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The Bloc: 2023

“With the goal of stable and sustainable growth for our people and business, we expanded the agency with a mix of organic growth and the addition of…

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The Bloc

32 Old Slip, 15th Floor, New York, NY, 10005 

212-524-6200 • jmatthews@thebloc.comthebloc.com

Quick Facts

Accounts

  • Account wins: 12
  • Active business clients: 23

Brands by 2022 sales

  • Brand-product accounts held: 21
  • $25 million or less: 23

Services mix

  • Sales materials: 25%
  • Professional digital/web/mobile: 24%
  • Market research/data/analytics: 20%
  • Payer marketing: 20%
  • UX design: 5%
  • Consumer digital/web/mobile: 4%
  • Direct marketing: 2%

Client roster

  • AbbVie 
  • Acorda Therapeutics
  • Amarin 
  • Amgen
  • BioGen
  • Bristol Myers Squibb
  • Embecta 
  • Galera Therapeutics
  • Idorsia 
  • Iveric Bio
  • Lexicon
  • Lundbeck
  • Merck
  • Menarini
  • Northwell Health
  • Novaliq
  • Novartis
  • Organon
  • Otsuka/Lundbeck
  • Pfizer
  • Regeneron
  • Sanofi
  • Takeda

 

The Bloc’s campaign for Regeneron’s Evkeeza demonstrates the synergy between great craft in the work supporting the bold and life-saving message of the brand.

“In 2022, The Bloc experienced ups and downs during year three of the coronavirus pandemic,” the agency leadership team says. “While we celebrated successes from account wins, award wins, and consistently great day-to-day work, we also experienced client setbacks, including account losses. Throughout the year, we planned for the next phase of growth and expansion, which we will realize in 2023. Our true inspiration continued to come from our community of Bloc’ers. Our most valued asset is our people.”

“With the goal of stable and sustainable growth for our people and business, we expanded the agency with a mix of organic growth and the addition of new clients. Intent upon living out our mission to ‘Be Great to Do Good,’ we made significant strides in laying the foundation for The Bloc’s future success.”

Recent accomplishments

The agency had several account wins in 2022 including CyclASol from Novaliq; Immunologu U from BMS; Mozobil/Thymo from Sanofi, RSV  Vaccines and Prevnar from Pfizer; Palforzia from Nestle Health Science; Zimura from Northwell Health and Iveric Bio; consumer health from Menarini; and omnichannel consulting from Biogen. 

The Bloc also added talent last year. In April 2022, Christian Bauman joined as chief creative officer. “He brings to the agency an impressive track record and an unwavering commitment to client work and growth,” leaders say.

Jay Appel came into the executive team as the agency’s first chief digital and growth officer. “Jay joined us from BMS, where he was worldwide omnichannel lead, and brings a robust track record of digital and transformational growth to the table,” executives say. “He oversees our digital/innovation and growth teams.”

In July 2022, Itiya Wolman joined The Bloc as senior VP, director of operations. “Itiya has spent the bulk of her career in project management and operations and is passionate about executional excellence and all things delivery,” executives say.

In February 2023, Margaret Haskell rejoined The Bloc in the role of senior VP, director of strategic planning. “Margaret started her planning career at The Bloc 15 years ago, and, after the last six years building her leadership and skill set at other health-focused agencies, she has come home,” executives say. 

The Bloc also expanded its services capabilities with several new offerings. These include Bloc Intelligence (BI) Suite.

“Fueled by our commitment to answering our clients’ key business challenges, the need for an evolved analytics offering is critical,” agency leaders say. “We looked at building out the modern analytics offering. Throughout 2022, we focused on targeting high-opportunity customers and enriching engagement with real-world behavior, where activation and conversion are likely to be high. 

“It allowed us to find customers who may hold high value for our clients, and by looking through big third-party data sets, we are able to understand what HCPs do and what they say. For 2023, we’ve launched a new analytics suite at The Bloc.” 

According to leaders, the service is broken out into five parts: BI Pulse (reporting and data visualization), BI Customer 360 (data integration platform), BI Outcomes (business growth and ROI), BI Real World (big data integration, including a licensed real-word data set), and BI Foresight (predictive analytics). 

