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Senator Makes Amtrak Hire Ticket Agents Because 30% of West Virginia Lacks Internet

posted by janrinok on Sunday June 10 2018, @08:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the sensible dept.

McGruber writes:

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."

Source: https://www.manchin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/manchin-secures-language-to-ensure-amtrak-ticket-agent-in-west-virginia

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  • (Score: 2) by frojack on Monday June 11 2018, @12:25AM (1 child)

    by frojack (1554) on Monday June 11 2018, @12:25AM (#691227) Journal

    Bullshit.

    A bill that will force Amtrak to employ at least one ticketing agent in every state that it serves.

    Now what good is one ticketing agent in a state, when you have to GO there to talk to them, possibly weeks ahead of your actual trip.

    Why can't they just Call Julie [amtrak.com] like everybody else in the country?

    You go to the station and show them your bar code on your phone, or your ticket from the Kiosk [amtrak.com] by just entering the pin code Julie gave you.

    Surely the people in West "By God" Virginia have telephones and credit cards and don't need an actual person the help them use either.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @02:08AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 11 2018, @02:08AM (#691260)

    Calm yourself before you have a stroke. Whether you like it or not any service run by the government needs to be able to take cash payments at the point of sale. Just because you want the government and the banking industry to be able to track each and every transaction doesn't mean the rest of us have to give up using cash.

    Also, take a look on the back of any denomination of US paper currency. There's a promise there that they must keep.