It's odd what trivia will stick in your mind — but watching the DNC tonight, I wondered how a guy can commute two hours each day to work for years and years. Well, Democratic VP nominee Joe Biden does it but he does it on a train in a travel corridor where, I assume, high-speed wireless network is available and he can get some work done.
Still it ain't cheap to commute back and forth between Wilmington, DE and Washington DC.
Amtrak will charge you $1,062 a month for unlimited travel between Wilmington and Washington or Biden could buy a 10-trip ticket — a workweek's worth of back-and-forth rides costs $472 (monthly cost of $1,888 that way).
I suspect Biden buys one of those bulk options but if he just paid one way, he could pay between $236 or $88 for a round-trip.
The higher price is for the express although it's an express with one stop in Baltimore. That express leaves Wilmington at 7:34 am and pulls into Washington's Union Station at 08:55. I assume Biden would be on the 7 pm train outbound from Washington, which gets him back to Delaware by 8:12 pm.
If he's delayed, he can take a train leaving Washington as late as 10 pm, which gets him to Delaware at 11:36 pm.
Obvious (to me) answer — the government picks up the tab.
I mean, if they're willing to pay for Pelosi's private jet, surely they're willing to pay for Biden's train travel.
And it's a great way for him to keep up with constituents — just chat with people on the train. (And Biden loves to chat.)