Category: Rider Strategy

Can we all agree that Columbus Day is the most pointless holiday of the year?

subwayblogger20 Comments

Honestly, it really is.  It’s like a fake holiday.  The damn kids have school off, but we don’t get the day off from work.

Let’s look at a quick holiday breakdown:

St. Patrick’s Day:  An excuse to get wasted in the middle of the week.  And who doesn’t love green beer?

Valentine’s Day:  This one’s for the ladies, but it gets men laid.  And women get chocolate.

Labor Day:  Hey, no work!

Memorial Day:  Honor the troops.  Hey, and another day off!

President’s Day:  Still, more people get the day off than Columbus day.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day:  Celebrate racial equality, and yes, another day off from work.

Then, there’s Columbus day.  Only kids in public school and teachers get the day off.  The rest of us have to go to work.  Yeah, there’s a parade, but even that’s pretty lame.  The Italian community latches onto this guy like a saint.  I mean yeah, he “discovered” America, and was alleged to be Italian, but even that’s up for debate.

Besides that, he is widely known as causing the most massive slaughtering of human life in history.  The exploration and settling of Columbus’ voyages displaced, enslaved, and killed millions of indigenous American people.

Columbus, and the people he brought to this continent “…caused the deaths of millions of American indigenous peoples, in what can only be described as one of the greatest tragedies of all time.”

Ok, now that being said, let’s get back to the kids.  They were everywhere today!  The day off from school meant that thousands of teenage students were turned loose on the city.  The trains were super crowded with teens huddled in small groups all over the trains.

Since the parents still had to go to work, they were left to their own devices.  So why not hit the city for the day and do…things.

I have no idea where all these kids are on the weekends because you never see them out like this on a random Saturday.  Something about having a day off from school brought them all out, thus making the commute a nightmare.

Of course, they were not out of bed yet for the morning commute.  But the afternoon ride…WOW!

MSNBC Claims JFK AirTrain is Free?

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msnbc.jpg

Hmmm. Maybe I’m missing something. Isn’t it $5.00 to ride AirTrain to JFK? That’s what I’ve always thought. However, this caption on a new MSNBC.com article says differently.

Further down in the article, it then says the AirTrain costs $5.00…so which is it?

Sounds like George Hobica, Aviation.com, didn’t check all his facts.

I combed the AirTrain website and couldn’t find anything about free rides. I thought perhaps you only had to pay in one direction, but couldn’t find anything like that.

Anyway, the article itself is a list of the Top 10 Easiest U.S. Airports to get to. Allegedly, JFK is in the top 10. Don’t know that I believe it though. Is it really that easy? I guess technically, it’s not that hard. It’s just a looooooong ride on the subway only to then have to get on the AirTrain. You could conceivably have to take a bus to the subway, then transfer from one line to get on the A, E, J or Z train, ride waaay out, then get on the AirTrain.

Easy? I guess, but it will take forever. For example:

From W 72nd Street, HopStop says it will take 1 hour 28 minutes to get to JFK. It says to take the 1 to 59th Street, then take the D to Rockefeller Center, then take the F to 71st in Queens, then take the E to Jamaica. Why not just stay on the 1 train to Times Square and catch the E there? That will add 10 more minutes to the trip, according to HopStop.

From the East Side, same time. From E 23rd Street is going to take 1 hour 26 minutes.

So think about the overall time frame we’re talking about here. Let’s say you have a 7pm flight out from JFK. They say you should be at the airport 2 hours ahead of time. Then you need to factor in the hour and a half you need to navigate the rails. That means you need to leave your Manhattan apartment at 3:30pm to catch your 7pm flight! If you’re flying out internationally, they say to be there 3 hours early, so that means you would have to leave at 2:30!

Yikes. Easy, maybe. Convenient? Uhhh…no.

High School Kids: They’re Back

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I think the high school population in my neighborhood doubled this year.  Today, there were waaaay more kids waiting for the train than last year.

The girls really bother me.  They move in little packs of 2 or 3, and will not separate no matter what.  So instead of being able to navigate around just one of them at a time, you have to treat them as a single person.

They get on the already crowded train, and then stand on top of each other in the most inconvenient spots possible.  Then, as the ride continues, they don’t move with the natural flow of the train car.  As other people get on and off, they refuse to separate.  As if they weren’t going to the same place.

If they get separated or travel alone, immediately the iPod earbuds go in.  Also, oversized sunglasses go on so they can spot their girlfriends without people knowing they’re panicked.

