Subways are for sleeping: NYC Transit survival thread

has anyone taken a ride this morning? F train listed with "delays," Q not running at all.

just took the A down to 59th and then back up to 181st. ran okay

oh, Manhattan doesn't count!

just took the A down to 59th and then back up to 181st. ran okay

Like, just for shits and giggles??

What's that one station up in the 100's that's styled like it was hit by an earthquake or something? And there are these weird black
bench seats on the platform

Like, just for shits and giggles??

Uh, no.

Oh, I read that as, like, "I just rode the subway down and back again; I love to ride the subway!"

the n was a pain in the ass for me today

Q seems to be back. Rode from Union Square to 7th Av in Brooklyn tonight with no problems.

2/3 has been solid throughout.

hence, fare increase on Thursday.

did they decide not to put in the limit on "unlimited" rides? can't find anything about that on the MTA site. if they did put that in on top of a $15 (!) hike for a monthly card that's fucked up.

no, the monthly remains unlimited.

thank jesus

I think a lot of people underestimate how much would change if their cards weren't unlimited (and also how cheap the subway is on a per-ride basis)

I'm trying to remember if a car-wide ad campaign has disgusted me as much as the current one for Aruba. "We are happy natives to serve Bwana!"

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/01/26/2011-01-26_congestion_pricing_no_longer_taking_detour.html

thank fucking god

i still remember a van ride along canal street - from the manhattan bridge to hudson street - that took 1hr and 15 minutes

haha "canal street" god i am so not a new yorker any more.

you picked a good time.

Damn you, Tracer Hand!

I know this subway thread but I just had mad beef with njtransit conductor. So heated right now! This fool trying to tell me he won't honor a buss pass when there is a goddamn cross transit ticketing in effect today. I was asking for only one extra stop btw

I took his number down and got on the phone with c/s and he got shook

tell him you'll get chris christie to chew him out on youtube

Um how do you argue that?

I wonder if it was te asshole w the gross mullet that always used to yell at me for bringing my bike on the train

Bikes on the subway make me see red. (I also believe they're banned during rush hour)

not technically banned during rush hour, but I think most people realize the futility

xp well yes, but I mean off-peak NJ Transit is not the same thing as subway

yeah, i remember, vaguely

snow day, of course. wonder if i can get to Film Forum on the F.

i have successfully ridden the F

good riddence!

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/01/31/2011-01-31_cuomo_may_cut_funding_to_transit_system_without_raising_fares_new_route_for_mta.html

this guy's gonna be great!

relevant to thread title:

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/02/01/2011-02-01_mta_eyes_sliding_doors_as_subway_platform_lifesaver.html

always wondered how much this would cost

A lot

Can't think of anywhere in the world where platform edge doors have been retrofitted. In london they exist only on the section of jubilee line built in the last decade. So I think the answer is: Ruinously expensive.

xpost

right, and nyc has more area to cover...imagine it would be even worse w/ elevated stations that don't even have a ceiling to work with. and american transit can't even do basic things on a budget. but at the end of the day we're just talking about doors! admittedly a shitton of doors, but cmon, it's 2011.

cheaper to let ppl die imo

mebbe let private companies fund a lot of the project and put up whatever the fuck ads they want on the walls. pretty sure they could come up with a way to put up some DOORS for less than a billion dollars.

fwiw it is cheaper to let people die but this would presumably increase ridership a tad and be an investment that pays off in the long-long term

# of people who die is statistically insignificant = absolutely no incentive to do anything except possibly as a PR maneuver. Ridership already a captive audience, how would this substantially increase anything?

Laurel otm

My two favorite words.

Current subway commuters might be captive but there is still a decent percentage of the city that could commute by train and does not. Making the experience more pleasant might draw a small percentage tho obviously it's not as important a variable as the cost of driving. Still, a small percentage adds up when you look at it from a 50 year perspective. The new countdown clocks would also be a stupid investment if we look at this assuming a captive audience.

I mean what do we really want the system to look like in 2061? Unlike constructing new lines this seems like an infrastructure improvement that could work well as a public-private partnership.

Those barriers aren't gonna make anything more pleasant, they'll just be a reason for people to shove each other right up against them instead of leaving some room by the edge.

And per this thread, they'd have to be covered in advertising to have any financial hope, so throw that garishness in, and figure the ads/whatever is on the walls is going to block out the view across the tracks of any tilework, or other platforms, so it makes your platform that much more enclosed/claustrophobic.

These things are seriously expensive. It's not just a matter of installing doors but the signaling systems that go with them:

trains need to stop at the exact same point every time
there needs to be a way for the train driver/guard to safely operate the doors which requires new infrastructure for the train to talk with the station
you need new safety systems to stop trains if the doors are forced open

All of these things can only really be achieved during a major signaling upgrade or new construction.

Signaling upgrade is gonna be inevitable in coming decades regardless. But the lines that be automated in the future would be the obv place to start. In 2061 hopefully that would be the entire system.

"That will be"

Undoubtedly, but the idea that this could be a quick, cheap, ad funded project is ridiculous.

I never said quick or cheap! Just that it could be more feasible if the mta could split the bill. And that the underlying technology does exist.