“More advanced analytics allow us to answer deeper questions related to business goals and ultimate impact,” executives say. “While many are stuck at the what, we look for the why. We are constantly thinking about the business challenge and objectives when putting together a measurement plan and committed to more deeply understanding customer needs and barriers to help them evolve and prioritize targeting/messaging. We are always looking to optimize based on business implications.”

The Bloc in 2022 launched a Consulting division. “Given some of The Bloc’s recent hires who have deep experience standing up various organizations and capabilities from within biopharma, The Bloc has started to offer an array of consulting services – primarily in digital strategy, analytics, and omnichannel – to provide recommendations for the people, processes, and platforms required to accelerate adoption and increase the impact of these capabilities within a client organization,” managers say. “In most cases, the plans being developed in these arenas are also being executed, supported, and measured by The Bloc, along with the pull through via change management strategies required to ensure success of the proposed solution(s).”

The agency started a Learning and Development division for several reasons, the leadership team states. “While The Bloc has always led the charge in developing unique content and experiences, more of the focus has been on external customer engagement and behavior change,” executives say. “In 2022, we expanded our outreach to help our clients with their internal challenges as well. Through the development of internal learning and development experiences for marketers, medical, and market access, The Bloc now offers an approach to ensuring tailored learning experiences to instill best-in-class launch capabilities in cross-functional and global market teams. These solutions are helping our clients attract and retain talent, engage according to preferred learning styles, and leverage social community to share best practices across functions and markets.”

While leaders claim the agency “took a step back in 2022 to focus on bringing on new leadership and solidifying our client relationships,” The Bloc did receive several industry accolades. 

“We were thrilled to be recognized by MM&M with Best Use of Market Access Marketing – Gold,” executives say. “We are also thrilled to be hosting the Clio Health Awards jury in May 2023 at The Bloc’s offices in New York City.”

According to the leadership team, the most important factor that led to the agency’s 2022 success is its “People First” approach, “as we continued to navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We continued to offer a fully flexible model, enabling Bloc’ers to work from the location of their choice and also enabling us to source amazing talent across North America. Toward the end of 2022, we announced a shift to a hybrid model to get the hallways of 32 Old Slip buzzing again, while still offering the flexibility that is so important for our people.” 

Structure and services

Executives highlight The Bloc’s full suite of services, including branding, strategy, omnichannel, CRM, global, medical communications, customer experience planning, channel planning, social, market access, consulting, adaptation, and analytics.

Future plans

We are at a transformative time at The Bloc,” agency leaders say. “Our ways of working and living have changed, and we will continue to embrace our flexible model to ensure our people can be successful in supporting our clients’ business outcomes by delivering world-class health solutions. 

“Going forward, we will continue to invest in our people and our business to fuel growth. We will combine our deep strategic and creative heritage with technology solutions that deliver compelling experiences across every conceivable platform. Our next generation of thought leaders will stay ahead of the curve for our clients and continue to set industry trends that others will follow. 

“We will enhance our creative edge, attracting top talent across disciplines and clients. We will pilot new technologies and processes to improve workflow and enhance output. We are consistently working to drive growth and are currently pursuing a unified global strategy, with plans for deepening and broadening our global capabilities to service our clients. Above all, we will continuously strive to be the preferred partner for all of our clients.”

According to managers, 2023 will mark the evolution of The BlocPartners, which they say is the leading global network of independent health creative agencies, to The Bloc, “the only health-native global agency with world-class local talent and a centralized operational structure.” 

“We will combine our local roots in 34+ markets with our leading expertise in data-driven, applied behavioral and medical sciences to boost global strategy, creative impact, customer experience, and brand success.

“We are very excited to share that we recently launched The Bloc’s office in Munich, Germany, via a joint venture with longtime partner ServicePlan Health and Life. We are focused on unifying and advancing our capabilities in Europe, starting with a strategy for growth in the largest European health market. Our network is now present in 34 markets with over 1,300 employees across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.” 

Philanthropy/citizenship

The Bloc has historically matched 100 percent of any individual or Bloc team charitable contribution and made a commitment last summer to match 200 percent of any donation to programs and organizations supporting racial and social justice, according to the leadership team. 

