Several people were kicked off one of Amtrak’s Cascade trains the other day at the Olympia-Lacey station, some 75 miles south of Seattle. They were caught smoking on board and Amtrak’s policy is clear: Smoke on board and you’ll be getting off at the next stop. On one of my Amtrak trips, I chatted with…
The New York Times recently published an in-depth article on the current oil crisis in which they pointed out that the United States is the only industrialized country that has significantly increased its consumption of oil since the oil shocks of the 70s and 80s. Here’s how our oil consumption since 1980 compares with a…
Five or six years ago, city officials in Hagerstown, Maryland, wanted to induce the airlines to start bringing jet aircraft in and out of their municipal airport instead of the prop jobs. The goal was better air service for the residents of the area. So they spent $61 million on a nice new 7,000-foot concrete…
I received an email yesterday from someone about to take an overnight trip on Amtrak. She wanted to know who and how much to tip. Good question! About the only reference I’ve ever seen in any of the material Amtrak puts out is pretty vague … just saying that tipping is optional, but appreciated. Well,…