When a country invests in its passenger rail system, there are lots of small benefits too. This info is updated at each station stop. Crews don't have to bother keeping track of seats like Amtrak crews have to. Passengers know the specific seat(s) they reserved will be available when they board.

The inefficiency of the American transportation system and land-use patterns cannot be understated. I just spent 1.5 hrs running errands to three stores. I put 10 miles on my car because there are no other efficient options and everything is so spread out.

Transportation freedom means more high-quality choices. If you drive, you do it because you want to, not because you have to.

We agree with @railpassengers.org. This is another inexcusable failure at every level and every party involved. We should not dump all the blame on Amtrak. They are partly at fault, but there is also (continues 🡓)... www.railpassengers.org/happening-no...

I thought they said no one rides Amtrak's long-distance trains....Booked a short coach trip on Amtrak's Coast Starlight this wknd (San Jose-Paso Robles). Coach is sold out on 1/18 and 1/19 (Paso Robles to San Jose). Our choice for the way back is either an Amtrak Thruway bus or $273 for a roomette.

Cars are killing household finances. It's important to add that car debt in the U.S. surpassed student loan debt 2 1/2 years ago. LEGALIZE TRANSPORTATION FREEDOM usa.streetsblog.org/2026/01/07/t...

“We keep adding lane-miles to networks we can’t afford to care for, while telling ourselves that the next project will finally deliver the returns the last one didn’t.” —Charles Marohn Read more in “Transportation After the Age of Expansion” on our site. https://ow.ly/er9l50XUgvy

“The places that seem to be doing the best in terms of economic efficiency, traffic safety, social equity, and environmental sustainability are frequently the places with the fewest highways and major arterials per capita.” islandpress.org/books/overbu...

The California High-Speed Rail Authority made an excellent decision hiring Ian Choudry as CEO. Private sector partners are now being brought in to help fund the project. www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/califor...

thehumanecosystem.city has assembled data for 125 US cities on the negative economic impacts of urban highways. Reduced land value on adjacent property, land taken off tax roles, etc. Among other impacts, it's reducing tax revenue in Cleveland, Ohio by 26.5%:

18% of Americans want to go car-free. 40% are open to going car-free. This is in addition to the 10% of Americans who don't drive. Congress needs to match federal transportation policy and funding to this market shift: humantransit.org/2025/12/many...

Join us on December 23 on a High Speed Rail Alliance webinar where we will discuss our proposal for a Detroit-NYC train and a bit on the need for federal reform of passenger rail policy. us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Looks like the problem of car centrism and the need for more transportation freedom is finally starting to seep into the political discourse. Please Note: this is for informational purposes only. We treat transportation as a bipartisan issue and do not endorse political candidates.

You don't have to be bothered by red lights on a train

It's time for the federal government to stop paying for new highways. PIRG updated their US Highway Boondoggles list in October 2025. As for how to spend the federal gas tax going forward: repairing what we already have and allowing states full flexibility to spend on alternatives to driving.

Great @strongtowns.org Towns video on how designing everything around the car makes life more difficult, especially for those who don't want to or can't drive: youtu.be/tZG-JNvYDPI

The NYT is wrong. The solution isn't self-driving cars. It's re-designing streets for people, investing in high-quality options to driving, land use patterns that aren't ruinously expensive for cities. The economic & social benefits of this approach will far exceed what self-driving cars can offer

Amtrak (@amtrak.com) has had 54 years to refine its emergency response procedures for incidents like this. That they haven't is beyond disappointing. It's inexcusable.

This is great. We hope it keeps growing, but to communicate a sense of urgency on the need for us to modernize and significantly expand US passenger rail, the Italian railway system moves twice as many people every MONTH. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The momentum is coming back in Ohio for rail with public surveys showing 75+% and politicians warming up to the idea once more. Join our supporter list at allaboardohio.org!

Opinions are fine, but factually, there is no "obsession" with HSR in the U.S. because we don't have any. Also, 2/3 of the U.S. has cities ideally spaced for HSR with the travel density to make it successful. No one is seriously considering HSR in Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, etc.

