Subways are for sleeping: NYC Transit survival thread

also holy cow at all that white-collar goldbricking and budget inflation. full time salaried teams finessing station openings, ten years before they're opening.

I'm sure the MTA, like any bureaucratic behemoth, is riddled with corruption and inefficiencies, but I was just talking to my dad over the holiday about working with large companies during his 30 years as an energy systems engineer, and he said for customers with difficult policies or personalities it's customary to add 20% for your trouble. Especially if they make you eat costs that arise during the project and they're so powerful that you can't push it back on them. I imagine the MTA is very much like that.

federalism, ain't it great!

"do you want to live in a world without pyramids?"

re https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/subway-station-booth-agents.html

Ok this obviously bothers me a lot. Let's talk a little about the American Cult of Innovation. pic.twitter.com/5AWybawRAI

— Michael T Sweeney (@mtsw) December 28, 2017

aka 'not invented here' aka the reason why we haven't replaced metrocards yet

we couldn't just... copy a system from elsewhere

we're moving to contactless! https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/23/nyregion/metrocard-subway-new-york.html

one of my local station's turnstile swipe units goes out about once every few weeks for a good day and there's generally a pile up until someone props the emergency gate open

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/magazine/subway-new-york-city-public-transportation-wealth-inequality.html

xxpost ... in 2023. for fun, read all entries marked 'metrocard' on second avenue sagas and see how long its replacement has been discussed and in so many forms.

http://secondavenuesagas.com/2008/01/31/the-end-of-the-metrocard-is-somewhat-near/

or in 2007, when it was lamented as a 13-year-old "nearly obsolete" technology!

i like obsolete technology, mostly

First great commute of the year this evening

that nyt link mookie posted is pretty good

Have you seen the 3 little arrows now appearing on the floor just in front of the doors of some cars, presumably meant to get the immobile dunces to move in? Isn't that DARLING?

so what the fuck happened today?

broken rail on the Manhattan Bridge

outstanding

Idk because luckily I was done w my commute by 8am thanks to a painfully early schedule this week. Was it gruesome?

xp oh jesus help us

my gf got caught in it and had to keep checking stations to figure out what was/wasn't moving. i deleted twitter and i suspect not having a real-time MTA feed will be the only great loss

officially a "rail CONDITION"

https://www.amny.com/transit/mta-subway-delays-1.16028518

I skipped 3 Q trains at Atlantic because they were crammed, the 4th was still super full, must have been hellish for people who need to get to work on time

i was wedged into a Q

my commute only took 1.5 hours extra this morning

today the conductor apologized for the 3 train being crowded, which was nice, but on the other hand when the fuck isn't the 3 crowded during rush hour

our conductor walked the cars during one of our 20-minute periods that we spent between each station to apologize and check if everyone was feeling ok, and whenever we were in a station he made an announcement that amounted to 'get off this thing now while you've got the chance'

those words should be over the door of every car

I weighed my chances with the roads and rode to work today. Thankfully. I was extra cautious so it "only" took an hour which apparently is 40% of the time it would have taken on the MTA.

Good call, I should have done the same

nothin much wrong with the Q today, where did I go right?

unfortunately my commute doesn't really work with a car -- the only way to save time is to spend $20 on a cab down the west side highway to the 72nd st. stop, and that's only if traffic on the west side highway is actually moving

Is it wrong that the number one reason I am putting off going to NY and dealing with my apt is because of the subway situation? I read this thread and get anxious all over again.

(and even that only saves you about 5 minutes, and that's assuming you get to the 72nd St. stop exactly when an express train arrives, so really, why bother)

that "visit door to door to show a human face of the MTA" tactic appears to be their new thing. it's nice enough but it's like the free wifi. please stop providing lace and doilies and fix the goddamn sewing machine

I've never seen it -- with the level of crowding on the subway I don't see how it's even possible

unfortunately my commute doesn't really work with a car -- the only way to save time is to spend $20 on a cab down the west side highway to the 72nd st. stop, and that's only if traffic on the west side highway is actually moving

― algorithm is a dancer (katherine), Wednesday, January 10, 2018 4:20 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The traffic on West Street is greatly improved from the back of a motorcycle. Then it doesn't matter if traffic isn't moving.

Admittedly if I worked in Midtown it wouldn't make sense for me to ride, I guess. I mean it would still be more fun than the subway but it probably wouldn't be any faster.

that "visit door to door to show a human face of the MTA" tactic

The other morning I was feeling kind of rough and then I was held momentarily by the train's dispatcher. It was nice.

you are being held momentarily due to train traffic ahead

there is another ___ train directly behind this one

lies

Yeah the Next Train displays now provide an instant readout of how big a lie that invariably is

increasingly frequent novelty: two countdown clocks on the same platform displaying different information.

i was under the impression that the countdown clocks got info from a bluetooth oriented doohickey at the front of the train so that it COULDN'T be wrong but yeah, they are continually fucking up somehow. magic!

I think the ones on the b division trains work with a different technology maybe... like I thought I read that it involved cameras actually identifying the trains in the tunnels instead of transponders on the trains themselves, and would thus be more prone to error.

but this was a while back and maybe they ended up using another method.

lol nevermind, you're exactly right about bluetooth: http://secondavenuesagas.com/2016/11/14/b-division-countdown-clocks-set-arrive-2018/

but it is a different system than on the a division

TIL a space case is when a person gets caught between a train and the platform: "They're still alive but when you move the train they'll die." pic.twitter.com/HBkh7pJHrn

— Harry Siegel (@harrysiegel) January 11, 2018

where's that from?

https://books.google.com/books?id=qK0sqeVwBfAC&pg=PT137&lpg=PT137&dq=%22the+sergeant+described+his+first+space+case%22&source=bl&ots=HwJWRuTIU0&sig=TMyyzZ0Q0JsrpoVEnnQ5b9eIWR4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj74qrq1tDYAhVV1mMKHfplCD8Q6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=%22the%20sergeant%20described%20his%20first%20space%20case%22&f=false

UH legit scary experience @MTA just now on an uptown C train. Stuck underground for 30 min in car that had TILTED OFF THE TRACKS

— Ariana Tobin (@Ariana_Tobin) January 11, 2018

how many more years has the subway got? 5? 3?

it's a race with trump to see who fails out completely first