Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

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

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Senator Makes Amtrak Hire Ticket Agents Because 30% of West Virginia Lacks Internet | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 30 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by coolgopher on Sunday June 10 2018, @10:17AM (2 children)

    by coolgopher (1157) on Sunday June 10 2018, @10:17AM (#691068)

    Telstra still manages to service* all of Australia. Yeah, it costs them, but they do it (because they're forced to).

    *) Commence commentary about use of "Telstra" and "service" in the same sentence.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Insightful=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   3  

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday June 10 2018, @08:58PM

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Sunday June 10 2018, @08:58PM (#691181)

    New Zealand is a country with parts that are more mountanous than almost anywhere, and is also very sparsely settled, but we have also forced our national telecoms intrastructure provider to roll out links to all the places people live.

    They also make a lot of money from it, so there's not really that excuse either.

  • (Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Monday June 11 2018, @04:48AM

    by fido_dogstoyevsky (131) <reversethis-{moc.liamg} {ta} {eldnahexa}> on Monday June 11 2018, @04:48AM (#691287)

    Telstra still manages to service* all of Australia. Yeah, it costs them, but they do it (because they're forced to).

    *) Commence commentary about use of "Telstra" and "service" in the same sentence.

    Perfectly acceptable as long as you include the phrase "in an agricultural sense"...

    --
    It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.