“We are proud that in 2022 we continued our charitable giving, supporting organizations including UNICEF, Jed Foundation, Movember, American Heart Association, Brooklyn Public Library, Global Giving, Humane Society of the United States, Working for Women, International OCD Foundation, International Rescue Committee, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Pat Tillman Foundation, Razom Ukraine, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Tea Arts and Culture, World Central Kitchen, and the Wounded Warrior Project,” executives say.

In the wake of the devastating 2023 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, The Bloc has also matched employee contributions to organizations helping those affected. 

Additionally, “We’ve maintained our long-term partnership with Working for Women, an organization focused on supporting economic independence for women; we look forward to expanding this partnership in 2023,” executives say.

Jennifer Matthews, The Bloc

The Bloc CEO and President Jennifer Matthews (PRNewsfoto/The Bloc)

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International

Red Candle In The Wind

Red Candle In The Wind

By Benjamin PIcton of Rabobank

February non-farm payrolls superficially exceeded market expectations on Friday by…

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Red Candle In The Wind

By Benjamin PIcton of Rabobank

February non-farm payrolls superficially exceeded market expectations on Friday by printing at 275,000 against a consensus call of 200,000. We say superficially, because the downward revisions to prior months totalled 167,000 for December and January, taking the total change in employed persons well below the implied forecast, and helping the unemployment rate to pop two-ticks to 3.9%. The U6 underemployment rate also rose from 7.2% to 7.3%, while average hourly earnings growth fell to 0.2% m-o-m and average weekly hours worked languished at 34.3, equalling pre-pandemic lows.

Undeterred by the devil in the detail, the algos sprang into action once exchanges opened. Market darling NVIDIA hit a new intraday high of $974 before (presumably) the humans took over and sold the stock down more than 10% to close at $875.28. If our suspicions are correct that it was the AIs buying before the humans started selling (no doubt triggering trailing stops on the way down), the irony is not lost on us.

The 1-day chart for NVIDIA now makes for interesting viewing, because the red candle posted on Friday presents quite a strong bearish engulfing signal. Volume traded on the day was almost double the 15-day simple moving average, and similar price action is observable on the 1-day charts for both Intel and AMD. Regular readers will be aware that we have expressed incredulity in the past about the durability the AI thematic melt-up, so it will be interesting to see whether Friday’s sell off is just a profit-taking blip, or a genuine trend reversal.

AI equities aside, this week ought to be important for markets because the BTFP program expires today. That means that the Fed will no longer be loaning cash to the banking system in exchange for collateral pledged at-par. The KBW Regional Banking index has so far taken this in its stride and is trading 30% above the lows established during the mini banking crisis of this time last year, but the Fed’s liquidity facility was effectively an exercise in can-kicking that makes regional banks a sector of the market worth paying attention to in the weeks ahead. Even here in Sydney, regulators are warning of external risks posed to the banking sector from scheduled refinancing of commercial real estate loans following sharp falls in valuations.

Markets are sending signals in other sectors, too. Gold closed at a new record-high of $2178/oz on Friday after trading above $2200/oz briefly. Gold has been going ballistic since the Friday before last, posting gains even on days where 2-year Treasury yields have risen. Gold bugs are buying as real yields fall from the October highs and inflation breakevens creep higher. This is particularly interesting as gold ETFs have been recording net outflows; suggesting that price gains aren’t being driven by a retail pile-in. Are gold buyers now betting on a stagflationary outcome where the Fed cuts without inflation being anchored at the 2% target? The price action around the US CPI release tomorrow ought to be illuminating.

Leaving the day-to-day movements to one side, we are also seeing further signs of structural change at the macro level. The UK budget last week included a provision for the creation of a British ISA. That is, an Individual Savings Account that provides tax breaks to savers who invest their money in the stock of British companies. This follows moves last year to encourage pension funds to head up the risk curve by allocating 5% of their capital to unlisted investments.

As a Hail Mary option for a government cruising toward an electoral drubbing it’s a curious choice, but it’s worth highlighting as cash-strapped governments increasingly see private savings pools as a funding solution for their spending priorities.

Of course, the UK is not alone in making creeping moves towards financial repression. In contrast to announcements today of increased trade liberalisation, Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers has in the recent past flagged his interest in tapping private pension savings to fund state spending priorities, including defence, public housing and renewable energy projects. Both the UK and Australia appear intent on finding ways to open up the lungs of their economies, but government wants more say in directing private capital flows for state goals.

