VIA Rail

[tomh009]

Just as an extreme example, I use to prefer doing an 8 hour drive than doing a 1 hour flight from NYC to my parents place because the door-to-door time was usually a bit faster and more reliable.

I'm in NJ once or twice a month.  I've driven that trip exactly twice, both times because there were no flights (once because of snow, once just after 9/11).  And I'm a long-time "car guy" since before I was old enough to hold a fork and a knife.

And yet I won't do an 8h drive voluntarily, even though in total time it's not that much worse than a flight: door to door, Kitchener to NJ (via YYZ and EWR) is about 5h for me: I leave my home at 4 AM and arrive at the office at 9 AM.

Why?

• Long car drives are boring
  
• If I get tired or sleepy, I risk an accident, and there is frequently no convenient place to rest
  
• On a train or by air, I can sleep, read or do email
  

Now, I use a rental car at the NJ end as our office is not in a city (NJ is full of small towns) and there is no convenient public transport.  Were I going to NYC, I would absolutely take the train from EWR in order to avoid the unpredictable delays getting into NYC through the tunnels or on the bridges.