Apparently, American selfishness still outweighs all other concerns:
"Workers don't do math the same way as their employers, he (Henry Posner) explained. Someone sent to work in Harrisburg could be reimbursed by their employers for up to 55 cents a mile for driving their own cars. They perceived they'd be giving up money (more than $200 for a round trip), though they'd save their employers money by riding the bus at $138.00. That was a subtlety he
hadn't considered when the Flyer began its runs, Mr. Posner said."
This illustrates pretty well where people's priorities are. We (Americans) care about transit and reducing our car dependence only when we stand to lose money by driving. So many times people who do not use transit use arguments such as transit/transportation is not "convenient" for them, or it is not timely enough (i.e. it takes alot longer to get somewhere riding a train, bus etc. than it does to ride in their own car). Here you have (had) a service that was competitive, was timely, and allowed people to commute, work, and return home in the same day. It still was not enough of a draw to stay afloat.
This brings up some important questions:
#1. Is there really that large of a market for air/train/bus service between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg?
#2. Was U.S. Airway's commuter air service that successful? (What was the "ridership" on the daily flights? Did they merely maintain the service because Pittsburgh was in fact a hub?)
#3. How high would gas prices have to be for people to really consider ditching their cars in large numbers when traveling between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg? (The same question could be asked about Cleveland, or Columbus)
#4. Is this failure an indictment of non-automobile transportation between regional destinations?
#5. Were there mitigating factors to this failure that make you think there is a viable transportation solution?
#6. Do you agree that alot (not all) of Americans are utterly selfish?
I'm not going to answer these questions. I want to know what you think.
Talk amongst yourselves
4 comments:
#1. Is there really that large of a market for air/train/bus service between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg?
No - probably not. Between Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Johnstown, Altoona/Somerset, State College and Harrisburg - probably. The highways and the train (albeit slowly) seem to serve this. I think the lack of intermediate stops hurt here as it only took endpoint-endpoint traffic, right?
#2. Was U.S. Airway's commuter air service that successful? (What was the "ridership" on the daily flights? Did they merely maintain the service because Pittsburgh was in fact a hub?)
Successful in putting asses in seats on long-haul flights when PIT was a hub, probably. Obviously PIT-HAR didnt make sense once the long-hauls weren't hubbing at PIT.
#3. How high would gas prices have to be for people to really consider ditching their cars in large numbers when traveling between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg? (The same question could be asked about Cleveland, or Columbus)
A big part, but only part of the issue. Just as important is "how convenient" which is determined by departure time, frequency, and speed. Alternatives have to be cometitive in those arenas as well as cost.
#4. Is this failure an indictment of non-automobile transportation between regional destinations?
Partly - also an indictment of the airline mentality of point-to-point service. I think this makes a strong case that future trans-PA high-speed rail should not bypass all the towns btw HBG and PGH.
#5. Were there mitigating factors to this failure that make you think there is a viable transportation solution?
Many - Bus still gets a bad rap; transfer at HBG was clunky; lack of intermediate traffic generators; low demabd end-point to end-point.
#6. Do you agree that alot (not all) of Americans are utterly selfish?
Yes - but sometimes understandibly so. I'd love to take the train to HBG for business. But leaving at 7AM to get in at 1PM and then having to stay the night to turn around and leave at 4 PM to arrive at 8PM just aint gonna cut it.
I think it also speaks to a marketing failure. The owners of the bus needed to get other business owners on board - offer some extra incentive to the people who are paying the business expenses. When HR books your bus ticket for you, you don't have a choice. Instead they tried appealing to the business travelers who had no incentive to take the bus. It wasn't saving their money.
A while back I saw a story in the Onion, the title was something like "97% of Americans Support Public Transportation for Other People".
This was an idea that was just a little to ambitious for its britches. I think they did a fine job marketing it as a "Pittsburgh-Harrisburg" service, but there's only limited value in that. What wasn't truly appreciated by a lot of people was that it was a "Pittsburgh-East Coast Service" by way of Harrisburg being the second busiest train station in the Commonwealth. Marketing Harrisburg as a destination only has a small group of customers, but with the bus, you could leave Pittsburgh an hour earlier than the train and arrive in Harrisburg two hours before the train got in, making it easier to connect to Keystone service rather than having to ride the Pennsylvanian end to end.
1. PLEASE give us direct Amtrak connections to the 77/79 corridor... Everyone talks Cleveland/Columbus, but if you are going anywhere in the Mid-Appalachians you have to go through Richmond or DC.
2. I have taken the USAir flight between PIT and SFO many times and it's always full, no matter what time of week I ride it. Who knew it was 'underperforming'? Now they're canceling it, ending all USAir service to the West coast. Can unworldliness and regionalist insularity be far behind? (I know, United is picking it up, but it's a horribly scheduled daily priced WAY above connecting flights - I don't give it long).
3. Equal to its raw crude inputs plus the costs of the atmospheric carbon it generates. Tax it here, tax it now.
4. Nah - I think they just failed to test the market with a more general-interest route. That's a pretty steep price. Maybe start slow with something that's directly competing with Amtrak/Greyhound service levels, and maybe throw in a differentiator, like the wifi or a working toilet, rather than making it so cushy that it pushes out most of the market.
5. See #4.
6. Not sure I see what 'selfishness' has to do with this. I would find taking this bus, if I had the need, totally selfish. I mean - think of it - I would get all that time to myself, able to surf, read, sleep, whatever. Selfless people would prefer to squander this time serving the insatiable needs of their private cars. Cars are such bloodsuckers, always requiring that we spend our valuable time alone with them and no one else, sacrificing our precious lives to their every whim.
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