So, how far is the blurring of the lines between free markets and state planning likely to go? Given the immense and varied budgetary (and security) pressures that governments are facing, could we see a re-up of WWII-era Victory bonds, where private investors are encouraged to do their patriotic duty by directly financing government at negative real rates?

That would really light a fire under the gold market.

Tyler Durden Mon, 03/11/2024 - 19:00

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Trump “Clearly Hasn’t Learned From His COVID-Era Mistakes”, RFK Jr. Says

Trump "Clearly Hasn’t Learned From His COVID-Era Mistakes", RFK Jr. Says

Authored by Jeff Louderback via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President…

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Trump "Clearly Hasn't Learned From His COVID-Era Mistakes", RFK Jr. Says

Authored by Jeff Louderback via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Joe Biden claimed that COVID vaccines are now helping cancer patients during his State of the Union address on March 7, but it was a response on Truth Social from former President Donald Trump that drew the ire of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. holds a voter rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Feb. 10, 2024. (Mitch Ranger for The Epoch Times)

During the address, President Biden said: “The pandemic no longer controls our lives. The vaccines that saved us from COVID are now being used to help beat cancer, turning setback into comeback. That’s what America does.”

President Trump wrote: “The Pandemic no longer controls our lives. The VACCINES that saved us from COVID are now being used to help beat cancer—turning setback into comeback. YOU’RE WELCOME JOE. NINE-MONTH APPROVAL TIME VS. 12 YEARS THAT IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN YOU.”

An outspoken critic of President Trump’s COVID response, and the Operation Warp Speed program that escalated the availability of COVID vaccines, Mr. Kennedy said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “Donald Trump clearly hasn’t learned from his COVID-era mistakes.”

“He fails to recognize how ineffective his warp speed vaccine is as the ninth shot is being recommended to seniors. Even more troubling is the documented harm being caused by the shot to so many innocent children and adults who are suffering myocarditis, pericarditis, and brain inflammation,” Mr. Kennedy remarked.

“This has been confirmed by a CDC-funded study of 99 million people. Instead of bragging about its speedy approval, we should be honestly and transparently debating the abundant evidence that this vaccine may have caused more harm than good.

“I look forward to debating both Trump and Biden on Sept. 16 in San Marcos, Texas.”

Mr. Kennedy announced in April 2023 that he would challenge President Biden for the 2024 Democratic Party presidential nomination before declaring his run as an independent last October, claiming that the Democrat National Committee was “rigging the primary.”

Since the early stages of his campaign, Mr. Kennedy has generated more support than pundits expected from conservatives, moderates, and independents resulting in speculation that he could take votes away from President Trump.

Many Republicans continue to seek a reckoning over the government-imposed pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

President Trump’s defense of Operation Warp Speed, the program he rolled out in May 2020 to spur the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines amid the pandemic, remains a sticking point for some of his supporters.

Vice President Mike Pence (L) and President Donald Trump deliver an update on Operation Warp Speed in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Nov. 13, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Operation Warp Speed featured a partnership between the government, the military, and the private sector, with the government paying for millions of vaccine doses to be produced.

President Trump released a statement in March 2021 saying: “I hope everyone remembers when they’re getting the COVID-19 Vaccine, that if I wasn’t President, you wouldn’t be getting that beautiful ‘shot’ for 5 years, at best, and probably wouldn’t be getting it at all. I hope everyone remembers!”

President Trump said about the COVID-19 vaccine in an interview on Fox News in March 2021: “It works incredibly well. Ninety-five percent, maybe even more than that. I would recommend it, and I would recommend it to a lot of people that don’t want to get it and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly.

“But again, we have our freedoms and we have to live by that and I agree with that also. But it’s a great vaccine, it’s a safe vaccine, and it’s something that works.”

On many occasions, President Trump has said that he is not in favor of vaccine mandates.

An environmental attorney, Mr. Kennedy founded Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that aims to end childhood health epidemics by promoting vaccine safeguards, among other initiatives.

Last year, Mr. Kennedy told podcaster Joe Rogan that ivermectin was suppressed by the FDA so that the COVID-19 vaccines could be granted emergency use authorization.

He has criticized Big Pharma, vaccine safety, and government mandates for years.

Since launching his presidential campaign, Mr. Kennedy has made his stances on the COVID-19 vaccines, and vaccines in general, a frequent talking point.

