Maricopa-Phoenix Shuttle

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Bob Dylan

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According to a post on trainorders, starting on May 1st, there will be a New Shuttle starting up between the Maricopa Amtrak Station and several places in Phoenix.

No details or sources are listed.
 
According to a post on trainorders, starting on May 1st, there will be a New Shuttle starting up between the Maricopa Amtrak Station and several places in Phoenix.

No details or sources are listed.
If true, that's very good news. I would have traveled to a convention in Phoenix in 2011 if that had been available.
 
There is a Maricopa - Phoenix Shuttle that is by reservation only to and from. The Amtrak station in Maricopa is listed as one of their popular pick up and drop off points.

www.maricopaphoenixshuttle.com
 
There is a Maricopa - Phoenix Shuttle that is by reservation only to and from. The Amtrak station in Maricopa is listed as one of their popular pick up and drop off points.

www.maricopaphoenixshuttle.com
The TO post referred to by the OP implies something more along the lines of a dedicated Thruway service that's bookable directly from Amtrak. It doesn't actually say that, though. And it doesn't seem to be programmed into the Amtrak website yet. So this is a wait-and-see kind of thing. I don't know enough about the poster over on TO to be able to evaluate the statement for potential accuracy.
 
Shuttle was instigated by Amtrak is my understanding
Back in the PRIIA study of the Sunset Ltd, it reported that Amtrak had contacted the airport shuttle operators about serving the Amtrak station.

No. The obvious business problem is what to do with buses, vans, limos, and their drivers on the 4 days that the 3-days-a-week Sunset doesn't stop in Maricopa. If some operator has solved that problem, that's great news. Great news indeed for this worst-performing train in the national system. Otherwise the world has to wait for the daily Sunset, if or when.
 
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There has been a reservation only shuttle from Maricopa to the Phoenix Airport for quite a while. Perhaps they are just adding an extra piece to a couple of runs on the days the S/L runs. Guess we will know soon enough.
 
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Speaking of shuttles, are there any other regularly scheduled shuttles, besides the two daily Jefferson Lines buses, between Des Moines and the Osceola Amtrak station?
 
The Thruway connection is now bookable for departures starting May 1st.

Connections appear to be available to/from the Sunset in both directions. I was able to make dummy bookings for both the Phoenix Airport (PHA) and Phoenix Metrocenter (PXN). These are the same stops used by the "Arizona Shuttle," which operates Thruway service between Flagstaff and Phoenix to/from the SWC, so one might conclude that is the same company operating this new service...but I can't say for sure.

A post on Trainorders suggests the new Maricopa Thruway service will include a stop in Tempe, but that stop has not been programmed into the Amtrak website booking engine.
 
Speaking of shuttles, are there any other regularly scheduled shuttles, besides the two daily Jefferson Lines buses, between Des Moines and the Osceola Amtrak station?
Not that I can find, at least with any usable regularity. The local transit agency (Southern Iowa Trolley) has a once-a-month service to Des Moines on the first Tuesday of the month, but other than that and Jefferson Lines there really isn't any.
 
The Thruway connection is now bookable for departures starting May 1st.

Connections appear to be available to/from the Sunset in both directions. I was able to make dummy bookings for both the Phoenix Airport (PHA) and Phoenix Metrocenter (PXN). These are the same stops used by the "Arizona Shuttle," which operates Thruway service between Flagstaff and Phoenix to/from the SWC, so one might conclude that is the same company operating this new service...but I can't say for sure.

A post on Trainorders suggests the new Maricopa Thruway service will include a stop in Tempe, but that stop has not been programmed into the Amtrak website booking engine.

The Tempe, AZ (TEM) stop is now showing. This is a dedicated thruway bus that will wait for their inbound connecting trains. From what I've seen, they may wait a long time. ^_^

I suppose if the outbound train is running late, the bus will still depart on time.
 
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Speaking of shuttles, are there any other regularly scheduled shuttles, besides the two daily Jefferson Lines buses, between Des Moines and the Osceola Amtrak station?
Not that I can find, at least with any usable regularity. The local transit agency (Southern Iowa Trolley) has a once-a-month service to Des Moines on the first Tuesday of the month, but other than that and Jefferson Lines there really isn't any.
Once a month? Incredible...why bother? I suppose it's to accommodate senior's going for medical appointments, or something like that....

Back in the old regulated busline days, it could have been done as a "franchise run", to keep exclusive ownership of a dormant route...
 
Hopefully, the Phoenix area people learn about the shuttle so it gets used. The fare on the bus is included, so this would be cheaper than using the reservation van service. Also, visitors to the Area have easy access to rental cars and hotels.
 
Speaking of shuttles, are there any other regularly scheduled shuttles, besides the two daily Jefferson Lines buses, between Des Moines and the Osceola Amtrak station?
Not that I can find, at least with any usable regularity. The local transit agency (Southern Iowa Trolley) has a once-a-month service to Des Moines on the first Tuesday of the month, but other than that and Jefferson Lines there really isn't any.
Many years ago, when a late CZ missed the connecting Jefferson Lines bus from Osceola to Des Moines, the station agent told me he also ran a taxi service and offered to drive me and my 4 kids to the Des Moines bus depot. We caught up there with the Jeff Lines bus continuing our journey to southern Minnesota.
 
Looks like they've added the timetable to the Sunset Limited's page. To meet the eastbound train, be ready to get on the shuttle as early as 3:15 AM.
I have reason to travel between Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Antonio, which are the 2nd, 6th, and 7th most populous cities in the country. On most days I would travel Amtrak's Sunset Limited offers no service whatsoever, and on the few days that it does five out of six calling times between these three cities are during typical resting hours between 10:00PM and 5:30AM. There are few if any flights between these cities during Amtrak's service window, probably because most people do not want to travel in the dead of night if they can avoid it.
 
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Looks like they've added the timetable to the Sunset Limited's page. To meet the eastbound train, be ready to get on the shuttle as early as 3:15 AM.
I have reason to travel between Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Antonio, which are the 2nd, 6th, and 7th most populous cities in the country. On most days I would travel Amtrak's Sunset Limited offers no service whatsoever. On the few days that it does [offer service], five out of six calling times between these three cities are during typical resting hours between 10:00PM and 5:30AM.
In Amtrak's defense, L.A. and Phoenix are simply the wrong distance apart for Amtrak's current speeds. So Amtrak gave the longer L.A.-Tucson segment the better times for an overnight each way.

To fix the Phoenix distance problem would require a huge investment in upgrading the route to 110 mph or even 125 mph. Sure, when we get the money.

Another factor is the connection to/from the Coast Starlight, which is worth some millions in revenue to both trains. Here money is being spent, on serious planning at least, where California wants to upgrade the overlapping Surfliner route L.A.-Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo, and then push on to San Jose, connecting to Bay Area trains. Restoring this coastal route to pre-Amtrak run times will save an hour or two from the current timetables. When the Starlight can reliably arrive in L.A. at 7 p.m. instead of 9 p.m., the Sunset's departure could be moved up into a more friendly evening time instead of leaving at 10:30 when some good folks want to be in bed.

Meanwhile, the Phoenix Shuttle is a good thing on its own. It's also a service being put in place so the bugs can be worked out prior to daily service on the Sunset.

That's the big one: Daily service. iiuc, that upgrade will require only one more train set, and some more money, of course, tho not that much more money. But the PRIIA study way back when claimed that ridership will double. That will yield lower loss per rider, better farebox recovery, and other improvements in the metrics, very much including the customer satisfaction scores.

Again, the cure for what ails Amtrak is more Amtrak.
 
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In Amtrak's defense, L.A. and Phoenix are the wrong distance apart, so Amtrak gave the longer L.A.-Tucson segment the better times for an overnight each way. To fix the Phoenix distance problem would require a huge investment in upgrading the route. Sure, if we had the money.
If Amtrak wants LAX-MRC to be an overnight trip they can simply slow down the speedometer and suddenly it's an overnight trip. Much of our national network is slowing down anyway due to lack of passenger focused track maintenance so why not choose a speed and schedule that makes calling times desirable for the biggest cities on the route? I realize that slowing down is counterintuitive but it's time we admitted that nobody is taking the Sunset Limited to get somewhere quickly. If speed was important they'd be flying or driving instead of waiting days on end for the Sunset to eventually show up.

Another factor is the connection to/from the Coast Starlight, which is worth some millions in revenue to both trains. Here money is being spent, on serious planning at least, where California wants to upgrade the Surfliner route L.A.-Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo, and then push on to San Jose, connecting to Bay Area trains. Restoring this coastal route to pre-Amtrak times will save an hour or two from the current timetables. When the Starlight can reliably arrive in L.A. at 7 p.m. instead of 9 p.m., the Sunset's departure could be moved up into a more friendly evening time instead of leaving at 10:30 when some folks want to be in bed.
I'm not convinced that connecting with the Coast Starlight is worth the lousy calling times. Nor does the CS connection explain the SL's 5:35AM arrivals into LAUS. You know what can explain those schedules? Amtrak's official meal times. The Sunset Limited is scheduled to arrive just before breakfast would start and departs just after dinner would have ended.

Meanwhile, the Phoenix Shuttle is a good thing on its own, but it also a service being put in place and the bugs worked out prior to daily service on the Sunset. That's the big one: Daily service. iiuc, that upgrade will require only one more train set, and some more money, of course, tho not that much more money. But the PRIIA study way back when claimed that ridership will double, yielding lower loss per rider and other improvements in the metrics, very much including the customer satisfaction scores.
The Sunset Limited gave away a train set when the current schedule was put in place. I've never seen or heard what happened to that train set but I doubt it's sitting around waiting to come back anytime soon. It's probably long since been "spent" on replacing one of the trains some commercial trucker casually destroyed with cowboy logic. As for the money, has the UP come down from their absurd $750 million dollar demand for a single one-time schedule change, and if so by how much?
 
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I'm not convinced that connecting with the Coast Starlight is worth the lousy calling times. Nor does the CS connection explain the SL's 5:35AM arrivals into LAUS. You know what can explain those schedules? Amtrak's official meal times. The Sunset Limited is scheduled to arrive just before breakfast would start and departs just after dinner would have ended.
Until Amtrak give us figures on connecting passengers between trains not just LAX but also NOL, CHI, KCY, WASH, NYP, PHL, and other lesser stations. We cannot tell just how important thru passengers are. We cannot really tell the importance of same day and next day connections. Those numbers are really important to the whole LD and SD train interconnectivity.
 
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