It’s summer; pack the car! Hours of grinding traffic await!
If this describes the travel scenario to or from your vacation idyll, consider an alternative while you brake and gas in stop-and-go traffic.
The Movable Beast
This summer, millions of people will visit or travel around the Northeast of the United States. Some are traveling locally. They pack a car with belongings, and hit the road. Car travel, especially for families, feels like a necessity for some, even in parts of the US where public transportation is readily available. Vacationing with kids requires more… things. Cribs, toys, stuffed animals, special blankets, strollers; it’s a lot. Buying train tickets for a family of four, five, or more can add up quickly.
Carless city dwellers may travel from one city to another via public transportation, but what happens when they wish to go into more rural areas? Do they train near to a rural area and then rent a car upon arrival? How does one transport all the gear–bikes, kayaks, inflatable rafts–on every day public transport?
Travelers from abroad may arrive at a major airport, and then travel between cities, via train. But if they are traveling to and between more rural areas, they may need to rent a car. Driving in a foreign country can be intimidating, and driving after a long international flight can be complicated.
In part due to the inefficiency of some US public transportation, when travelers think about their start and end points they may opt to rent or take their own car. Car travel is the most popular mode of transport in the summer in the Northeast; 85% of those who travel do so by car.
Add local workday traffic, already a nuisance in and around much of the Northeast, and the roads, highways and byways of the Northeast become flooded with cars every summer.
As a current New England local, with family scattered throughout the greater Boston area, I travel the area extensively. Some southern New England cities, Boston, and even western Massachusetts bordering Vermont have public transportation options. But once outside the major New England cities, cars are necessary because the area is still quite rural. Herein lies the big problem.
In the summertime, Route 95/15N to the Cape Cod area can become a parking lot. The same is true from Rhode Island up 95N through the Boston region to New Hampshire; a virtual standstill of traffic. Hours wasted sitting in an idling car baffle me.
A F#%k in the Road
Two recent occasions, when I tried to drive around the Boston area on 95N, illustrate the issue. One was the middle of a random Wednesday; the second was an equally ordinary Saturday morning. Neither were holidays and both preceded the summer season. In other words, this is what we consider normal traffic.
There is a point when driving north on 95 that there is a choice to be made. Drivers continue on 95N or split to 93N and drive into Boston.
On both occasions mentioned above, traffic on 95N went from flowing at a reasonable 65 mph speed to a complete stop. Why? At this split, drivers continuing north on 95 must merge as the road–95 North itself–is reduced to a single lane and drivers traverse a clockwise loop ramp. The curve is extremely sharp, and one is supposed to drive 25 mph. Yes, you read that correctly. Four lanes of highway, where cars are traveling at 65 mph, split: two lanes merge into one sharp loop, while the remaining two lanes become 93 North. A similar situation happens north of Boston with 95N and Route 128.
Redesigning the Interstate to improve flow is unlikely, due in no small part to the dilemma of reclaiming settled land. What are the alternatives?
More Train, Less Pain
As I sit in traffic, mired in these pain points, I wonder why there isn’t an auto train that would allow those of us who aren’t going into Boston to get to our relatively rural destinations with all our gear. Wouldn’t this be relatively less stressful? More environmentally beneficial? Cheaper even, when considering the cost of fuel, tolls, and, on longer trips, overnight accommodations. Add in the stressfree joy of letting someone else drive the long congested part of the route; the increase to public safety with a reduction of cars on the road; and the opportunity to bring the family, the inflatables, the stroller, and the bicycles, and you’re rolling.
The auto train between Florida and Virginia is a way to go for those who want to park the car and ride
A direct auto train exists between Florida and Virginia (with no stops in between). As well as in several countries in Europe, China, Australia and elsewhere.
Why not for New England and surrounding states? Say a Northeast auto train starts in NYC and makes stops in New Haven, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; New Bedford and Lexington, Massachusetts; and Nashua, New Hampshire; before going further up the coast, following the 95N route?
Wikipedia claims that the auto train between Florida and Virginia “has the highest revenue of any Amtrak long-distance train.”
If Amtrak’s overall business often runs at a deficit, while its auto train is relatively lucrative, why isn’t the system implemented in other parts of the US, particularly those as densely-populated and commuted as the northeast?
Issues of infrastructure, track width, and track availability can all play into this (Amtrak may own its trains, but the tracks can be owned by local private companies). But with a current American president reportedly committed to the viability of train travel, now would be a good time to consider this investment in the northeast, on the west coast corridor, from the east coast to the midwest, and so forth.
If Americans are hesitant about rail travel, in part due to car reliance, but want to reduce traffic, care for the environment, and start their vacation upon leaving home, they would benefit from parking the car on a train and not on the highway.
Evelyn Hafferty
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