“I would argue that the science is very clear right now that they [vaccines] caused a lot more problems than they averted,” Mr. Kennedy said on Piers Morgan Uncensored last April.

“And if you look at the countries that did not vaccinate, they had the lowest death rates, they had the lowest COVID and infection rates.”

Additional data show a “direct correlation” between excess deaths and high vaccination rates in developed countries, he said.

President Trump and Mr. Kennedy have similar views on topics like protecting the U.S.-Mexico border and ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

COVID-19 is the topic where Mr. Kennedy and President Trump seem to differ the most.

Former President Donald Trump intended to “drain the swamp” when he took office in 2017, but he was “intimidated by bureaucrats” at federal agencies and did not accomplish that objective, Mr. Kennedy said on Feb. 5.

Speaking at a voter rally in Tucson, where he collected signatures to get on the Arizona ballot, the independent presidential candidate said President Trump was “earnest” when he vowed to “drain the swamp,” but it was “business as usual” during his term.

John Bolton, who President Trump appointed as a national security adviser, is “the template for a swamp creature,” Mr. Kennedy said.

Scott Gottlieb, who President Trump named to run the FDA, “was Pfizer’s business partner” and eventually returned to Pfizer, Mr. Kennedy said.

Mr. Kennedy said that President Trump had more lobbyists running federal agencies than any president in U.S. history.

“You can’t reform them when you’ve got the swamp creatures running them, and I’m not going to do that. I’m going to do something different,” Mr. Kennedy said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump “did not ask the questions that he should have,” he believes.

President Trump “knew that lockdowns were wrong” and then “agreed to lockdowns,” Mr. Kennedy said.

He also “knew that hydroxychloroquine worked, he said it,” Mr. Kennedy explained, adding that he was eventually “rolled over” by Dr. Anthony Fauci and his advisers.

President Donald Trump greets the crowd before he leaves at the Operation Warp Speed Vaccine Summit in Washington on Dec. 8, 2020. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

MaryJo Perry, a longtime advocate for vaccine choice and a Trump supporter, thinks votes will be at a premium come Election Day, particularly because the independent and third-party field is becoming more competitive.

Ms. Perry, president of Mississippi Parents for Vaccine Rights, believes advocates for medical freedom could determine who is ultimately president.

She believes that Mr. Kennedy is “pulling votes from Trump” because of the former president’s stance on the vaccines.

“People care about medical freedom. It’s an important issue here in Mississippi, and across the country,” Ms. Perry told The Epoch Times.

“Trump should admit he was wrong about Operation Warp Speed and that COVID vaccines have been dangerous. That would make a difference among people he has offended.”

President Trump won’t lose enough votes to Mr. Kennedy about Operation Warp Speed and COVID vaccines to have a significant impact on the election, Ohio Republican strategist Wes Farno told The Epoch Times.

President Trump won in Ohio by eight percentage points in both 2016 and 2020. The Ohio Republican Party endorsed President Trump for the nomination in 2024.

“The positives of a Trump presidency far outweigh the negatives,” Mr. Farno said. “People are more concerned about their wallet and the economy.

“They are asking themselves if they were better off during President Trump’s term compared to since President Biden took office. The answer to that question is obvious because many Americans are struggling to afford groceries, gas, mortgages, and rent payments.

“America needs President Trump.”

Multiple national polls back Mr. Farno’s view.

As of March 6, the RealClearPolitics average of polls indicates that President Trump has 41.8 percent support in a five-way race that includes President Biden (38.4 percent), Mr. Kennedy (12.7 percent), independent Cornel West (2.6 percent), and Green Party nominee Jill Stein (1.7 percent).

A Pew Research Center study conducted among 10,133 U.S. adults from Feb. 7 to Feb. 11 showed that Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents (42 percent) are more likely than Republicans and GOP-leaning independents (15 percent) to say they have received an updated COVID vaccine.

The poll also reported that just 28 percent of adults say they have received the updated COVID inoculation.

The peer-reviewed multinational study of more than 99 million vaccinated people that Mr. Kennedy referenced in his X post on March 7 was published in the Vaccine journal on Feb. 12.

It aimed to evaluate the risk of 13 adverse events of special interest (AESI) following COVID-19 vaccination. The AESIs spanned three categories—neurological, hematologic (blood), and cardiovascular.

