On Wednesday, I took two subway trips along the same lines that illustrated to me how the subways work when everything is perfectly in sync. I can’t help but wish the subways would always be so obliging.
My first trip took me from Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn to the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall stop in Manhattan. At around 20 to one, I sauntered down the stairs at Grand Army Plaza and had just enough time to make my way to the back of the train when a Manhattan-bound 3 pulled in. Three stops later, at Nevins St., I had to wait all of a minute before a 4 arrived.
By 1:05 p.m., I had reached my destination at Foley Square. It was a stress- and wait-free subway ride, and I couldn’t help by tip my cap to the Subway Gods who seemed to be smiling on me. Little did I know that they would pay a repeat visit a few hours hence.
Five hours later and running a few minutes late, I again sauntered down those very same steps at Grand Army Plaza, hoping for a train to start me on my way to Astor Place. This time, the 2 pulled in before I had a chance to reach the platform, and again, I was off. At Nevins St., the 4 again came after a barely-noticeably wait, and as I stode on the platform at Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall, the 6 obligingly showed up on time. When another 6 pulled in on the other side of the loop, I knew we would not be long for the terminus, and two minutes later, that Bronx-bound 6 pulled into Canal St.
I would arrive at Astor Place less than 25 minutes after I boarded at Grand Army Plaza the first of three trains I would need to take. It was a subway trip from heaven, and too rarely does that happen in New York.
As I contemplated this ideal day of subway travel, two thoughts filled my head. The first was on the inherently selfish nature of New York City subway riders. We’re happy only when we don’t have to wait at all for a subway ride, but if that train takes three or five or eight minutes to arrive, passengers grow irritable and impatient. New Yorkers are happy to arrive at movie theaters a full 40 minutes before show time, but heaven forbid that we wait ten minutes for our $2-per-ride subway train.
But I also thought about the nature of our subway system and not just the people who ride the subways. My trips yesterday were as the subways should always be. I didn’t have to wait longer than two minutes for a train, and the connections were smooth and quick. I know I was riding along the popular IRT lines during peak hours, but should that excuse the relatively poorer service along other lines? Should that excuse sluggish late-night service and inconsistent weekend service?
As always, these desires boil down to funding. If the MTA had access to limitless monies, we could enjoy a subway system that runs as often as Transport for London can run the Tubes. At 11:45 p.m., we could see trains come through the tunnels every five minutes instead of every fifteen minutes. But the money isn’t there, and the will to produce more money to simply maintain the current state of the system doesn’t seem to be there either.
Maybe one day, we’ll have the transit system we need and deserve. For now, I’ll just keep riding the trains during the day and thinking about how blissful life is underground and how quick the subways are when I don’t have to wait long for the trains. It’s always nice to dream.
15 comments
Keep in mind that the London Underground shuts down for the night. We may have the same number of trains (or even more) in the period between 11:45 pm and 5:00 am as the Tube. For example:
Tube NYC Subway
11:45 11:45
11:50 12:00
11:55 12:30
12:00 01:00
12:10 02:00
12:20 03:00
12:30 04:00
05:00 05:00 etc…
And Londoners pay about 4 times as much as we do for this service.
33 Minutes. 65th St on the R in Queens to Franklin St on 1 in Lower Manhattan.
R to Times Square, 2 to Chambers, 1 uptown to Franklin.
It was a transit miracle, never again repeated. AND I was in a hurry!
Every 5 minutes – Market St, Philadelpia, PA – streetcar – (in 1920).
Okay, so you made your connections without waiting, or with waiting an acceptable amount of time. Thats great, but its not repeatable.
I’ve got a different definition of what a train ride should be: on-time and predictable. That means that every train has a schedule. And every schedule is followed precisely. That way I can figure out whether I can make the transfers I am expecting and exactly how long it will take for me to reach my destination.
Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by the train system in Japan, but there every train has a schedule, and they run within *seconds* of the schedule. There is no such thing a a train running “about every 8 minutes”. The train is scheduled to be in the station at a certain time, and it will be there unless there has been an accident or system-wide screwup. Trains are considered late if they arrive *one minute* after the scheduled arrival time. In those (rare) cases, the railroad will provide late notices that you can take to the office. If a train is scheduled to depart from a station at 8:02, it will behave something like this:
– 8:01:30, train arrives in the station.
– 8:01:35, train driver gets out and pushes a button that plays the train arrival music. This tells people in the station that the train has arrived and to hurry up if they want to make it.
– 8:02:03, train doors close
– 8:02:05, train starts moving
Now, for this level of service, fares are notably higher. Fares are based on your arrival and departure stations, and can vary from about $3 US for a short ride up to around $15 for longer rides. Inter-city trips can be much higher. This may seem like a steep price by our standards, but realize that the Japan rail system gets 120+% of its operating cost from fare revenue. That means that extra 20% goes to capital expenditures, which means NO TAX FUNDING.
I would love it if the rail system in the US worked that well, and would gladly pay a higher fare if it did, but unfortunately, cultural differences prevent that from happening. 🙁
-Chris
In Moscow they use an “Every X minutes” system successfully. The idea is that headways are so short that it doesn’t make sense to say there’s a train coming at 9:04, another at 9:06, another at 9:07, and another at 9:09.
The problem with strict schedules is that sometimes they make commutes less convenient. Staten Island buses are often timed to just miss the ferry. New York bus drivers are held to a schedule, and can get in trouble if they arrive at the terminal early, since that means they didn’t wait for people along the way. So the bus drivers in Staten Island can’t speed up on the way to ensure the passengers can get on the ferry in time.
Alon,
Do those buses terminate at the ferry terminal? I live near the S51, which goes to and from the ferry. It’s timed so as to arrive 5-10 minutes before the ferry leaves.
Alon, yes, for this kind of system to work well, the timings of the feeder systems have to be coordinated. They should really change the bus schedule if that is what is going on there.
Its like the timing of the traffic lights. All through-routes should have it setup so that people can “surf the green.” Likewise for transit transfers.
-Chris
This makes sense for the SI buses, since they feed into the ferry and nothing else. But for the rest of the system, there are too many logical transfer points, especially in the off-hours, when headways lengthen. Take the uptown 1: do you want it to be timed to meet the 2 at Chambers, 14th, 42nd, or 72nd? Or do you want it timed to meet the L, or the uptown F, at 14th, Or perhaps you want it to meet the A (or D) at 59th?
Yes, Japanese trains (and train drivers) are amazing. And many short rides, at least on the Tokyo subway, cost under $2. Check out this fare table: http://picasaweb.google.com/bo.....0014866466 .
Thanks for the reference. Correct link.
I was thinking $3 for the JR trains. You’re right, the Metro is cheaper (and the distances covered are smaller).
-Chris
Yesterday at around 4 p.m., I waited 25 minutes for an uptown 1 train at Columbus Circle. That was fun!
Anyway, I think the least they could do is install electronic signs indicating the wait time until the next train (as they have done at some stations, mostly for the L, I believe). While people still might not be happy waiting seven minutes, at least people would know what to expect rather than constantly pacing and peering down the tunnel.
So, Basically your saying that a commuter rail system that potentially charges over $15 per ride operates differently than the NYC Subway?
SHOCKING!!!!!!
It’s only $15 for fairly long distances. If you stay within the 23 special wards (roughly analogous to the five boroughs) and take the subway proper instead of the commuter rail system, you’re not going to pay more than 300 yen, which is equivalent to $3 when you compare wages, and $2.50 when you compare cost of living.
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It seems the running theme in these comments is that if we want better service, we’re going to have to pay for it. Hmmmm…