Trains are the answer

Now Uzbekistan is pulling ahead of the U.S. with high-speed rail. They are taking delivery of 6 high-speed train sets from Korea in addition to what you see in the picture: www.railjournal.com/regions/asia...

I thought they told us no one rides trains in America? www.metro-magazine.com/10250854/amt...

It's a tectonic shift when an agency like TexDOT calls for more public transit funding to improve mobility:

Widening highways over and over again, expecting that to fix traffic is that definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results

Read our white paper "Creating a Robust American Passenger Rail System". Federal policy toward passenger rail needs an overhaul. Let's get a national conversation started: www.allaboarderie.net/_files/ugd/b...

If we get another supportive congress member for passenger rail out of this, we'll take it.

Read our proposal for the Great Lakes Limited, a day train between Detroit and New York City via northern Ohio, NW Pennsylvania, and Upstate New York. Here is the link: www.allaboarderie.net/_files/ugd/b...

This could be a problem for our Great Lakes Limited proposal. We will be taking this up with the congressional delegation along the route.

While interesting on a theoretical level, no amount of driver education (or lane building) will fix traffic. We need high-quality options to the car keys so people can bypass traffic altogether.

Cars subjecting Americans to debt servitude. We need high-quality options to the car keys. Legalize transportation freedom.

The California High Speed Rail Project is set to see private sector funding and faster construction. Read the first 3 entries of the latest newsletter from the California High Speed Rail Authority (@cahsra.bsky.social): www.hsr.ca.gov/communicatio...

California High Speed Rail will deliver more value for less than half the per-mile cost than the North Houston Highway Project, which is over budget and more delay-plagued than CAHSR:

Our parent org, All Aboard Erie, is holding a fundraiser on October 4, 2025. The nephew of the late comedic actor Don Knotts of Andy Griffith and Three's Company fame will be discussing his life and career at McClane Church in Edinboro, PA. Buy tickets here: www.ticketleap.events/events/mclan...

@lunatrain.bsky.social has an insightful blog on the state of the travel industry. We highly recommend it.

If Caltrain (and much of the world) can experience the huge benefits of train electrification, so can Metrolink la.streetsblog.org/2025/09/03/m...

Again, Ohio showcases its position as the biggest impediment to passenger rail expansion in the Midwest. The state just dropped its updated rail plan, which contains no passenger rail projects. It's another slap in the face to the super-majority of Ohioans who want more & better passenger rail:

California High Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri is working to accelerate the construction of the CAHSR project and bring in private sector funding: Message Body www.forbes.com/sites/alanoh...

The effects of the State of PA's cuts to transit will cascade to Amtrak. No one ever suggests de-commissioning roads to save money. It's time to recognize that transit is no less essential.

Are you telling us that when service frequency goes up, then ridership will follow that same direction? This is our shocked face: 😐 www.planetizen.com/news/2025/08... via @planetizen.bsky.social

Though we at times criticize @amtrak.com, let's be clear about what the problem really is here: The lack of a strong, coherent federal passenger rail program with highway levels of funding annually (~$52 billion).

It's kind of hard to avoid driving when there are few to no alternatives. Car dependency makes life worse. bsky.app/profile/bike...

Let's stop with the passenger rail double standard. Airlines can't exist without publicly-funded airports, traffic control, security. Some states directly subsidize flights. There is a federal Essential Air Services subsidy. Bus companies don't build highways. Highways lose huge amounts of money.

Keep up the good work All Aboard Ohio!

A lot of people don't grasp that 2/3 of the US has cities ideally spaced for high-speed rail as well as European-style night trains and fast, frequent conventional service to connect smaller cities and towns to those endpoint cities.

This @theatlantic.com piece is both spot on and misses a key point. The built environment Americans live in is hostile to kids. Walking/biking is unsafe and destinations are too far for it. Drivers speed everywhere. Cul-de-sac neighborhoods are isolated. Fix the built environment, fix this problem.

Ohio needs to do a better job with passenger rail development. a robust, well-funded, federal passenger rail program would help: