Joe Manchin, the senior Senator from West Virginia, has inserted language in the FY19 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies appropriations bill that will force Amtrak to employ at least one ticketing agent in every state that it serves.
His reasoning? "Amtrak has told me that most of their sales are now online, but West Virginians buy far more tickets at the Charleston station than most places around the country. That's not surprising, as nearly 30% of West Virginia is without internet access, and mobile broadband access is also difficult in my state's rugged, mountainous terrain, making online ticket sales difficult."
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Sunday June 10 2018, @03:19PM (2 children)
Not true. If you have TSA Pre, or you use Clear or some other service, you can get through without taking your shoes off. You don't think the TSA wants to piss off the wealthy and powerful people, do you?
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Sunday June 10 2018, @03:35PM
All part of keeping them safely within the security theater, citizen.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 10 2018, @07:00PM
That's what I thought, until the day I flew after helping my dad load a bag of fertilizer the night before. That set off the chemical detector. I had to take my belt off and get patted down. This required holding my arms straight out. This was right after a successful weight loss program and before I bought new pants.
The _only_ reason I was in TSA-ville is that my dad had a medical emergency and I didn't want to wait three days to get there. Every other time I've taken Amtrak and been glad of it. It's like getting into a slightly strange hotel in one city and checking out of it in another.