Uber (company): How can you estimate an Uber fare in advance?
There are two easy ways.1) Just use the app. When you hit "Set Pickup Location" you get to the "Request" screen. From there, there's a button called Fare Estimate.Press it and you can enter a destination and get a fare estimate. You can do this anytime. You don't have to then request a ride. The estimate is valid unless there is a different surge multiplier at the time of the request.2) Go to Uber Fare Calculator. It's not an Uber site but seems to use the Uber API to calculate the same exact estimates the app does.Again, it works anytime. But it reflects the surge multiplier at the time of the search, not whatever is in effect at the time of the request so keep that in mind.(Although I work there, the above is not an official statement of Uber.)
Are there smoking cars on Amtrak trains? If not, should there be?
Amtrak is smokeless on the train. On long routes, passengers are allowed platform time at certain stops to light up. America is slowly becoming a smokeless society. I don’t think smoking should be returned to Amtrak trains because it creates special operational problems.For instance, instead of having all the San Bernardinos in one coach, the smoking ones have to be separated and put in the rear coach. When the conductor has to make sure those passengers detrain, he has to make an extra trip to the last car for that. That can be difficult to do when passengers are making preparations to get off, and are lined up in the aisle with their luggage.When seating is tight (the train is full), non-smokers might have to be put in the smoking coach and vise versa. If Amtrak doesn’t do that, then revenue is lost. There probably are not enough smokers on board a train to fill up a coach. Again, revenue would be lost.Smokers in the sleepers would have to walk all the way to the last car to smoke, through other sleepers, the diner, the lounge, and several coaches, since the last car in the consist is the only position a smoking coach could be carried, otherwise, non-smokers would have to walk through the smoking coach to access the lounge and diner.Smoking coaches can only be reused as smoking coaches, creating extra work for the yard switching crews. If a smoking coach is bad-ordered for repairs, a real problem exists if there is no smoking backup coach to substitute.Allowing smoking on an Amtrak passenger train is a lot more complicated than just having a smoking car on the rear.
How fast do Amtrak trains go?
In the Northeast Corridor the maximum allowable speed is 150 mph. Other roadways are lower based mainly on track conditions. Between Washington DC and Boston a large portion is under control of speed by a computerized system of train control. Amtrak likes to make everyone believe this is done in the interest of safety. In reality this is done for the purpose of performance. If trains are running late out of a station the engineman is expected to attempt to make-up this time. There is a certain amount of “rubber” built into the schedules to allow for small amounts of delay. If a train is more than a specified number of minutes late into a station the crew must answer questions about the delay. Performance is based on percentages of delays. Theoretically the trains should be 100% at all times. Amtrak’s managers are evaluated by train performance. Too many delays caused by a manager’s “performance” will affect his salary. Pressure is put on the train crews and maintenance personnel so that trains are never delayed. So you see the speed is based on what is allowed by the FRA and by whatever anomaly might exist on any particular day. Oh and yes the FRA does sit out on the right-of-way with radar guns checking the speed of the trains. So there are some people in the railroad industry who have safety of the passengers in mind.
How much did it cost to own and travel with a horse back in the 1850's or 1860's?
After the Civil War, my Great-grandfather mustered out of the Confederacy with his horse and revolver, plus his parole pay. The horse was valued at $10 and the saddle $15, but was listed as “retained 1 horse and saddle” on his parole paperwork. He headed west to California after stopping to see his parents. In San Francisco, he boarded the horse at a local OK Corral with the option it and his saddle would be rented out to pay for feeding the horse, (which otherwise would cost him forty cents a day for hay). He checked into a hotel, turned in his laundry with the Chinaman, went into a saloon… and woke up on a clipper ship outside the entry to San Francisco Bay & headed for China. Being unemployed, “recently Confederate” and completely destitute, he went to the Orient and back as an able bodied seaman. About 18 months later, he was back in ‘Frisco with a new identity as a “former sailor”… He picked up his horse and laundry and moved back to Arkansas, with the story “he was from California”. (When I was told the story, it was inferred the laundry also went to China and back, as the Chinaman grinned and said, “good timing” when giving him the laundry.)Most of the nineteenth century a trail horse was 10–15 dollars, a saddle 20–50 dollars. It always cost far more to feed a horse hay each year than the purchase price of the horse.
Can one buy Megabus tickets at the site of where the Megabus buses depart?
Since some of the answers on here are a bit outdated, I’ll add some relevant information here.You can buy your tickets moments before departure if the both of these two statements are true:You are boarding at a staffed bus stop. Megabus has a few intermediate stops where the bus operator only does pre-purchase ticket validation.There are empty seats. Many early morning and Friday afternoon trips will be at capacity.Short of the long here is, buy your tickets in advance—you’ll save money in the long run and you can even reserve a specific seat.