Category: Transit Failures

The First Real Snow of the Season On the Horizon

subwayblogger1 Comment

snow.jpg

The first real snow of the season might be just around the corner.  Will the subway hold up?  NYC Transit Spokesman Paul Fleuranges says YES.  But haven’t we heard that before?

You might not think that snow could do anything to the subway, but you would be wrong.  The subway is exposed to surface level weather at many points.  So, anywhere the trains run above ground can be overrun with snow!  We all know that once there is a bottleneck in one area, the entire line suffers. 

Believe it or not though, the MTA has snowblower trains and anti-ice trains to clear the tracks.  Who knew?  They even run trains empty to keep the rails from freezing.

“Underground service isn’t affected, and elevated service is for the most part ok due to constant running of trains keeps rails free of ice etc,” says Fleuranges. 

But that wasn’t really the case during the blizzard last year.  There were lots of service disruptions.  So I guess the bottom line is you should play it safe and leave extra commute time on Wednesday morning.  6-10 inches of snow, wind, freezing rain, ice…mmm it’s gonna be fun.

You’re better off staying home

subwayblogger2 Comments

crowds2.jpg

If you are a rider of the N, R, of F train, you would probably have ended up better off if you called out of work this morning. Holy smokes there were major issues on the East Side this morning.

A broken rail at 59th & Lex sent the East Side’s subway commute into a spiraling ball of flames.  The MTA notice?  Late and descriptive (not) as always:

Due to a rail condition at the Lexington Avenue-59th Street Station:

There is no service on the W train between the Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard Station and the Whitehall Street-South Ferry Station.

In addition, there is no service on the N train between the 57th Street-7th Avenue Station and the Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard Station.

Also, the Manhattan-bound R trains are running on the F line between the 57th Street-7th Avenue Station and the 36th Street Station.

Please expect delays in service on the N, R and F trains at this time.

Plus, Fashion Week is gearing up in Midtown, so that always adds to the overall congestion on the street level.  Good times.

Tech-NO-logy

subwaybloggerLeave a comment

signelectonic.jpg

So it’s official.  The subway is where technology goes to die…or at least technology under the umbrella of the MTA.

SUBWAYblogger was riding home from business out on Long Island via the LIRR.  All along the LIRR, their stops have electronic message boards.  Not all the stops, but most of the major ones.  In addition, they have automated voice announcements.  Sure, it is a computer reading the updates, but the voice is clear and understandable.

The message boards were accurate, and it was great to be able to see how far away the next train was.  Yeah, you can check a train schedule, but the boards tell you that the 4:44 train is really going to arrive at 4:48.  That’s especially useful on freezing cold days like today.  Because the times are accurate, riders can stay huddled inside the warm waiting areas.

What the hell is the hold up with the subway?  If the MTA can get it done on the LIRR, why not the subway?

Maybe this will teach them that they should have updated the infrastructure a time a few more times since 1930.  That might have made adding moderately sophisticated technology into the system a little bit easier.

NYC Transit is Getting the Shaft

subwaybloggerLeave a comment

Dirty Subway

Transit within New York City is (and has) been getting shafted for years.  The LIRR and MetroNorth have been receiving a disproportionate amount of funding from the MTA.  WTF?

City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. issued a report on the MTA’s “State of Good Repair.”  Turns out, much of the systems in place for the subway and busses are anything but “good repair.”

Vital repairs to the city’s subway system are routinely postponed as suburban projects hog the MTA gravy train, the city comptroller charged yesterday.   —Says the Post.

Here’s the facts:

  • NYC Riders = 94% of the passenger load but only get 75% of the MTA’s budget.
  • 76 of the subways’ 201 fan banks, which are supposed to clear tunnels of deadly smoke in case of a fire, are not in good working condition and should be quickly replaced with newer, more powerful devices.
  • Many tunnels are poorly lit with 1930s-era incandescent lighting.
  • More than 40% of the lettered subway lines have 70-year-old signal equipment. Faulty signals are the second leading cause of delays.

So my fellow subway riders, that throbbing sensation you feel in your rear is the MTA bending us over and having their way with us.

Update: Electronic Signs

subwayblogger5 Comments

signage.jpg

Well, it turns out there was a truth to the headline SUBWAYblogger wrote the other day.

The test went…umm…ok? Oh screw it, the signs didn’t work correctly. The signs regularly overestimated the arrival times of the trains!

