On several lines, the agency can't run more trains per hour safely because of the current signal system's limitations.

Boston's subway system increased spacing to 90 seconds between light rail cars after drivers kept crashing into the car ahead. And they still do it, but not as often. There's a bottleneck downtown where the four surface feeder lines merge into the main subway tunnel which has only one through track in each direction. 90 seconds spacing on the merged line means six minute spacing, on average, on the branches.

There is also a signal that automatically turns red when a train approaches, for no other reason than to make the train stop and then start up again in the middle of a tunnel.

No. Next.

YOU GONNA GET GROPED!

Man, that would've sucked when I lived in Howard Beach (near JFK Airport). Standing all the way for my 45 min trip to midtown without even hope of a seat (and that's assuming no delays)? Yuck. Of course, as one friend used to remark, "a door (or in this case wall) can be as good as a seat."

I have some sort of inner ear problem so standing on a moving vehicle is a problem for me. I would hate this.

eddyatwork: I have some sort of inner ear problem so standing on a moving vehicle is a problem for me. I would hate this.

No problem, just wear a 5-point harness and hook yourself on the wall.

Brought to you by the Committee to Make NYC Even More of a Hell Hole Than It Already Is.

Too bad the trains don't do everyone a favor and dump all of the passengers into the Atlantic Ocean. New York wouldn't be so bad if all the New Yorkers were gone.

I give it a month before some enterprising individual breaks the locks off.

I give it two weeks before some enterprising individual glues the locks shut.

PacManDreaming: Too bad the trains don't do everyone a favor and dump all of the passengers into the Atlantic Ocean. New York wouldn't be so bad if all the New Yorkers were gone.

I've never figured out how you can live in such an awesomely great city and be so annoyed and pissed off all the time.

Of course, that just gave away the fact I've never actually lived there.

no you ain't seen nothin' yet
do do do
no you ain't seen nothin' yet
do do do
aint seen nothin yet - BTO

The Paris Metro has flip-up seats ("straponins") that you're not supposed to use in case of "affluence" (i.e., the car is full). Some little old lady gets on, people let her sit, no matter how crowded the train is. That's a better system, because occasionally you'll have someone old, disabled, carrying something heavy, with a child, or pregnant, and they'll need a seat.

Do you know who else gets more passengers on their trains?

PennyCentury 2008-08-02 12:14:45 PM  
Do you know who else gets more passengers on their trains?

FAIL - that's actually the Lexington Ave line at rush hour.

I read stuff like this and I loves me some flyover country even more.

PacManDreaming
Too bad the trains don't do everyone a favor and dump all of the passengers into the Atlantic Ocean. New York wouldn't be so bad if all the New Yorkers were gone.

The reason were all pissed off and annoyed is because off all the tourists who clog everything up while were trying to either get to work, get to a meeting or get home to our families. Dump the tourists and New York will become a great place.

/Put these on the shuttle between Grand Central and Times Square...only one stop and it is always packed

When the train is that crowded, sitting just means ass or crotch in your face. I'd stand anyway.

Do they still allow disabled people to use a wheelchair?

/Planning to make a mint in the rush hour rent-a-wheelchair business.

SardonicAvenger: I read stuff like this and I loves me some flyover country even more.

Because you fatties can't stand for five minutes?

Moved to NYC three years ago. I've lived in several decent sized metro areas (Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus (OH), DC, Munich, NYC, Sydney) and I've found New Yorkers to be the second most helpful and nice group of people to be around (Aussies are hard to beat for making one feel welcome).

Not sure where the bad image comes from. Law and Order reruns? Still think it's the 1970s or 80s?

The real reason New Yorkers are depressed is that the light at the end of the tunnel is New Jersey!

What about old people? What about pregnant women? I'm an old man, I need to sit. Now get off my lawn, but leave the lawnchair!

back in the day, when i was young and studly, i had to take the A train to and from work, and anywhere else i wanted to go in manhattan. one regular work day, around 7.45, or 8am, i entered a packed, standing room only subway car. it was unusually packed, like those pics you see of people in tokyo being pushed into their subway cars.
well, about 1 minute into the ride from 181st street to 59th/columbus circle, i felt my zipper being undone. i was clutching onto one of the 2 or 3 steel poles, so i had a sea of bodies around me, or,rather, faces. i couldn't get my arms down to smack away the culprit..he/she/it proceeded to pull out my testes and cup them in their hand. no other "procedure" was occurring by my assailant. i was helpless...my fear that he might crush me turned out to be unfounded. as luck would have it me, and the majority the riders nearest to me, got off at the columbus circle stop. never did find out who it was. i tell this to all my friends, or acquaintances who are planning to move to nyc.
still miss it. subway was 90 cents or 1 dollar when i left. tokens too, no metro card.

So what? When I worked in NYC it was pretty much a given that I'd have to stand for my subway ride downtown at 8:30 in the morning.

