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Originally Posted by Truenorth00
There are 80 flights a days between Toronto-Ottawa and Toronto-Montreal. And only Porter has them on aircraft with less than 100 seats. This is the most profitable market for all airlines in Canada, despite the competition. So I am not in the least worried about viability. All that happens is that airlines downsize to 100 seaters and slightly reduce frequencies. Look at any other market with high speed rail. Flying has not stopped. Just scaled down a tad. Moreover, see Pearson's plan for a rail hub. They want to reduce short haul flying to open up more international destinations which airlines also find more profitable.
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Fair enough, at least the Ontario market may be big enough to handle extra options, I can’t say the same for Alberta though.
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Originally Posted by Truenorth00
Never knew you could hop on Air Canada or Westjet or the Greyhound any time you like.
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You got my point wrong, reread what I said.
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Originally Posted by Truenorth00
That's right, 75% of ALL travel between those cities goes on rail.
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From article: Amtrak says that over the past five years, its share of the Washington-New York market has grown to 75 percent, up from 35 percent a little more than a decade ago. Its top producer — Acela — runs near capacity and annually produces $550 million in revenue while spending $360 million.
Given the competition, low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines is eliminating service between Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and two New York metropolitan airports, LaGuardia and Newark.
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WRONG The article states 75% of Washington
-to
-New York traffic. This article is only deals with air and rail traffic, automotive traffic is NOT mentioned in this article for an obvious reason, there is no accurate way tell how many people drive from Washington to New York. Furthermore, that article just proved my point about market splitting making services unviable. What if the airlines invent a new plane that ends up being more efficient than a train? Bye bye HSR and we are left with a scar on the landscape.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Truenorth00
Have you driven the 401 intercity at 2am? I have. Not much traffic. Actually, almost none, other than tractor trailers. Guess what? Most people still like traveling when they aren't tired and there's light out. The only time they don't is when it's an emergency. And for that, people will still be driving. Nobody here is saying 100% migration to rail. This is a strawmen you're putting up.
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You just proved my point again. No one uses the road at 2am which makes it great for travelling in a driverless car while you are sleeping. More people travelling at night means fewer people travelling during the day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Truenorth00
I urge you to sleep in your car tonight. Tell us how comfortable that is tomorrow and tell me if you'd be able to function at a high level right off the bat.
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We are not talking about today, we are talking about the future. You're challenging me to sleep for a night in a 2017 model car? 🞵🞵🞵
I would rather sleep in something more practical like this:
I wouldn’t be surprised if the seats would be able to turn into a bed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Truenorth00
You think we're insane and you're proposing that people sleep for 8 hrs in a car seat? Over a 3 hr train ride and their actual bed or hotel bed? You must not travel much if you think this way. And you definitely don't travel for business if you believe this. I've got off a plane in business class with a bed and gone into meetings and it's still a horrible zombie like experience. I much rather prefer them sending me economy a day earlier and giving me a night in a hotel (cheaper for them too).
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I have travelled by train in China and it was great, I had plenty of room to sleep at night and had a chair with table to sit and watch the scenery go by all day. I didn’t feel like a zombie after 25 hours on the train. Keep in mind that it would be possible to get just as much room in an automated car. I have also ridden on a Chinese sleeper bus. The photo I showed you is a typical Chinese sleeper bus, it looks cramped because it is sized for the average Chinese person, european people are larger. So yeah, it was a little cramped but still more comfortable than sleeping on a plane. It would be very easy to reconfigure for larger people. I have taken transit from Gatwick airport in London to my relatives place after visiting Greece; it was cramped, everyone was stuffed like canned sardines we were carrying our backpacks and there was a handle from a child’s stroller jabbing at my back. One of the worst experiences in transit I ever had.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Truenorth00
I'm doing graduate work in energy studies through an engineering program on military exchange with the US. Energy flow charts like the one above tell you where you can invest to make improvements.
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This information really wasn't need for this debate but it tells me that you are a student. Students are learning and tend to make mistakes. If you call my arguments 'strawman', then I call your rebuttals swiss cheese.
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