Month: August 2007

OMG!!!!! One of the most shocking subway videos ever

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Ok, you haaaaaaaave to watch this video. Stop whatever you are doing, and watch this clip. It is simply astonishing!!  This is the subway in Mumbai:

CLICK HERE

mumbai.jpg

Is that not the craziest shit you’ve ever seen?!?!  What’s even scarier is that’s how our subways are going to be in the next 3 years.  And people will still keep riding.

How insane is it that they don’t even bother closing the doors?  You can see that some of them try to close, but the train just pulls away.  It’s even funnier that the train cars are organized by sex.  I was wondering why those guys were climbing on there like spider monkeys when the next train seemed much less crowded.

I wonder why the trains even stop?  If they’re going to ride like that, the trains should just slow down and let people bail off.  It would probably save some significant travel time.  Then, new riders can dive to get on the train.

WOW…I’m gonna go watch it again.

Miss Teen USA Mapped Out

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(I promise, we’ll relate this to the subway. Stand clear of the closing doors, we’re on the way.)Ok so did you see the complete train wreck that was Miss South Carolina’s answer during the Miss Teen USA pageant? If not, here it is. I warn you, this is so embarrassing, it will make you a little nauseous. I saw it a week ago when someone at work sent me the link. I had to watch it a few times, because I could not sit through the whole thing the first time.

Was I right or what? Yeah, I know…you’re gonna pass that one around the office.

Anyway, I stumbled across this site where someone took her answer and made it into a subway map. Granted, this looks a little more like a Tube map, but hey, it’s still subway to me.

Miss Teen USA

So as promised, we’ve now connected Miss Teen USA to the Subway. That’s nothing short of magic.

Subway Record Mart, a Come Back?

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How’s this for a blast from the past: The famed Times Square subway Record Mart is marked to reopen October 1st (ish).

Jesse Moskowitz, who first opened the store in 1958, says that the store will be selling CDs, DVDs, and MP3 players. Sorry, no more vinyl.

The mart will have music from Cuba, Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico and and other countries. As before, the store will spin the tunes as customers shop mid-commute. Pop chart toppers will also be for sale. (Newsday)

Moskowitz had to close the store back in 1999 during Times Square renovation. As we all know, renovating a subway stop of any size always takes a suspiciously long time to complete. But I guess that’s what you get for government contracts.

So, it’s nice to see that all things from the past are not lost. Let’s hope they do very well!

Photo Credit

OnNYTurf’s Turf Battle

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Got this note from my buddy Will today, and I thought it was worth publishing:

onnyturf.gifAs you know onNYTurf.com runs a subway map service and you also know in recent days news broke of some sort of deal between the MTA and Google for creating some better NYC area transit mapping. We have been after this information for several months already, and are still waiting.

More than two months ago onNYTurf filed a FOIL request for all MTA Schedule information. Before that we put in requests using the MTA website. We have been interested in putting together a great comprehensive solution for some time. The trick is getting the massive amounts of schedule data in an easy to use format. For their part the MTA’s response to our FOIL has been slow, cryptic, and generally frustraiting. We have received some data from L.I.Bus, but it is a mess. We all know this is not how the MTA will treat Google. This raises the question of fair play.

Our position is that the data is paid for by the public and should be free and open for any website developer to use. It is our understanding from inside sources that the MTA already has the data neatly compiled for such use – certainly in better shape than the sample they set us. So why have they not been forthcoming with the data, and will they be even after this deal with Google?

I have posted a compete story about our saga with the MTA and some ruminations on why making this data publicly available is more important than just creating trip planners.

We will also be filing another FOIL request soon to try to learn what the MTA is providing to Google and to get a copy.

Regards,

Will
onNYTurf.com

Subway Maps for iPhone Getting Advanced

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070827_map_iphone.jpgLast month, we told you about a quick, dirty little way to get a nice subway map onto your iPhone. Sure, for most New Yorkers, we don’t need the subway map. But every now and then you find yourself out in the Village a few drinks deep, and all you need is to find a damn train. Enter the iPhone subway map in your pocket. (Not my pocket, because I still don’t have one)

Khoi has taken the idea to the next level.

The original iPhone map was basically a PDF file that was formatted to open nicely in Safari. You could zoom to some degree, but it was pretty basic.

Khoi’s version is much more elegant. He takes advantage of the iPhone’s album view. iPhone let’s you organize photo albums on your phone into small, tiled thumbnails. Tap on one, and it blows up.

