Comments on: Does anybody really know what time it is?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:50:05 +0000

But if you had another way of reaching your destination, you would have probably availed yourself of the option. (That probably doesn’t apply often on BART, but it applies quite frequently in New York.)

And if next-train times are ever available online, even better. It’s a six-minute walk from your home to the subway? Wait in the comfort of your home until a train is seven minutes away and head off then.

By: bob

bob — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:58:31 +0000

I think the contractor does everything associated with the clock, so except for power, it ought to be pretty much net. I didn’t realize so many of these old-timers were left.

Countdown clocks sometimes make it feel worse. Years ago I got to a BART station (sunday afternoon) and the arrival clock said next train was 20 minutes. I said Hmmph and noted the time on my watch hoping the clock would be wrong. It wasn’t. Ignorance sometimes is bliss.

By: ferryboi

ferryboi — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:50:01 +0000

Does anybody really care?

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself, I just love that song!

By: Al D

Al D — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:53:56 +0000

The are a few different ways to look at this. 1. The clocks, as you mentioned, are historical pieces and thus should be preserved. 2. The clocks cost money to change (even if the form is reduced revenue by the cost of labor) and should be discontinued, particularly when the countdown clocks come on-line. The L clocks have the time, too. 3. The advertising rates are way too cheap and should be at least doubled. I was just reading about ad spots on ABC related to the Cablevision dispute, and it seems that based on the ‘views’, MTA can charge much higher rates.

By: Russell Warshay

Russell Warshay — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:09:04 +0000

“Today, the MTA says the advertising revenue from these clocks draw in $500,000 annually.”

Is that gross or net?

By: Christopher

Christopher — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:55:15 +0000

The zen of public transportation strikes again! You are not in control of your environment. Your earthly, human ways of pretending to be masters of your lives are no match for the higher power of transit! (I kid, but I really do believe the best approach is just to remember you don’t control the universe. No one is more angst ridden about time than DC and yet they have clocks everywhere on Metro, no one ever learned to just sit back and let someone else control things. This is what makes NYers so much easier to deal with, we accept a certain level of powerlessness.)