[twoNeurons]

More climb aboard Amtrak for cheaper travel

By Bill Sheets Herald Writer

The Everett Herald
updated 11:19 a.m. MT, Thurs., March. 12, 2009

LOCAL NEWS - EVERETT -- About a year ago, Charley Lane got tired of driving every day from Bellingham to his job in Everett.

He decided to try Amtrak, which sends two trains per day from Bellingham south as part of the Cascades run.

He hasn't commuted to his job at disAbility Resource Connection any other way since.

It takes him roughly 1 and 1/2 hours each way; the regular fare is $16 each way, but Lane gets a frequent rider discount.

"It's like four times cheaper than all the gas," he said.

Lane reflected a trend last year: Train ridership for both the Northwest and the nation set an all-time high.

More than 774,000 people rode the Amtrak Cascades route in 2008 compared with 676,777 in 2007 -- a 14 percent increase and an all-time high for the route. The route was established 15 years ago.

Amtrak Cascades runs four trains each way per day between Vancouver, B.C., and Eugene, Ore., with stops in Everett and Edmonds as well as Seattle and other cities. Ridership on the Empire Builder, which goes between Seattle and Chicago with stops in Edmonds and Everett, increased more than 8 percent in 2008 over 2007.

Nationwide, people took nearly 3 million more trips on Amtrak trains nationwide from October 2007 through September 2008 than in the previous year, an 11 percent increase and another record.

"We've had record ridership for the last five or six years," said Vernae Graham, a spokeswoman for Amtrak in Oakland, Calif.

While ridership has dipped some since gas prices have dropped, boardings on the Cascades route were still higher in January and February than they were in the same period two years ago.

"The surprising thing I think is that it hasn't dropped off as much as you would think," said Jim Cusick, an Amtrak ticket agent in his hometown of Edmonds.

The biggest spike in ridership was last August, when 83,142 people rode somewhere on the Cascades route, compared with 61,023 in 2007 -- an increase of 36.2 percent.

Big jumps in ridership also were seen last year on Puget Sound area commuter trains and buses. The Sounder commuter rail has continued that trend into 2009, carrying 1,118 passengers between Everett and Seattle in January -- a 15 percent increase over January 2008.

Once people start riding the train, Cusick said, they like it and tend to stay, he said.

Lane likes to work on his laptop during his commute. That's something he couldn't do by driving.

The train "is a really convenient option," he said.

Amtrak has been popular among commuters for years on the East Coast, where big cities are closer together, Cusick said. Now, more people on the West Coast are discovering it as a commuting option as well, Graham said.

This is especially true on some of the California routes, between Sacramento and the Bay Area and between Los Angeles and San Diego, and it is starting to pick up in the Northwest, she said.

Many riders are using the train more for short leisure trips. Sisters Barbara Harris and Donna Ross of Wolf Point, Mont., recently rode Amtrak to Everett for the first time to visit their sister and their niece.

"It's cheaper than flying," said Harris, and about the same cost as driving, she figures.

Rail advocates believe even more people would ride the trains if they ran more frequently. It helps people to know they can catch the train almost anytime, without having to plan, said Bob Lawrence, 67, of Mill Creek. Lawrence is a member of All Aboard Washington, a rail advocacy group.

Lawrence was living in California in the 1970s when the state added money to the Amtrak pot to add trains between Los Angeles and San Diego, he said.

"Every time they put another train on, the ridership jumped," he said.


Currently, one of the trains going north on the Cascades route stops in Bellingham and does not go all the way to Vancouver. Amtrak and the state are working with officials in Vancouver to get the second train up there, Graham said.

Also a member of All Aboard Washington, Cusick changed careers from computer programming to take the position with Amtrak. His position was added last year because of increased ridership, he said.

Train advocates hope the increase can be parlayed into more trains.

"I think it's great that it's happening," Lawrence said.

source The Everett Herald