by ryanwc
I'm sympathetic to the idea that a different passenger rail system run by private companies might work better. But Tad's narrative on Amtrak reads as an inaccurate caricature based on my experience. Like Lord Sigma, I've ridden a fair number of Amtrak trains in the last several months, and have simply not had anything resembling what Tad describes.
Meanwhile, I have been gaslighted by airlines twice this summer with fake info about delays. I tend to think the profit motive works better. But elections do create competition*, and corporations do try to insulate themselves from competitive pressure and from accountability for their own mistakes, more successfully the larger they are. As far as responsiveness and service, airline staff are closer to Amtrak staff than they are to the servers at a local restaurant.
* This worked better when there were more swing voters and newspaper readers judging on competence, and fewer people watching their own partisan newschannels. But it still works.
Meanwhile, I have been gaslighted by airlines twice this summer with fake info about delays. I tend to think the profit motive works better. But elections do create competition*, and corporations do try to insulate themselves from competitive pressure and from accountability for their own mistakes, more successfully the larger they are. As far as responsiveness and service, airline staff are closer to Amtrak staff than they are to the servers at a local restaurant.
* This worked better when there were more swing voters and newspaper readers judging on competence, and fewer people watching their own partisan newschannels. But it still works.
