USA Consumer Behavior What Marketers Need to Know

You can also wonder why they didn't simply cancel the trains in advance. While they may not have predicted a switch malfunction followed by a tree falling on a locomotive and a CN derailment, the inclement weather was well-known. It's difficult to tell them that they won't be able to spend Christmas at home. However, it is possible that this was the smart decisionPeople are understandably wondering if there are any lessons to be learned and what Via may do differently in the future. There are probably some operational modifications they can make. That is beyond my expertise. But they are already taking significant initiatives to strengthen the Windsor-Quebec corridor. They simply require time.They are currently upgrading the fleet. Via is now testing new, more comfortable-looking trains. They will most likely be more reliable as well. If this can reduce delays and make them more pleasant, it will be a success.The more crucial aspect is the projected high-frequency rail system. The fastest journey times receive the majority of the focus. That isn't surprising. Three hours and fifteen minutes from Toronto to Ottawa would be a significant improvement. Depending on how early you get at the airport, it may only take an hour longer than traveling from Pearson to Ottawa with fewer complications. But the big story here is the new tracks that they intend to develop.The CN derailment was an almost perfect representation of Via's daily problems. Via uses CN and CP tracks to provide passenger service. 

And freight takes precedence over passengers. 

If you've ever been on a Via train that unexpectedly reversed, it was most likely to accommodate freight trains. The new concept would provide dedicated tracks between Toronto and Quebec City. That would not only mean that a CN derailment would not disrupt traffic from Toronto to Montreal for two days, but it would also result in less delays and faster speeds in general.Of fact, infrastructure is only one aspect of operating a passenger train service. Operations are important. Hopefully, Via will be better prepared for similar situations in the future. Now that it has happened once, kids should be aware that it may happen again.I'm writing this from a Via train to Montreal. Hopefully, the rest of our itinerary goes smoothly, as it usually does. If not, maybe I'll get angry. However, anger is not a valid basis for making public policy judgments.It is natural to interpret occurrences through an ideological prism. However, there isn't always a significant lesson to be learned. Take a deep breath if you believe this experience proves that we should privatize Via Rail or nationalize CN. Unfortunate events may not always have to fit into a larger storyline.Sometimes horrible things happen. Hopefully, we can learn something beneficial. It might not be groundbreaking or thrilling.Perhaps they should pack some additional non-perishable food and water in case of an emergency. Perhaps they require additional call center personnel (something you might also argue about airlines, 

which were generally unavailable throughout the storm

Alternatively, we may need to succumb to the weather more frequently until we have stronger rail infrastructure. That may not be a satisfactory response, but the truth seldom is. Such is life.To conclude the year, we asked our contributors and staff to make a prediction for 2023. You would think that after last year, we'd learned our lesson about making forecasts, but we couldn't stop ourselves. Feel free to keep these if you want to disgrace us later.Ukraine will become a wedge issue.In 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will enter a new battleground, one waged with memes and politics rather than missiles and soldiers: the culture war.Zelenskyy's steady and really heroic leadership in the face of unjustified and seemingly overwhelming assault from his Russian neighbor propelled him to overnight prominence as liberalism's most remarkable living standard bearer. His resolve, clad in military green and positioned in the midst of conflict, was mythic in proportion (even if, as with all myth, embellishment is part of the package), and he captured the hearts and imaginations of those in the free world horrified by totalitarian oppression and its insatiable appetite.Ukraine's reluctance to give up, roll over, and die, as well as its tenacious defense of its own right to peaceful existence, laid to rest the notion that the West was irredeemably weak, doomed to limp into decadence and irrevocable collapse. 

The Ukrainian people united behind 

their commander, and with the help of the democratic world, they battled and continue to combat the invaders, making Zelenskyy a hero.And what should we do with heroes?It should come as no surprise that, as spectacular as the Ukrainian war will be, it will not be able to hold the world's attention and compassion in comparison to the all-consuming culture war, in all its fresh agony. And by "us," I mean primarily a polarized America, whose internal squabbles shake and ricochet overseas, disturb the rest of us in turn. Already, Zelenskyy and his struggle have become a wedge issue in American political discourse, serving as yet another tool for criticizing and crippling the opposing party. Whatever the virtues of the Ukrainian mission, the nobility of the cause, or the justice that is being fought for, there will be a growing cohort—mostly on the right, but not exclusively—devoted to bringing him down.