Reform the North America Rail Pass

We, the undersigned, would like to call for an improvement to be made to Amtraks North America Rail Pass.

The North America Rail Pass is a brilliant travel package currently offered by Amtrak in conjunction with VIA Rail Canada. With this pass you can travel to over 900 destinations in both the United States and Canada for an entire month! 30 days of uninterrupted travel that could take you all the way from Los Angeles, California to Nova Scotia. From the Caribbean waters of Miami, Florida to Churchill, Canada on the Hudson Bay.

It is a brilliant offer, with only one glaring drawback; the cost of a ticket.

During off-peak travel months, the price is $709. During peak travel seasons, the price is $999.

You can see these details for yourself here: http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/Hot_Deals_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1081442673918&ssid=295

This is the perfect example of a brilliant idea held back by one small flaw. An airplane flight is cheaper than this! Gas prices are comparable. Who can possibly take advantage of this deal? Not the vast majority of us. And that is what wed like to change.

Imagine what would happen if the North America Rail Pass was cheap and affordable! Imagine if the price were dropped to a range that the vast majority of middle class citizens could afford it! Travel would be more accessible to all of us who cant afford the gas of a long road trip or the price of a plane flight. People across the country would take advantage of this opportunity.

They would include:
1. Retirees: Over the next decade, 76 million baby boomers will be entering retirement. What better way to spend your golden years than by traveling anywhere you want to go.
2. College Students: Approximately 13 million students are currently enrolled in college. The perfect combination of restlessness and free time. Between the holidays, spring break, and summer vacation a reasonably priced ticket would be the perfect way to spend your downtime, see friends, family, Florida and everywhere you never thought you could afford to go. There are 70 million Americans under the age of 18, by the time they come to college, they might just think its normal to travel wherever their heart desires.
3. Families: Amtrak can determine any combination of family ticket that would work. Families are always on tight budgets and the increase of gas and food prices will only sharpen their stress. But with the North America Rail Pass, a family ticket can be used to get to Disney World, the beach, the Smithsonian or numerous other destinations currently out of their reach.
4. Everyone in between: There are many us just dreaming of the places we always said we would go one day. With an affordable rail pass, we can not only get there and back, but also several more places along the way. On weekends, we can reach reasonably close cities, and on week-long vacations, anywhere we want

In short, all of us. Every last one of us will benefit from this adjustment.

The entire country will be open to us. New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, Kansas City, Denver, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle and everything else in between. Everything youve ever dreamed of doing; Wanna see a Broadway Musical? The Hollywood Bowl? The Lincoln Memorial? The Seattle Space Needle? Austin, Texas South-by-Southwest Festival?

Anything.

And so, we would like to direct this request to Amtrak and its Board of Directors. We ask you to consider these suggestions mentioned here. Our lives are changing in unexpected ways everywhere we look. Some beneficial, some detrimental. This is one change that can make a positive difference for us all. The North America Rail Pass is a brilliant idea, and we thank all of you at Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada for its creation. And now the opportunity to improve it is within your reach and in doing so you will change the face of travel in America forever.

We humbly request that you do.