Originally Posted by
jackal
Or take Amtrak. For $35, it's a nice, pleasant ride downtown-to-downtown.

Perhaps but there are only 5 trips a day. When I lived in Seattle and had to visit customers in Portland that were within range of Max, I always flew. The flexibility of "you're not late for one flight, just early for the next" plus not having to stay awake for a 3-hour drive after working all day were the key factors for me.