The study reviewed data collected from more than 99 million vaccinated people from eight nations—Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, New Zealand, and Scotland—looking at risks up to 42 days after getting the shots.

Three vaccines—Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines as well as AstraZeneca’s viral vector jab—were examined in the study.

Researchers found higher-than-expected cases that they deemed met the threshold to be potential safety signals for multiple AESIs, including for Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), myocarditis, and pericarditis.

A safety signal refers to information that could suggest a potential risk or harm that may be associated with a medical product.

The study identified higher incidences of neurological, cardiovascular, and blood disorder complications than what the researchers expected.

President Trump’s role in Operation Warp Speed, and his continued praise of the COVID vaccine, remains a concern for some voters, including those who still support him.

Krista Cobb is a 40-year-old mother in western Ohio. She voted for President Trump in 2020 and said she would cast her vote for him this November, but she was stunned when she saw his response to President Biden about the COVID-19 vaccine during the State of the Union address.

I love President Trump and support his policies, but at this point, he has to know they [advisers and health officials] lied about the shot,” Ms. Cobb told The Epoch Times.

“If he continues to promote it, especially after all of the hearings they’ve had about it in Congress, the side effects, and cover-ups on Capitol Hill, at what point does he become the same as the people who have lied?” Ms. Cobb added.

“I think he should distance himself from talk about Operation Warp Speed and even admit that he was wrong—that the vaccines have not had the impact he was told they would have. If he did that, people would respect him even more.”

Tyler Durden Mon, 03/11/2024 - 17:00

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There will soon be one million seats on this popular Amtrak route

“More people are taking the train than ever before,” says Amtrak’s Executive Vice President.

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While the size of the United States makes it hard for it to compete with the inter-city train access available in places like Japan and many European countries, Amtrak trains are a very popular transportation option in certain pockets of the country — so much so that the country’s national railway company is expanding its Northeast Corridor by more than one million seats.

Related: This is what it's like to take a 19-hour train from New York to Chicago

Running from Boston all the way south to Washington, D.C., the route is one of the most popular as it passes through the most densely populated part of the country and serves as a commuter train for those who need to go between East Coast cities such as New York and Philadelphia for business.

Veronika Bondarenko captured this photo of New York’s Moynihan Train Hall. 

Veronika Bondarenko

Amtrak launches new routes, promises travelers ‘additional travel options’

Earlier this month, Amtrak announced that it was adding four additional Northeastern routes to its schedule — two more routes between New York’s Penn Station and Union Station in Washington, D.C. on the weekend, a new early-morning weekday route between New York and Philadelphia’s William H. Gray III 30th Street Station and a weekend route between Philadelphia and Boston’s South Station.

More Travel:

According to Amtrak, these additions will increase Northeast Corridor’s service by 20% on the weekdays and 10% on the weekends for a total of one million additional seats when counted by how many will ride the corridor over the year.

“More people are taking the train than ever before and we’re proud to offer our customers additional travel options when they ride with us on the Northeast Regional,” Amtrak Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Eliot Hamlisch said in a statement on the new routes. “The Northeast Regional gets you where you want to go comfortably, conveniently and sustainably as you breeze past traffic on I-95 for a more enjoyable travel experience.”

Here are some of the other Amtrak changes you can expect to see

Amtrak also said that, in the 2023 financial year, the Northeast Corridor had nearly 9.2 million riders — 8% more than it had pre-pandemic and a 29% increase from 2022. The higher demand, particularly during both off-peak hours and the time when many business travelers use to get to work, is pushing Amtrak to invest into this corridor in particular.

To reach more customers, Amtrak has also made several changes to both its routes and pricing system. In the fall of 2023, it introduced a type of new “Night Owl Fare” — if traveling during very late or very early hours, one can go between cities like New York and Philadelphia or Philadelphia and Washington. D.C. for $5 to $15.

As travel on the same routes during peak hours can reach as much as $300, this was a deliberate move to reach those who have the flexibility of time and might have otherwise preferred more affordable methods of transportation such as the bus. After seeing strong uptake, Amtrak added this type of fare to more Boston routes.

The largest distances, such as the ones between Boston and New York or New York and Washington, are available at the lowest rate for $20.

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