Posted on 08/02/2008 9:33:40 AM PDT by Daffynition
It will be standing room only - literally - when NYC Transit runs some subway cars without any seats, hoping to squeeze more riders inside.
The agency is planning a pilot program featuring a train with flipup seats in four of 10 cars.
The flipup seats will be locked in the up position during rush hours, meaning everyone inside the car will have to stand, the Daily News has learned.
"Each car will be able to carry more people," NYC Transit President Howard Roberts said of the no-sitting strategy. "It means more capacity. It gives the ability to pick up more people, and have fewer people left on the platform waiting for the next train."
After rush hours, workers will unlock the flipup seats for riders to use, Roberts said.
The pilot program, hatched by Roberts and his senior vice president of subways, Steven Fiel, is expected to start in five to seven months, when the first retrofitted train arrives.
Subway bosses have not decided which line will get the no-seat cars - or when they might go into wider use.
Some riders said they would welcome the plan with open arms - because 18% more passengers would be able to get inside.
"Most people stand anyway," said Kathleen Sia, 19, a college student from Washington Heights. "I'd rather be on time than be comfortable."
"It's totally worth it," added John Holton, 37, of the upper West Side. "I am on the train to get somewhere, not to sit around."
But not everyone was on board.
"I understand why they are doing it, but I don't think it will be popular with riders," said Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign.
The biggest complaints may come from riders who board a near-empty train at the first stops, only to find they have to stand, Russianoff predicted.
The move comes as the agency tries to grapple with several challenging realities.
On several lines, the agency can't run more trains per hour safely because of the current signal system's limitations.
The agency faces huge budget gaps and long-term solutions like upgraded signal and communications systems are extremely expensive.
Ridership continues to rise - along with delays spawned by frustrated riders trying to squeeze into packed trains.
The tactic of having some cars without seating during peak travel times has been used on some aboveground trains in Tokyo since 1990, but is not in use in the United States.
Well, when in NYC I use surface transportation ... I really dislike the subway...Boston isn’t so bad.
She dribbles when she drinks.
Typical nice orderly NYC scene there! :)
Would you consider adopting me as your son? With this kind of attitude you've gotta be worth serious $$$....and I'd like a shot at some of it when you go.I've only taken a cab in Manhattan once and that was because I had my girlfriend with me.I don't see ever taking another one unless I win the lottery....or if I'm adopted by you! ;-)
DC subway is pretty nice.
Can you imagine if NYC Transit got “pushers”? OMG! You wrinkled my Armani!
Silly. You’ve not taken the bus? It’s really not bad once you figure it out. Long hauls ... the bus; short trips ... taxi.
I’d adopt you regardless ... and even take you and your girl to dinner. ;)
HAHAHA! Wonder if he has ever taken mass transit? hehehe
It’s excellent. I always seem to get a parking ticket in DC ... either I’m in the wrong place ... I miss the sign: “Parking Only for Blue-eyed Vets on Active Duty on Wednesdays from 2:00-3:00AM” or somesuch...or overstay my welcome.
Welcome to NYC :)
Yes,I've taken a bus in Manhattan once.I suppose buses would be OK if you knew the system and the routes and the schedule didn't force you to change a dozen times or wait for obscene amounts of time in getting from point A to point B.And yah,you can take me out to dinner.How about one of them fancy steak houses in the vicinity of Central Park West? ;-)
Smith & Wollensky... my top recommendation ... if only for the atmosphere and waiters ;)
[In front of the Hard Rock.]
Exactly ... TWO frickin bucks to go ANYWHERE in the city, and still they whine and complain that the fiscal sinkhole of MTA might have to raise the price to - (GASP!) - TWO-DOLLARS-and-FIFTY-cents !!!
EGADS! This is the end ... this is armageddon, the rapture, and Dorothy crashing a house on wicked witch of the west's sister all at the same time !!! MTA is already soaking motorists big time at the bridges and tunnels, hitting 'em hard on LIRR and Metro North .... b-b-b-ut-but increase the subway fare to more than $2 ??? Thats an INFAMY !!!!
/laughs, and /rant off :)
E.B. White wrote:
There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born here, who takes the city for granted and aceepts its size and its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter–the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something. Of these three trembling cities the greatest is the last–the city of final destination, the city that is a goal. It is the third city that accounts for New York’s high-strung disposition, its poetical deportment, its dedication to the arts, and its incomparable achievements. Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness; natives give it solidity and continuity; but the settlers give it passion.
And our friends at the MTA uses slightly less energy than Austria, and a bit more than Portugal or Chile.--The Works: Anatomy of a City
Subways and Busses within the city are relatively cheap, ya can go anywhere in the city for a quick $2 bucks .. why are these liberals whining about it ????
The MTA has such a terrible image problem. They are paying off massive debt service; they never made cuts in the redundant jobs like promised; cutting service and raising fares makes no sense to the straphangers. The MTA needs to cut jobs too. Would zoned fares be the answer/compromise? I dunno but it sure is a bureaucratic mess!
“The MTA is the fifth largest debtor in the nation, behind California, New York State and City, and Massachusetts. Each year, two billion dollars of the MTA’s ten billion dollar operating budget goes to pay off these bonds.”
If this is true, ouch! Maybe they should sell their Madison Avenue headquarters??? Hehehe What ever happened to the notion that you have to live within your budget…gawd I dislike gubmint.
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