Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Tony Redington of Burlington, who is a train enthusiast. It was first posted on his blog, http://tonyrvt.blogspot.com/.
As a Burlington resident and train enthusiast, I got nice information on a free one-way May 11 trip on National Train Day to Bellows Falls, then an old-fashioned train ride back to a ceremonial event in White River Junction, then the $12 Vermont regular in-state rate on the northbound Vermonter later in the day — unless you live in Burlington or Winooski.
The Queen City in Vermont, just seven miles from the Essex Amtrak station, does not get consistent connecting bus service to the station. National Train Day on a Saturday in May occurs on a weekend when there is seriously deficient Chittenden County Transportation Authority (CCTA) service on one of their busiest routes — Burlington-Winooski-Essex (Amtrak station).
Air travelers and bus travelers get far better treatment by CCTA. Service to Burlington International Airport operates at convenient times for most Greyhound bus connections there seven days a week.
The CCTA connection problem is a systemic issue relating to all regional transit agencies that provide limited or no connections at stations of the two Vermont Amtrak trains that cost $7 million in state dollars yearly. Every person who takes a trip on Amtrak from a Vermont station directly reduces state dollars required to support the service. Yep, the mainline track in Vermont even got a $52 million upgrade to 80 mph operating speed level last year, a half hour cut from the travel time between St. Albans and Burlington to Brattleboro and Bellows Falls — but from Burlington to Amtrak at Essex on weekends, “you can’t get there from here.” Well, you can, but the taxi fare with tip can amount to $20. Twenty dollars for the seven miles from Essex to Burlington compared to the 300-mile Amtrak round trip from Burlington to Brattleboro at the Vermont regular promotional rate of $24.
(The Burlington-Amtrak connection compares, unfortunately, to connecting by taxi from North Station to South Station in Boston for about $15 — you would think Amtrak would operate a shuttle service there.)
Air travelers and bus travelers get far better treatment by CCTA. Service to Burlington International Airport operates at convenient times for most Greyhound bus connections there seven days a week. An air or bus traveler can connect on Saturdays to the airport from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday for the mid-afternoon arrival and departure of Megabus service to Boston, CCTA provides easy connection at the UVM Davis Center, where Megabus operates from, on the University Mall route.
Seems like a service on Saturdays should be possible — the morning southbound train is generally right on time about 9:20 a.m. and returns — again with much better ontime performance at 8:17 p.m. — 17 minutes after the last CCTA departure from Amtrak to Burlington! No problem in the morning with three early bus runs in time to catch the southbound. This suggests there could be a connection both ways on Saturday — perhaps one about 9 p.m. assuring accommodation of some northbound delay which a rider is willing to take a chance on — preferably just a dedicated bus which departs five minutes after the northbound train arrives. Otherwise, how many want to bet on making connection to a bus ride that costs a dollar or so versus a $15-20 taxi ride?
On Sunday, there’s no CCTA bus service at all to Essex/Amtrak. On Sunday a new skeletal service would suffice — a single run in the a.m. to align with the southbound Vermonter, a noontime run to service local needs, and a third trip leaving within five minutes after the Vermonter’s arrival.
Meanwhile, I plan to celebrate National Train Day on the day before — Friday — with a day trip to Brattleboro. Maybe CCTA could celebrate National Train Day … with a bus to Burlington from the northbound Vermonter!
