04-15-2016, 11:13 AM
Sammy’s post on the other page about people’s tendency to overstate the advantages of driving is a good explanation of why the train needs to beat the car’s speed, not merely match it. There’s also the issue of reliability: Via is not known for it. If a train if scheduled to take five hours, there’s a significant possibility it will take longer. Most of us who take Via even just occasionally have experienced lengthy delays on hot summer days, or cold winter days, or just whenever. West of Toronto, reliability is pretty poor. It’s not good anywhere I don’t think.
I also feel that bad transit in the cities Via connects undermine it seriously. Not in Montreal and Toronto, necessarily, but in their suburbs for sure. The total trip time for actual humans making travel decisions includes the time to get to the station. And, if they have to get into their car to get to the station anyway, it probably makes a lot of sense for them to continue in their car to their destination. Citing scheduled travel time from station to station doesn’t capture the whole picture.
I also feel that bad transit in the cities Via connects undermine it seriously. Not in Montreal and Toronto, necessarily, but in their suburbs for sure. The total trip time for actual humans making travel decisions includes the time to get to the station. And, if they have to get into their car to get to the station anyway, it probably makes a lot of sense for them to continue in their car to their destination. Citing scheduled travel time from station to station doesn’t capture the whole picture.