More on trans-Hudson rail tunnel shenanigans later. As part of a project I’ll tell you more about shortly, I’ve put together a brief survey on the MTA’s Help Point Intercom systems. It’s a few questions and shouldn’t take you longer than a minute or two to complete. I’d appreciate your help. You can find the survey embedded below or right here. Your responses are anonymous, and I’ll share the findings soon.
4 comments
Honestly, I always assume that nobody’s going to be on the other end of the line. It’s what I’ve come to expect from the MTA.
That and the fact that I really don’t need it. Also, what’s the difference (functionally) between the giant blue Help Points and the tiny red button Customer Assistance Intercoms or whatever they are?
My first and last use of Help Point was after watching 3 G trains go by at Smith/9th with no F trains. Another passenger and I decided to try Help Point to find out if there was a service disruption before hopping on the next G train we could see coming from 4th Ave. The respondent said that we were lying, that there couldn’t have been that many G trains and that the F was running just fine.
I think the only time that I used a Help Point intercom was when an uptown 1 train pulled into Rector St and just sat there with its doors closed (I think this was when South Ferry was still closed after Sandy). The person on the intercom sounded like they transferred me to someone else, and I heard a bunch of radio chatter, and then they told me that the train was going into service and just like that the doors opened. It was something to occupy me while waiting, at least.
I’ve only seen the Help Point intercom used once so far – at the 5th Av/53rd St station when a kid carelessly allowed his skateboard to roll off the platform and into the tracks.
Somebody who was standing near the intercom activated it after observing the situation. From what I was overhearing, it appeared that the location of the intercom does not get transmitted with the call as the operator was asking about the location where personnel should be sent. In any case, it was a slow, drawn out affair.
The kid ended up taking matters into his own hands. He looked down the tracks (no train in sight at the Lex Av. station), jumped into the trackbed despite general discouragement, retrieved his board and climbed out with the help of several people on the platform. All this before the intercom operator could assure that help was on the way.