Amtrak Service from GR to Detroit?

[PatAzo]

Greyhound has five departure from Detroit to Grand Rapids and a one way ticket tomorrow (24hrs in advance) is available for $10 on all those departures. You can't buy the fuel to drive for $10. Indian Trails and Mega Bus both have two departures. I know these are buses at highway speed and "high speed" rail be better etc. These are also tax paying corporations where Amtrak is a tax consuming operation.

Most people are not going from Detroit to Grand Rapids for example. They are going from South Gate to Walker or Livonia to Kentwood. The average traveler will look at the trip as a whole and realize by the time they get to and from the train station on both ends they are close to the total transit time driving. Assuming there is public transportation at both ends. Take a train to G.R. when your really headed to Sparta you'll need a car to finish the trip anyway so why not bring your own. You can't buy the fuel to drive for $10 and it's the ease and convenience of driving that keeps people on the highway.

I agree large scale infrastructure projects like building railroads in the 1800's or the interstate system in the 50's-60's took the participation of government. I disagree that we should be borrowing money for future generations to pay back for what will be a subsidized duplicate service. if there is real demand for rail service Mega Bus will lease some equipment and offer the service.

[~Z~]

Just a small note PatAzo - Megabus used to offer service from Detroit through Lansing to Grand Rapids and onto Chicago starting in 2012. 2013 they also did, but appears even they found not enough GR to Detroit passengers and axed that. They now run Detroit through Ann Arbor to Chicago, and another bus for Lansing to GR to Chicago and back.
Greyhound does still operate GR to Detroit.. checked a date on 7/28, only $8 one way.

[Saturnalia]

The public transit continuity is the hurdle in a lot of cases. GR & Detroit have busses, but that is about it, aside from taxis. Chicago, on the other hand, has Amtrak, Metra, The "L", Busses, and Taxis. You can get anywhere in the metro area for quick and cheap. GR and Detroit just don't have those systems, requiring cars to get anywhere outside the downtown area (with a few exceptions, like GVSU Allendale).

In GR and Detroit, you can drive yourself without too much hassle. Driving in Chicago sucks.

[ns8401]

The public transit continuity is the hurdle in a lot of cases. GR & Detroit have busses, but that is about it, aside from taxis. Chicago, on the other hand, has Amtrak, Metra, The "L", Busses, and Taxis. You can get anywhere in the metro area for quick and cheap. GR and Detroit just don't have those systems, requiring cars to get anywhere outside the downtown area (with a few exceptions, like GVSU Allendale).

In GR and Detroit, you can drive yourself without too much hassle. Driving in Chicago sucks.

Driving in Metro Detroit isn't real fun either.

[CSX_CO]

Chicago, on the other hand, has Amtrak, Metra, The "L", Busses, and Taxis. You can get anywhere in the metro area for quick and cheap.

Uh, taxi's aren't cheap. The rest of it, provided you are going along those routes, is 'cheap'. But it isn't exactly fast. I rode a CTA bus from my hotel on Michigan Ave to the Field Museum campus. Took about 30 to 45 minutes because of all the stops. I walked back to my hotel in about the same amount of time.

Driving downtown itself isn't bad, because the vast majority of people don't drive downtown, as long as you know where you are going.

Practice Safe CSX

[J T]

Driving in Chicago sucks.

Driving downtown itself isn't bad, because the vast majority of people don't drive downtown, as long as you know where you are going.

I was just going to chime in with that same thought. Well, I will anyway. It's the highways in and out of Chicago that suck. I don't mind driving downtown at all. Of course, parking can be a pain in the arse if you don't know where to look for it, but other than that, getting around in downtown Chicago via auto is relatively easy, especially if you take the "lower" streets (Lower Wacker Drive, for example).

[ns8401]

Driving in Chicago sucks.

Driving downtown itself isn't bad, because the vast majority of people don't drive downtown, as long as you know where you are going.

I was just going to chime in with that same thought. Well, I will anyway. It's the highways in and out of Chicago that suck. I don't mind driving downtown at all. Of course, parking can be a pain in the arse if you don't know where to look for it, but other than that, getting around in downtown Chicago via auto is relatively easy, especially if you take the "lower" streets (Lower Wacker Drive, for example).

I've always found it a little fast paced for my blood, guess I'll need one of you two driving I understand the major problem to be lack of parking and enormous cost of the garages. The trains and buses become so much more cost efficient to use.