The crazy part of the story is that the signs won’t make their way to the other subway lines until 2008 or 2009. Wow…talk about not holding your breath. By the time they get these bad boys up and running, the the Tube in London will have a few dozen plasma screens on each platform. The Tokyo subway will beam the location of the next train automatically to your cellphone in real time. Then, there will be NYC, with our hardly reliable, two line, LED screens. Sweet.

To add insult, other lines aren’t ever going to get the signs:

…there is no plan to extend the notification signs to the lettered subway lines, whose nicknames — “Forever” for “F,” “Never” for “N” and “Rarely” for “R” — indicate that such signs might just encourage riders to surface and walk or take a taxi.

Mmm…nice.

C’mon ladies, eat a damn sandwich

subwayblogger1 Comment

skinny.jpg

A new article out on the AP Wire today says that women on crazy diets are actually causing subway delays. That’s right, women who skip meals are fainting on the subway, causing major backups.

Top Causes of Subway Delays

  1. Holding Doors
  2. Stalled Trains
  3. Sick Passengers

Coming in at #3: Sick Passengers. “Sick” covers a variety of situations, but according to EMT’s stationed at major transit hubs, many are caused by women who faint from low sugar, etc.

How is this possible? Well, a woman trying to shed some holiday weight maybe skips dinner and breakfast the next morning. On her way to work, she gets a little light headed and faints on the train. People around her contact the conductor, and the train is required to wait for EMS to arrive. Now do you see where this is going? And it happens more than you think.

SUBWAYblogger is going to start carrying a box of Powerbars around in case we spot some frail women about to drop.

When it comes to Women’s health issues one’s diet should be changed using moderation.

There is a downtown train approaching

subwaybloggerLeave a comment

SUBWAYblogger hates those words. “Ladies and Gentlemen, there is a downtown train approaching…a stop no where near where you are.”

It has been a rough morning so far. It’s almost sickening when you come around the corner and see that there isn’t even standing room on the platform. You know right then, it is going to be ugly.

Today, especially ugly for SUBWAYblogger because there is a train to catch at Grand Central Terminal. Our adventures today take us to the Harlem line of Metro North. Unfortunately, it all depends on the subway gods allowing quick passage to the outbound train at GCT.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

Beep beep this train is not stoping

subwayblogger1 Comment

How annoying is it when trains skip stations? “Makes me want to punch babies,” if I may steal a Dane Cook bit.

You can always tell when you are about to be screwed by an oncoming train that isn’t going to stop at your station. They blow the horn in quick sets of three. So just bend over when you hear that coming.

SUBWAYblogger also hates when the you are standing at a local station and you see local trains speed by on the express track.

For some unknown reason, you start thinking of crazy schemes to get on one of those trains. As I’d you might know something the rest of us don’t. Don’t lie, you know you think about it.

“Hmmm, maybe I could time my jump to land me between train cars to the I could just walk in the end doors. Nah…my new pants will get dirty.”

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

——–

***UPDATE***

A funny video submitted by Vinny from Insignificant Thoughts via our comment section.

Guy in wheelchair calls 911 to get out of subway

subwayblogger2 Comments

elevator.jpgMichael Harris, and his motorized wheelchair, got off the 5 train in Brooklyn last week only to find that the elevator to street level was out of service. First of all, big freakin’ surprise. Anyway, he went to the station agent to told him to get back on a train and go back three stops. From there, he should have been able to find another station with a working elevator.

Harris got so pissed that he instead called 911. Firefighters showed up to carry him and his wheelchair to street level. First, they strapped him to the stretcher, and carried him up. He got a little dramatic with his description saying that they strapped him to gurney that “they use to carry out dead bodies.” A bit much we think.

They then went down to lug up his 300 pound wheelchair.

Mixed feelings about this story. Did this guy take it a little too far?

After all, it is no secret that the subway system is not at all handicap accessible. Only 23 stops in Manhattan have ramps and elevators. The whole system only has about 50 of the 400+ stops that have been converted.

Here’s a stat for you: There were over 1,000 service outages per year reporter for the 23 elevators in Manhattan from 2002 to 2005. Holy crap! Did they ever work?

Apparently the problem is that the homeless and drunks use them as toilets. And they tend to get vandalized a lot.

Here’s a solution. Install MetroCard swipes at all the elevators so that only the elderly and handicap can use them. That’s fair, right? If for some reason you have a temporary need to use them, go to the token booth agent and get a temporary card to swipe. That way, the bums and drunks can’t get on the elevators. Maybe then they will last longer.

Otherwise, the handicap get a special fare, and all the busses are handicap accessible. So don’t complain too much. You might have a case sometimes, but don’t push your luck.

Nice, comfortable wheelchair gloves can be very important for those who use them.