Then there’s the guys.  They tend to be a bit more nomadic, however it depends on their race.  No, I’m not racist.  It’s just an observation.  Feel free to disagree.  Here we go:

White Guys:  They tend to gravitate to the pods of girls.  They move solo.  If no girls are around, two guys might ride together.  Otherwise, they go it alone, or  with a minimum of 2 girls.  You’ll usually see a group of girls with the token dude standing somewhere near by.  Shaggy haircuts and designer t-shirts a must.  They come off as way too cool for everyone on the train.  Oh and don’t forget the messenger bags

Hispanic Guys:  The true nomads.  They tend to do their own thing.  They’re often the least noticeable because they travel solo, move with the flow of people, and generally don’t get in the way.  I relate best to these guys.  They just look like they want to be left alone…like me.  As if they haven’t had their second cup of coffee just yet…like me again.  By the way, what do Mexican guys use in their hair to make it so slicked back?  What ever it is, it’s at the peak of slickness early in the morning.

Black Guys:  Always have a wing man.  They tend to travel in pairs.   More often than not, one tends to be much taller than the other.  There’s very little talking.  Almost telepathically, they set up position in the doorways.  They never move, even when the doors open.  Would simply turning their bodies 90 degrees to let people on and off work?  Of course!  Will it happen?  Not likely.  They’re easy to spot because they have those Nike sports bags that have the rope cords that cinched the bag shut at the top.  The guy could be 6 feet of torso, yet the bag cords are always long enough to let the bag hit them near the ass.

Only about 8 or 9 more months till summer vacation.

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

subwayblogger6 Comments

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.

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?

We’re Not Alone. The MTA is Watching.

subwayblogger3 Comments

So as we’ve recently learned, we are being watched by the MTA. We the bloggers, that is.

Knowing that MTA officials are reading our blogs, I think it’s time to say something. Since we know they are listening, let’s give them something.

On that note, let’s start an open thread that the MTA will hopefully read. To start things off, let’s do a quick poll.

[poll=4]

If you could tell the MTA / NYC Transit anything, what would you want them to know?  What would you want them to change?  Write your ideas in the comments of this post.

Send a link to this post to everyone you know.  The more voices, the more likely they are to listen.  Don’t forget to check back and see what others have written.  Of course you can comment on other readers thoughts as well.

Let’s find out for ourselves if they are really listening.

Police to Fight Subway Perverts?

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AMNY reports that the Manhattan borough president wants to have the police crack down on subway pervsattacking and harassing people in the subway.

Scott Stringer’s office asked commuters how often someone sexually attacked or harassed them in the subway, and found frightening results. More than 60 percent of those who responded to the online study said they were sexually harassed and 10 percent said they’d been sexually assaulted. (AMNY)

60% !??!  Are you kidding me?   More than half the riders of the subway have been sexually harassed in the subway?  That seems a bit too extreme.  Ok, so 98% have been harassed in general, but not sexually. 

Rush hour was noted as the most dangerous time to get sexed up.  How is that?  One woman reported that a man began to masturbate across right in front of her.  I must be missing something.  Where are all these freaks at 5:30pm on a Tuesday?

I guess I can see how people can cop a feel while getting crammed into a subway car.  I mean, it is just close quarters.  Your entire body gets pressed up against the person in front of you, but I don’t think that counts as a sexual crime.  Pervs must be playing grab ass or something and blaming it on the congestion. 

I guess I will have to do a better job protecting my sweet, sweet ass. 

Rainy Eve Day of the Subway’s Report Card

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Yeah, so it’s rainy as hell, but at least it’s a little cooler out today. That’s a refreshing change.

Unfortunately, it is still humid as hell on the subway. I had the unlucky fortune of getting on car without air conditioning. It was just as crowded as always, so that kinda kept me from being able to jump ship and run to another car. There was a high risk that I might not have been able to get back on board. With the poor reliability of service in heavy rain, I wasn’t about to get out, miss the train, and wind up stuck on the platform forever.

In other news, the Straphanger’s Campaign State of the Subway report comes out tomorrow today (damn you day old wire story)!! In a sneak peak, it seems that the R and W trains aren’t getting a good rating (shock and awe). As a matter of fact, the report is going to be released outside City Hall’s R and W station.

Last year, the 6 train was rated highest. SUBWAYblogger doesn’t think that will be the case this year.

The report should be especially interesting considering the changes that lie on the horizon. Increased fares, congestion pricing, and the behemoth Second Avenue line. This report should be a fairly accurate barometer for telling us if the system can handle the increased load.

Obviously, without even looking at the report, we all know that that the answer is NO. However, now that Bloomberg was able to push congestion pricing through, the City will be eligible for $500+ million in funds to improve the infrastructure. So, much of that cash **should** be going toward improving mass transit as well as getting the toll system up and running.

So, the worst rated lines might be the best areas to start improvements. We’ll see.