As a New Yorker who took two nearly empty subway lines to get to work this morning, I'm getting a kick out of these replies.

/before the first train I waited nearly 20 min
//in a station that was like a sauna
///MTA can go EABOD

PennyCentury: Do you know who else gets more passengers on their trains?

That would have been a world-class comment without the visual help. Totally wrong, in the ethical sense, of course, but world-class.

/Of course, those trains were only crowded in one direction.

PacManDreaming: Too bad the trains don't do everyone a favor and dump all of the passengers into the Atlantic Ocean. New York wouldn't be so bad if all the New Yorkers were gone.

Always amazes me how when I find something someone says that is either right on or funny there profile seems to remind me of myself.

/god I love me.

The biggest complaints may come from riders who board a near-empty train at the first stops, only to find they have to stand, Russianoff predicted.

Oh, poor things. Having to stand. ("But I was here first!")

I hear scooters are quite popular these days.... and bikes.... maybe anyone who complains could go back to finding another way to travel.

I'm glad I don't have to take any sort of public transportation. I would not tolerate seeing anyone with a need to sit (elderly, really pregnant, disabled, etc.) have to stand while some able bodied punk fills a seat comfortably listening to his iPod.

Rogue71371 Quote 2008-08-02 01:03:59 PM
PacManDreaming: Too bad the trains don't do everyone a favor and dump all of the passengers into the Atlantic Ocean. New York wouldn't be so bad if all the New Yorkers were gone.

Always amazes me how when I find something someone says that is either right on or funny there profile seems to remind me of myself.

/god I love me.

well, you bottom-feeders do like to stick together

As an asian I can assure you that the a-hole gooks who try and get on the train in Boston are well aware that you are supposed to wait until everyone gets off first, they just don't care. I walk straight through them when they bum rush the door and hip check them to the side of the T I am in line to enter. Who cares, they are made of rubber anyway.

I am being saracastic but the asians are annoying as hell here with that habit.

demonhedge: Put these on the shuttle between Grand Central and Times Square...only one stop and it is always packed

I take the shuttle daily and agree wholeheartedly.
As for the tourists, the only ones that annoy me are the ones that stand in front of a subway/building entrance apparently waiting for an epiphany and those that walk slowly three abreast on the sidewalk.

Bill Frist: Rogue71371
PacManDreaming: Too bad the trains don't do everyone a favor and dump all of the passengers into the Atlantic Ocean. New York wouldn't be so bad if all the New Yorkers were gone.

Always amazes me how when I find something someone says that is either right on or funny there profile seems to remind me of myself.

/god I love me.

well, you bottom-feeders do like to stick together

Give him a break, guy's got a biatchstashe.

Also, who the F sits on a crowded subway? You must really like the crotch jungle to do that.

What annoys me in Boston are people who take the train one stop which is usually a block or two. You are really taking the train from Park to Downtown? Or Downtown to South Station?

GimpyNip: What annoys me in Boston are people who take the train one stop which is usually a block or two. You are really taking the train from Park to Downtown? Or Downtown to South Station?

YEAH HOW DARE THOSE PEOPLE PAY FOR AND TAKE A TRAIN!!

Why don't they just make the train twice as long and stop twice at each station? That is, they can stop, pull forward the length of the platform, and let people on/off the second half of the train.

/only rode the subway once

Beck Bristow: YEAH HOW DARE THOSE PEOPLE PAY FOR AND TAKE A TRAIN!!

It is a two block walk.

/you are lucky I didn't get started on the green line

GeeksAreMyPeeps: Of course, those trains were only crowded in one direction.

Where'they all going?

Boston's subway system is atrocious (besides the paying methods):

1) Green line
2) Stops at 1230AM?

SBA_JKred: Boston's subway system is atrocious (besides the paying methods):

1) Green line
2) Stops at 1230AM?

Agreed. Nothing at all against Boston or its citizens, but the T can eat a bag of dongs.

As for the Subway going seatless? It might not be so bad. As a bunch of farkers have pointed out, it's almost always better to stand in a packed car anyway.

what about double decker train stations with two levels of seats? That will temporarily relieve the problem until more people forget what a box of condoms looks like, and their moronic snowflakes are riding the rails again.

I meant two levels of seats on the trains.

This is a marvelous idea, since everyone who has to use public transit is young, able-bodied, and never tired or pregnant...

The only reason people push and shove to get on already-crowded subways is because they know that the MTA's ridiculously antiquated switching system means that the next train won't be able to arrive for another 5 to 10 minutes.

I realize that is the most expensive thing for the MTA to fix, but these shortsighted nitwits don't bother to consider that at some point...likely very soon...they will be FORCED to update the system because their infrastructure is crumbling. Just wait until entire sections of lines are inoperable because of a massive failure...heads are gonna roll.

