Comments on: After a fare hike, grading the subways

By: Benjamin Kabak

Benjamin Kabak — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:42:14 +0000

Alfred: I defer to you on the signs. That fault didn’t even occur to me, but now that I think about it, you’re 100 percent right. Try making sense of what the D says at Grand St. The signs simply do not convey when the D stops at DeKalb or Pacific as the next stop. And none of the signs bother to inform people when the last B/W/V trains go through their respective stations. Signage should be a whole lot better.

Mark, Scott, JMP: When I think of ease of use and availability, I’m thinking more along the lines of when they work properly. If the MVMs don’t take your card, it’s more a problem with the MVM technology than with the fact that there aren’t any of them in the station. The same can be said about turnstiles. Maybe I’m being too literal though.

By: paulb

paulb — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:53:34 +0000

The post just above was supposed to quote the phrase, “Maybe New York should take a cue from DC and start handing out more tickets for minor littering infractions.”

By: paulb

paulb — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:52:26 +0000

Amen. And for blocking subway doors.

By: Marc Shepherd

Marc Shepherd — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:05:59 +0000

I used to think the poor grades for “Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines” made no sense. But I’m starting to find many MVMs that are unable to read my credit card. This weekend, after failing at two machines in a row, I just walked up to a booth and paid cash.

By: ScottE

ScottE — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:30:50 +0000

I don’t think the regular turnstiles are THAT bad, although I’ll admit that I’ve walked into that immovable bar more than a couple of times when my Metrocard isn’t read on the first swipe — and I’ve walked into the person in front of me when THEIR card isn’t read. But that, I think, is acceptable.

The HEETs, as I mentiond in a comment some time back, are a royal pain. Especially the ones downstairs from the LIRR platform at Atlantic-Pacific Ave (LIRR Flatbush Ave); you get a crowd of people coming off of the LIRR train, and one-by-one through the HEET. It takes forever…

By: NYCPond Chick

NYCPond Chick — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:20:47 +0000

I def think that there need to be clearer maps constructed and put in more visable places, I cant tell you how many times a tourst asked me how to get to a certain stop that they could have found clearly on a map if they were more visable!

By: Alfred Beach

Alfred Beach — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:08:45 +0000

I disagree about clear signage in the stations, not for exiting, but for finding the right platform. I’ve started photographing signs that seem particularly poor. E.g. “To Coney Is. Exp wkdays Local other times. Late nights via Whitehall St” Does “Exp” mean “except” or “express”? What is “late nights”? 10PM? Midnight? Should I care about the train going via Whitehall St? Should I need to get out “The Map” in order to decipher if this train will get me to where I want to go?

I also agree that maps could be clearer. It once took me an hour to go from Penn Station to Canal Street, in part because I didn’t realize that the connection from the ACE to the JMZ that’s clear on the map doesn’t work on weekends. How much detail should a transit map provide, and how much responsibility do riders have to read footnotes?

By: Welcome to the Post-Fare-Hike Work Week | StationStops

Welcome to the Post-Fare-Hike Work Week | StationStops — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:04:41 +0000

[...] Realted: Check out SecondAvenueSagas Subway Report Card [...]

By: JMP

JMP — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:00:07 +0000

I disagree on the turnstiles. I’ve long thought that the electronic turnstiles were a significant step backwards.

The old, token-driven mechanical turnstiles worked flawlessly. While approaching a turnstile, I would extend my right hand forward and drop in the token, walking right through without ever breaking stride. When they “upgraded” to the current model of turnstile, I suddenly found that I would walk straight into an immovable bar when I tried my old rhythm. With the Metrocards, it’s gotten worse. I have to pause and check if my card was read properly, sometimes finding it takes 2-3 swipes, in part because it can’t read cards at the speed at which people used to be able to walk through the old turnstiles.

I’m all for advancing technology, but until we have a solution that allows people to flow through the turnstiles as fast as they did when it was all mechanical turnstiles accepting tokens, I would hardly describe the turnstiles as working properly.
-JMP

By: Streetsblog » Today’s Headlines

Streetsblog » Today’s Headlines — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:26:13 +0000

[...] MTA Budget Crunch (News, Post, Metro)Sander to Deliver First State-of-the-MTA Address Today (AMNY)2nd Ave Sagas Grades the Subway SystemFerry Ad Campaign Looks to Convert Car and Rail Commuters (Post)NYT: [...]