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Senator Makes Amtrak Hire Ticket Agents Because 30 Percent of His State Lacks Internet (senate.gov)
McGruber writes: Joe Manchin, the senior Senator from West Virginia, has inserted language in the FY19 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies appropriations bill that will force Amtrak to employ at least one ticketing agent in every state that it serves.
His reasoning? "Amtrak has told me that most of their sales are now online, but West Virginians buy far more tickets at the Charleston station than most places around the country. That's not surprising, as nearly 30% of West Virginia is without internet access, and mobile broadband access is also difficult in my state's rugged, mountainous terrain, making online ticket sales difficult." Manchin continued: "Our population includes many working class families and elderly residents who are less likely to have a credit card or another means to purchase tickets remotely, but rely heavily on the train as an alternative to driving or flying. Although Matt Crouch's job was terminated today, once the bill is passed by the House and Senate and signed by the President, Amtrak will have to reinstate a position in the state and I will do everything over the next few months to make sure that happens."
His reasoning? "Amtrak has told me that most of their sales are now online, but West Virginians buy far more tickets at the Charleston station than most places around the country. That's not surprising, as nearly 30% of West Virginia is without internet access, and mobile broadband access is also difficult in my state's rugged, mountainous terrain, making online ticket sales difficult." Manchin continued: "Our population includes many working class families and elderly residents who are less likely to have a credit card or another means to purchase tickets remotely, but rely heavily on the train as an alternative to driving or flying. Although Matt Crouch's job was terminated today, once the bill is passed by the House and Senate and signed by the President, Amtrak will have to reinstate a position in the state and I will do everything over the next few months to make sure that happens."
Yes, having no Internet access is a bad deal for Virginians, but maybe the state representative should be doing something about that instead of bitching to Amtrak.
Have you even been to West Virginia? High-speed internet service is a major technical challenge there because of the geography. It's really mountainous and sparsely-populated. You can barely even get 3G service outside the cities unless you're near an Interstate or state highway. Good places to put towers that effectively cover a large area few and far between.
On top of that, there is a complete lack of cell service, Wi-fi or even microwaves on the central-eastern side of the state because of the Green Bank Observatory. (If you don't know about this, read up on it because it's actually really interesting.)
Except that the government already did that. The telecoms pocketed billions and never built out the service in a lot of places.
Rather than attacking the profitability of Amtrak, which tends to struggle in the best of times, perhaps the good senator could work on forcing the telcom industry to finish their work. They don't seem to hurt for profit, and our investment in them should both be repaid and include the interest on that investment.
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
In 2016 Amtrac got One Billion Three Hundred Eighty Five Million dollars in grant money, from the U.S. Department of Transportation ->Federal Railroad Administration. That's in addition to the money they get for, you know, selling tickets...
https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0249
They also got over a Billion dollars in 2009 as part of ARRA.
So, if a Senator has clout and says Hop, they should check back for parameters after they are in the air...
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
uhh.. wrong. amtrak operations is nearly entirely funded by fares. fare box recovery rate was 94% (ninety-four percent!!!) as of FY2016.
it was founded on government dollars, but it doesn't run on them anymore.