He took a whole map and sliced it up into squares. Put the squares together and they form a complete map. Each square gets rendered down to a thumbnail. Now, you can simply tap on the quadrant you are interested in to see a larger view. Toggling around is easier too. Check it out.

Only 1,944 People Said Something?

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Here’s a new SubTalk poster I love…

“Last year 1,944 New Yorkers saw something and said something.”

First of all, this must be false. Of that low number, I bet they weren’t all New Yorkers, but we can let it slide.

What I find hilarious is that all year long, there were only 1,944 people who actually said something. That’s only 5.3 people a day.

How many millions of people ride NYC Transit every day? Only 5 saw suspicious shit and reported it.

There’s easily that many people passed out in the middle of a hallway every day. That alone can account for all the reports in a year.

Here’s an idea. Maybe if cellphones worked in the subway, people would actually call to report things! What good is an 800 number when you’re cellphone doesn’t have a signal?

Oh and I love when they say “Tell an MTA employee.” Because that’s sooooo easy. Let me tell you, there’s only 3 MTA employees remotely near you. The train operator, door operator, and the person sitting in the token booth. None of them are easily reachable.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

Subway Supervisor Had a Role in Frankin Death

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Subway superintendent, Lloyd London, was in charge of a small group of transit workers when two of them were stuck by a train, killing one. A new report found that London was partly responsible for the death of transit worker, Marvin Franklin.

The investigation found that Mr. London had told the workers that he would act as a flagman and watch for oncoming trains, but then failed to do so. [NY Times]

In carrying the equipment across the tracks, the men were breaking multiple safety regulations. It was found that London should have ordered the men to take a safer route around to get the gear.

While the investigator’s report makes the results more “official,” we knew this to be the case back in May. Kristen, Franklin’s step-daughter, wrote a comment here on SUBWAYblogger about what had really happened.

I find it troubling that you put the blame on the workers. I am Mr. Franklin’s stepdaughter and if you knew anything you would get the facts straight and not believe everything the media spews at you. Mr. Hill came to my stepfather’s funeral and gave a very detailed account of what happened and by his account, they were following the instructions of their supervisor. This man has been part of my life for over 25 years and a transit worker for 22 years. He didn’t not take safety lightly. His supervisor failed to flag for him and his coworker. So, yes, it is an unfortunate tragedy but a tragedy that could have been avoided if his supervisor alerted them that #1 the track was active and #2 flagged the oncoming train that there were workers down there. – Kristen

So it seems that the majority of responsibility falls on the shoulders of London as supervisor for telling the men to get the gear. However, it seems that smaller amount of responsibility is being placed on the men themselves for breaking known safety regulations.

Photo of transit workers working on tracks via flickr. 

Google To Map the Subway

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Google Transit

Google is getting geared up to start mapping New York City Transit systems. Ultimately, you’ll be able to map a transit or subway route just like Google Maps.

I can only imagine that this is going to be disastrous for Hop Stop. They’re a pretty big company anyway, so I’m not losing much sleep over it. However, I do feel bad for nonprofit sites like OnNYTurf. They have a pretty sweet Google Map mashup of the subway. Google’s will obviously work much better, and have more features, because well…they’re Google.

Google is already up and running in dozens of cities around the country.

With the Google Transit online trip planner, a user enters a start and end address or landmark and gets automated directions, including schedules and transfer points. Bus ridership in Duluth, Minnesota, increased 12 percent since the Google system was added to its Web site last year, said Tom Elwell, marketing director for the local transit authority. [Bloomberg]

12% increase in bus ridership? That’s amazing.

From Google’s business perspective, they will be able to provide even more hyper local advertising. Already, Google maps will so you ads based on where you are searching for directions. With the transit maps, Google will be able to show you ads pertaining to businesses within a block or two of where you’re getting on/off the train. This opens up the opportunity for businesses that rely on business within a few square blocks to affordably and efficiently advertise.

MORE:

The Secret Battle: Online Route Planners
A review of online transit maps

Oooo Girrrrl…Gypsy Maps Bitch Slaps onNYTurf’s Map
Copycats?

Time to Grade the J and Z Train

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ztrain.jpgHey, I didn’t know Jay-Z had his own train.  Huh.   (Bad joke)

Anyway, it’s time now for subway riders to shapen their miniture pencils, and get ready to grade.  Next Monday – Thursday, riders on these trains will be given a survey card to fill out.

Riders are being asked to grade the system on an A – F scale on things like service regularity, cleanliness, etc. 

4 Train riders, it’s time to step up into the on-deck circle.  Your train will be next!

If someone get’s their hot little hands on one, send a pic to submit [@] subwayblogger.com