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Today's New York Times reports on Carmageddon's impact. Carmageddon, for the benefit of Rip Van Winkle, is the closure of a ten mile section of I-405 through Los Angeles this weekend that, as the article suggests, will impact plans of many residents:
Here is a pertinent Brief Passage relating to rail travel and a following noted marketing promotion:
Across Los Angeles, people who have heard a drumbeat of warnings for a weekend that has been called Carmageddon began responding: heading out of town, leaving work early and making plans that avoided, uncharacteristically, any use of a car.
“I’m taking a train down to San Diego for the weekend,” said Conor Gaughan, 31, who lives in Hollywood. “I have no intention of staying anywhere near the city as this process unfolds. I’m not even driving down to Union Station; I’m taking the subway there.”
For those staying behind, and there were many, merchants were ready to help with specials on hotels, airplanes, restaurants and bars. JetBlue had a $4 fare to fly people from Burbank Airport over the mountain to Long Beach Airport; hotels offered packages to entice residents away from the action.
I must wonder if Amtrak missed an marketing opportunity that JetBlue Airways was quick to seize upon; as reported by The Times, they were offering flights KBUR-KLGB for $4.00 (Four US Dollars) that would enable passengers with window seats to view the construction. Needless to say, those seats were sold within minutes of being offered.
So much for marketing stunts; but I must wonder if powers that be both at 60 Mass and the State level oversight agency responsible for marketing Amtrak California "missed the train" or do they simply have enough business nowadays - Carmageddon notwithstanding.
HopefulRailUser Member # 4513
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Amtrak got into it a bit with a $3 fare. See this from another site:
"For the 405 freeway shutdown, Amtrak is offering $3.00 fares from LA Union Station to Burbank Airport. And you can use AAA discount too, if you book 3 days in advance, so you can have it for $2.70 each way! Great for those that want to earn 100 or 200 AGR points."
Of course, if you could get yourself to Union Station you could proceed onward to Burbank Airport without ever going near the 405 so I wonder how useful this offer is!
sbalax Member # 2801
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Carmageddon was pretty much of a non-event. People were smart and stayed home or made other arrangements. The other half of this household had to drive to LAX to commute to Houston this morning and reported a "dream drive".
Hopefully people will behave the same tomorrow and then it will be over until sometime next year when we do it again to finish the job.
As Vicki pointed out the Amtrak offer was pretty much useless. And so, for that matter was the JetBlue offer.
Frank in sunny and warm SBA
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Possibly architecture fans also took JetBlue up on their marketing stunt. From the linked photo, it would appear that using KLGB is a fifty-plus year 'time warp':
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The Jet Blue/Carmageddon stunt inspired a number of people to race the jet from Burbank to Long Beach. According to a report at Slate, here are the unofficial times for the Burbank to Long Beach racers:
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It's been years since I've been to LGB (I remember going there with my folks to drop my sister off for a PSA fliight to SFO) and I'm glad to see that it hasn't changed much! There is a lot to be said for these smaller airports. Sadly, we are about to lose ours to a much larger terminal with TWO jetways. I will say they are of the nice glass walled type but, because regional jets are the largest planes flying in here now, they have to be extended their full length making for a long and fairly steep walk. The new terminal at SBA is SUPPOSED to open on 27 July.
Frank in sunny and warm SBA
Geoff Mayo Member # 153
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This actually made the news in the UK, firstly before the event, and then the "carmaHEAVEN" that it subsequently turned into!
Credit to the planning and handling all around of this - assuming the road re-opens in time for Monday's rush hour...
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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NBC Nightly News reports the 405 is now open - sixteen hours ahead of schedule.
Vincent206 Member # 15447
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We've been having total freeway shutdowns for years around Seattle. The WSDOT discovered that the work gets done much faster if the entire road is closed. People just find other ways to go about their business. A couple of years ago, northbound I-5 in Seattle was scheduled to be closed for 19 days during August. That was quite a disruption, but thanks to lots of advance notice and planning, we survived. And many people who usually drive on the freeways learned a lot about public transportation.
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