This morning I was at the Queensboro Plaza station when I saw some transit workers changing the maps on the platform. At any normal public company, one person would be assigned to change the maps. It’s an easy process: open the frame, take out 4 staples, remove old map, unwrap new map, staple new map in each corner, affix "you are here" sticker, close the frame. The process should take less than 5 minutes per map.

As you can note in the photo below, here in NYC, we use 3 transit workers to change a map. The man in the blue coat was apparently the supervisor, the man was the de-stapler/stapler and the woman on the left was the map folder.

How many total staff is the MTA paying to change maps? They even had a luggage carrier to carry the staple gun and the stickers. Do we really need 3 paid staff to change a simple map?

As a side note, I asked for a map and was denied. The man in the orange vest seemed to indicate the supervisor in the blue jacket wouldn’t allow it. When the woman folded up the map so tight, a bit of me cried inside.