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Instead of forcing people to improvise, Congress should generously fund alternatives to driving: www.msn.com/en-ca/news/u...

Mr. P. Lane vs. Ms. T. Rain: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSOO...

Good to see the city of Elyria, Ohio working with Amtrak to move the Elyria Amtrak station to a better location. Our proposed Great Lakes Limited gets a mention too: chroniclet.com/news/465676/...

Nice write-up about Amtrak's car order for the LD trains. Our thinking aligns: Lots of attention to passenger experience, comfort, and other considerations. We applaud it. Big improvement, but touches to make interiors memorable and make the train feel special could use improvement.

A high-quality passenger rail network with high-speed trains, fast & frequent conventional trains, and European-style night trains powered by electricity produced domestically would allow airlines to focus on more lucrative long-hauls, and the mess we are currently in wouldn't be so deep.

Brightline has to pay off the cost of track construction. Airlines don't pay for airport construction. Flixbus/Greyhound, Peter Pan, Boltbus, etc., don't pay for highway construction. We'll never have good passenger rail until Congress stops this double standard. Federal passenger rail reform now!

Is it time for the federal gov't to get out of the business of funding new lane miles? Considering we have been in diminishing returns with highway expansions for at least 3 decades, the answer is becoming obvious. When you can't maintain what you have, and people (cont'd...)

When 9/11 happened, the aviation system was shut down. The country ran out of rental cars. At Chicago Union Station a stranded American said to an Amtrak ticket agent (true story!): "Whaddya mean there is no train to Columbus?!?!?" A robust passenger rail system would have kept America moving.

Flights are being cut due to jet fuel shortages. Ticket prices on remaining flights are spiking. Millions of Americans are underwater on their car loans. Car loan debt surpassed student loan debt in 2023. We need high-speed rail. Here's why:

Transportation and land use are closely linked. This is part of Silicon Valley (I took this pic a few days ago). Designing everything around the car + all that exclusive R1 zoning is why there is a housing shortage here. It's also why virtually all of the cities (cont'd)

Congratulations to @allaboardohio.org dohio for a great meeting this past Saturday. One of our representatives was in attendance to give a presentation on our Great Lakes Limited proposal. AAO is the best organized state-level passenger rail advocacy organization in the nation

There is no American love affair with the automobile. It's a shotgun marriage.

One of our favorite things in @Amtrak's preliminary renderings for the new LD cars: electronic seat reservation displays. Let's hope these end up in the final design and leads to riders being able to reserve their seats when they book! It would be a huge improvement for both passengers and crews.

@amtrak.com released design renderings for its replacement long-distance fleet. To Amtrak's credit they are making improvements. Since this is likely just a first pass, I hope we see some new configurations for the lounges and roomettes, a lie-flat seating option, etc.

Highly recommend this book. Tired of pain at the pump? Tired of the hassle and expense of car ownership? There is a way out. This book explains how (and how we got here in the first place). www.jalopnik.com/2144859/life...

‪Negative effects of more highway noise and pollution notwithstanding, we hope @governor.ny.gov familiarizes herself with the studies demonstrating that highway projects have been producing diminishing returns for ~4 decades and investments in alternatives to driving produce positive economic return

Diminishing Returns of Highway Investments Part II: "There is a persistent narrative that... highway expansion, is a good investment. ... but now ... investments in other parts of the transportation system are yielding greater economic benefits" rpa.org/news/lab/eco...

Diminishing Returns From Highway Investments Part I: We knew 20 years ago that highway investments weren't providing sensible economic returns. Brookings Institution 2006 report: every dollar spent on new lane miles only returns 11 cents in congestion benefits: www.brookings.edu/articles/the...

We have enough car infrastructure. Time to focus transportation investments on modes that are more efficient at moving people.

Between the Iran war and the current TSA meltdown at airports, the online chatter about people taking Amtrak has increased, but Amtrak does not have the capacity we need. We must invest in electrified passenger rail. How many more warnings about oil dependence are we going to ignore?

The U.S. will not be immune to high jet fuel costs. Sure would have been smart to build an electrified passenger rail network starting about 30 years ago: www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...

This is not sustainable. Cars are so expensive that people are getting 7yr loans. By the end of year 5, you owe more than the car is worth. More high-quality options to driving is the best way to give people freedom from the growing expense of car ownership: www.seattletimes.com/business/car...

Place the entire NEC under a federal authority separate from Amtrak and mandate open access. This will allow competitors to enter the market, fares will fall, and travelers will have more service level options from bare-bones to premium to options in between. This model has been successful in Europe

We've had 3 major warnings since the early 1970s that oil dependency is a huge problem. After each shock passed, we went right back to business as usual. Now that we are facing the biggest global oil shock ever, does everyone understand how badly we dropped the ball?

Energy security is a good reason why we should be building electrified passenger railways.

Cars are killing household finances. The solution: More high-quality options to driving. Legalize transportation freedom!

Good news. But, we hope @Amtrak will also announce a heavy re-build program for the Superliner fleet used on the western long-distance trains and the AutoTrain. It is unlikely the Superliners will last through the procurement period without it: www.allaboardohio.org/posts/finall...

"One more lane" doesn't work. It's time to stop adding lane-miles. Instead we need to fix what we have and invest in high-quality options to driving. www.strongtowns.org/journal/2026...

Today's Lakeshore Limited was canceled due to a lack of equipment from a late arrival of yesterday's train. The "richest country in the world" cannot seem to get its act together enough to provide itself with reliable passenger rail service.

Another one for the reading list... www.henriettalmoore.com/road-kill

Shoutout to Amtrak's front line employees, They save Amtrak's reputation more than anything. @amtrak.com

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.