built it". I can see a few lines that way, including Brightline's Florida and Las Vegas lines.
I could produce a wish-list on these, to be honest...
electricron wrote:CUS may be poorly served by other public transit directly, but does it need other public transit.From a pure connection standpoint, I can see walking a few blocks to get to transit. That's fine and dandy. But then take Chicago's weather, especially in the winter. Do I want to freeze my butt off to get to a connecting train? Yeah, I did that before.
Downtown Chicago is one of the most walkable cities in the world. There are no hills to climb or descend. It is flatter than a pancake. It is mostly situated within one square mile. Every downtown destination can be reached with less than a 20 minute walk. And every other public transit line runs through that one mile square. with a dozen stations to pick from for a transfer.
How many times do I read that train stations should be placed within walking distance of destinations? How many times do I read trains main advantage over jet planes is their downtown to downtown travel, not suburb to suburb travel. Yet here we have a perfect example of a downtown train station, and some criticize it for not having every possible public transit direct transfers.
I guess ole Honest Abe was correct, you can't please all the people some the time nor please some of the people all the time.