1/3 of flights in U.S.

Since April, several airlines have gone out of business in the U.S. In addition those airlines staying in business are cancelling about 1/3 of their flights to mostly small airports. For air commuters to work this is very bad news.

I recently found out it is now cheaper to travel by Amtrak than even by bus most places within the U.S. Amtrak now provides train or if there is no train tracks, buses to most larger cities in the U.S. So traveling does not have to just be by train to get the great fares. Though it might take in some instances longer to get some where, still one can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars in plane or bus tickets and still get there safely while not worrying about burning up more diesel or gas in a less efficient way than on the trains.

For example, a friend of mine was able to travel from oregon to southern California recently for $90 recently one way. Even in a Prius, just paying the gas bill would likely have been much more than that. I checked the plane fare one way and found around $550 for a one way ticket. I was amazed how much the airfares have gone up in that time. I think it's time we built high speed trains accross the western United States too.