Thanks for all the comments to my suggestion, I would love to share the calculations. I originally worked this out in 2018, so it reflects pre-Covid ridership numbers and costs. I will relook it and try to post by next week. will need to review all the comments, once I post would appreciate any help in fleshing out the concept.
BLUF: I am sure we have the same interests in mind—how to improve Amtrak. This concept is not meant to solve all Amtrak’s problems, but should have two positive impacts:
- Improve revenue for long distance routes and the percentage of cost recouped per trip.
- Improve/expand Amtrak image and the public’s view of the system as financially viable and pertinent to their lives, thereby ensuring broader political support.
This plan as I conceive it is not a copy of the Autotrain, only adding an ‘Autotrain’ adjunct to existing routes to improve their revenue intake. I mentioned the Zephyr for reasons found in the main plan, but any of the long-distance routes could be selected for a one-year test of feasibility. If it works, it could be expanded. If not, the concept cancelled.
Once you review the concept, I would love to hear constructive criticism and discover any holes in the plan, or other options to improve it. I am trying to think entrepreneurially, rather than bureaucratically in the box, as it often the case with Amtrak. It may be true that Amtrak ‘cooks the books’ regarding the costs of the Long-distance routes, but still that is how the public perceives them. Adding revenue would minimize that image. And, lastly, just because it failed ‘years ago’ doesn’t mean the concept does not have possibilities to impact points 1 and 2 above now.
Thanks for any input. Hope to have figures up in a week or so.