tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511643995538639686.post5476376261358546526..comments2024-02-21T08:11:46.123-05:00Comments on My Rail Musings: Should America Start Over?The Rail Enthusiasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08716370779057151520noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511643995538639686.post-19084729150542686512011-04-30T20:36:07.020-04:002011-04-30T20:36:07.020-04:00"Can anyone say Orbitz for train travel or a ...<i>"Can anyone say Orbitz for train travel or a railroad version of HotWire?"</i><br /><br />The airlines charge some pretty <a href="http://hizeph400.blogspot.com/2011/04/minnesotas-intercity-buses-and-air.html" rel="nofollow">exorbitant rates for short hops of 100 to 200 miles</a>, so these sites should already be including Amtrak ticketing in order to capture the very-short-haul travel market. Existing conventional-speed trains can easily win on price and still have good travel time. Travel agencies are generally linked to the <a href="http://www.sabre.com/" rel="nofollow">Sabre</a> system for airline ticketing, and Sabre already has some hooks into Amtrak's ticketing. Unfortunately, I haven't found any online service that makes use of it (some traditional travel agents probably do, though).<br /><br />The travel sites should also link into Greyhound's ticketing system, which has services for Greyhound itself plus several of the regional carriers around the country. Airport shuttle bus services should also be included in the mix -- they're often more expensive than intercity buses, but can run much more frequently and even offer service to specific addresses in some cases.<br /><br />Rather than specifying source and destination airports, these sites could start asking for starting and ending addresses and try to calculate the best mix of services that balances travel time with cost. Heck, I'd love it if Google Maps popped up a little box with price quotes for various alternatives whenever I asked for directions for an intercity route.<br /><br />There are lots of people who drive themselves long distances and pay high parking rates, or have family or friends shuttle them back and forth, or pay for expensive rental cars in order to escape airfares of $200, $300, $400, or more for short hops. There is a lot of time, money, and fuel being wasted when we only focus on cars and airplanes. Travel service integration would help make things more efficient and help show where there is latent demand for future rail services.Mike Hickshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15257599090818492294noreply@blogger.com