Saturnalia wrote:
Ever since the schedule change last May, Pere Marquette ridership has been in the crapper. You simply CANNOT blame it on gas prices or ticket fees. Under that sort of calculus, the Wolverine and Blue Water would be in the tank, too.
Do you have any numbers for Kzoo-Chi ridership compared to Det-Chi ridership? It's a lot easier to jump in the car and drive to Chicago from GR or Kzoo than it is from Detroit/Pontiac/Port Huron, especially with the influence of cheap gas.
Oh, and they couldn't find a better pic of the PM for their article?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimthias/
GRHC - you know every night I can imagine he is in front of his computer screen sitting in his underwear swearing profusely and drinking Blatz beer combing the RailRoadFan website for grammatical errors.
Saturnalia wrote:
Ever since the schedule change last May, Pere Marquette ridership has been in the crapper. You simply CANNOT blame it on gas prices or ticket fees. Under that sort of calculus, the Wolverine and Blue Water would be in the tank, too.
The schedule sucks, that is the only reasonable conclusion for a 25% drop since the schedule change, comparing year-to-year.
I guess to each there own for wanting to take or not take Amtrak. I am always driving or taking the train in my attempt to avoid airports. The problem with driving to Chicago is not the driving to Chicago, that's easy unless you try to avoid tolls. My issue is simply I have driving around Chicago. It takes forever, it is easy to get lost in if you are new, and you need to take out a mortgage to park, even at your hotel. Chicago though is easy for walking and taking public transportation. It is also cheap to get around without your car. You get out of the train in a nice central location and can easily get to where you need to go. Sure it might be late but you would spend that hour stuck in traffic trying to find a spot to park anyway.
wagnew0923 wrote:. Sure it might be late but you would spend that hour stuck in traffic trying to find a spot to park anyway.
Interesting. I have lived in the Chicago area my whole life, driving downtown all the time. I have never spent an hour trying to find a spot to park...
wagnew0923 wrote:My issue is simply I have driving around Chicago. It takes forever, it is easy to get lost in if you are new, and you need to take out a mortgage to park, even at your hotel. Chicago though is easy for walking and taking public transportation.
So what is it you want to do, drive around or walk around? It's much easier and efficient, IMO, to drive to different areas in the city rather than to try to accomplish the same thing with public transportation.
Typhoon wrote:
wagnew0923 wrote:. Sure it might be late but you would spend that hour stuck in traffic trying to find a spot to park anyway.
Interesting. I have lived in the Chicago area my whole life, driving downtown all the time. I have never spent an hour trying to find a spot to park...
And I have found that driving in Chicago is a breeze, especially if you use the lower level roads. You can get from one side of town to the other in no time when driving underground.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimthias/
GRHC - you know every night I can imagine he is in front of his computer screen sitting in his underwear swearing profusely and drinking Blatz beer combing the RailRoadFan website for grammatical errors.