There was a fire at a switching station a few years ago. I forget the line, but they estimate the cost to fix it in the tens of millions of dollars and many years. This is presumably only because they have to make the damn thing work with the shiatty-ass current system.

Of course, had the NY State legislature passed congestion pricing, NYC would've gotten $500 MILLION earmarked public transportation from the feds. That would've gone a long way towards updating the system. Instead, the ultimate scumbag coward Sheldon Silver didn't even let it come up for a vote. Thanks, Albany, for being such a corrupt slurry of douchebaggery.

/end rant

MORE GROPING GOODNESS!!!!

billybobtoo: back in the day, when i was young and studly, i had to take the A train to and from work, and anywhere else i wanted to go in manhattan. one regular work day, around 7.45, or 8am, i entered a packed, standing room only subway car. it was unusually packed, like those pics you see of people in tokyo being pushed into their subway cars.
well, about 1 minute into the ride from 181st street to 59th/columbus circle, i felt my zipper being undone. i was clutching onto one of the 2 or 3 steel poles, so i had a sea of bodies around me, or,rather, faces. i couldn't get my arms down to smack away the culprit..he/she/it proceeded to pull out my testes and cup them in their hand. no other "procedure" was occurring by my assailant. i was helpless...my fear that he might crush me turned out to be unfounded. as luck would have it me, and the majority the riders nearest to me, got off at the columbus circle stop. never did find out who it was. i tell this to all my friends, or acquaintances who are planning to move to nyc.
still miss it. subway was 90 cents or 1 dollar when i left. tokens too, no metro card.

Finally found someone to love...good clean love.

"Excuse me, can you tell me the way to the Empire State Building or should I go fark myself again?"

The biggest complaints may come from riders who board a near-empty train at the first stops, only to find they have to stand, Russianoff predicted.

No kidding. I have a 50 minute train ride to and from work. Going in, at least I get to sit. Going home, I usually have to stand for at least the first 20 minutes of the ride until there is a seat available. But standing for the full 50 minutes would surely suck.

As for "tukatz" commenting above (who admits to not using public transit), just because people people get on an empty train doesn't mean that they don't get up for the elderly/pregnant/disabled later in the ride. If you actually used public transit, tukats, you'd know that.

jakeone: "Excuse me, can you tell me the way to the Empire State Building or should I go fark myself again?"

Go to 34th and Fifth, it's near a Walgreens, can't miss it...

/yeah, take the fifth ave subway, get out at 34th
//or take the 34th street subway, get out at 5th
///or go find yourself a farking map, jeez, you're in NYC
////which has no 5th Ave or 34 St subways
//now buzz off

jakeone: "Excuse me, can you tell me the way to the Empire State Building or should I go fark myself again?"

I recall a few years ago a tourist yelling at people for not telling him where the Empire State Building was... on the corner of 38th & 5th.

LOOK UP DIPSHIAT!

TeddyRooseveltsMustache: I meant two levels of seats on the trains.

Double decker subway cars? In the form factor of an IRT car? You're joking, right?


crackhead: The only reason people push and shove to get on already-crowded subways is because they know that the MTA's ridiculously antiquated switching system means that the next train won't be able to arrive for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Nothing like a 100 year old signal system!


I realize that is the most expensive thing for the MTA to fix, but these shortsighted nitwits don't bother to consider that at some point...likely very soon...they will be FORCED to update the system because their infrastructure is crumbling.

You've never dealt with transit agencies. Hell, the LIRR blew 1/2 a billion on a fleet of trains and locomotives that don't work, and they STILL haven't sued the manufacturer of them. Oh yeah, GM made 'em, they bought GM locomotives (who the fark buys a GM locomotive?) because the then head of the LIRR was from Chicago and GM's plant was out there.


There was a fire at a switching station a few years ago. I forget the line, but they estimate the cost to fix it in the tens of millions of dollars and many years. This is presumably only because they have to make the damn thing work with the shiatty-ass current system.

The MTA's too busy ibnventing their own new signal system to care. They could have just adopted LZB, or any of the other short block / distance to target systems, but those were made 'by others' and the MTA needs a home grown solution...


Of course, had the NY State legislature passed congestion pricing, NYC would've gotten $500 MILLION earmarked public transportation from the feds.

Whoopie. The MTA wastes that much a year in stupidity.

That would've gone a long way towards updating the system.

No, it wouldn't. The MTA is inefficient, period. They're that way because they have no incentive to be - any 'losses' they have are made up by the taxpayers.

The easiest way to fix the MTA would be to drop ALL operating subsidies, and have an independent auditor scouring their books constantly. You wouldn't see crap like two person crews on subway trains, replacement of antique signal systems with new antique ones, and contracts going to 'preferred builders', like you do now. Bombardier can't build a subway car for shiat (they're consistently worse than Kawasaki's stuff), but the MTA keeps magically finding them to be the low bidder anyway.