InsideTransit

There have been loads of people who have created alternative NYC subway maps over the years.  Kriston Lewis has put together one of the best looking and functional maps I’ve seen to-date. The lines are clearly noted, bus transfers are included on the main points, and it’s easier to follow than the current MTA subway map.

Click the graphic below to download the map – note that it’s a PDF file and is 80″x80″ in size.

Over my years riding the subway, I’ve spent countless hours studying where to wait for a NYC subway to make sure I get off at the closest point to where I need to be at my destination. Most NYC subway stations have multiple exits and multiple transfer options and knowing where to wait can mean a couple of minutes savings each day. If you are waiting for a train, why not align yourself before getting onto the train to save time at the exit?

For example, if you are on the #1 northbound and plan to get off at 50th street, there’s only one exit at the back end of the train. Moving down from the front to the back can save time when getting off.

But what happens if you are going to a new station or aren’t sure where is the best place for transferring from one line to another?

A new mobile application has launched to help with this issue. It’s called Exit Strategy NYC and is available for most mobile platforms including the iPhone, Android, Blackberry and even the Amazon Kindle. The price ranges from $2-5 depending on your device. And the Exit Strategy application doesn’t need to have Internet access to be used – this means you can use it in the tunnels of NYC.

Brother and sister team Jonathan and Ashley Wegener created the application and call their idea “platform strategy”. It took two months to grab all of the data and get it into their application. The MTA should integrate Exit Strategy NYC into the official MTA web site.

Now if they can just create an application so I know which subway lines and cars are most likely to have single women that meet my criteria – I’d pay for that!

Seriously, sometimes I wonder what is going on here in NYC. Are they putting something wacky in our water? Here we have a person (I assume it’s a person) dressed up like a bird bouncing on a seat in the NYC subway. I think it’s a bird because of the beak. From what I understand this is on the L line — I’d love to see the bird on the 7 sometime!

You know what’s funny about this is that sometimes you just need to smile and laugh – and that’s what this bird did for me today. I’d go for a bouncy ride if I saw the bird.

I found a new blog today called, “People Who Sit In The Disability Seats When I’m Standing On My Crutches”. No seriously that’s the name. And I’d like each of you to click the blog link and go look at the photos. It’s the same story as people who park in handicapped parking spots because they will only be in Starbucks a minute. On this new blog the person says they are currently using crutches and when he/she gets on the subway trains, people don’t move out of the handicapped seats to allow the person to sit.

The blogger says they only take photos when no other seats are available. The signs that are above the seats have always been meaningless to me- they are way too high and do no good for someone already sitting down. Most of these people should know to get up but perhaps the new technology trains could be built with some sort of shock buzzer system where if the seat is needed a light bit of electricity races through the seats to wake them up.

When I was a little kid, my mother would take sis and me on the bus and subway all the time. If we didn’t get up when someone got on the bus who needed to sit, we would immediately get mom’s eye that said with no words “get up now or your butt will be so red when we get home that you won’t sit for a week!” and we got up. Today parents will slap their 4 kids into the handicapped seats without thinking about it. It’s so disappointing….

Get up. I weigh more than anyone and I always get up. If I can, so can you. And teach your kids to get up.

The Newsday is reporting that U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer has reached out to the Long Island Rail Road to get WiFi access for passengers noting, “”make commuting more productive and pleasant.” Apparently Obama’s stimulus funds can be used to pay for the $1,000 per train fee to get the access installed.

Considering that airlines including Virgin America now offer wifi up in the sky, the LIRR along with all of the other suburban railroads should offer WiFi as well.

Now let’s get some tables on the LIRR or even a dedicated car with long tables to stand and work – that’d be hot.

No word on whether passengers will have to pay for the access on each trip.

Between 1941 and 1976 NYC held the “Miss Subways pageant” where a woman would be crowned Miss Subways for a year. My guess is that there was less drama with Miss Subways than there is with Miss USA!

The Infrastructurist has a good recap of the yearly event and they note, “The Miss Subways contest, sponsored by the New York Subways Advertising agency, was designed to draw more attention to ads in subway cars. Pictures of the reigning Miss Subways along with a short description of her interests and aspirations were posted among the ads.”

Meet Miss Subways is on display through May 30, 2009 at Rush Art Galleries in Manhattan. The gallery is located on 23rd street between 10th and 11th avenues. I am going to try to head over there before the gallery is removed.

WCBS is reporting that NYC MTA CEO Elliot Sander has resigned. The resignation will be effective May 22nd and Sandler wanted to stay on to get the “Doomsday” budget passed. Sander released a statement on his resignation: 

“It has been a great honor to lead the 70,000 hard-working men and women who run the world’s greatest public transportation system. I am tremendously proud of our accomplishments making the MTA a leaner, more efficient and effective organization.

“Each of the MTA’s agencies is performing at peak levels, the relationship with our employees is dramatically improved and we communicate more frequently with our customers. The integration of the MTA’s three bus companies, the merging of back office functions across 7 agencies and the introduction of line general managers on the subway system will save the MTA millions and improve the agency’s performance. New innovations like rider report cards, text message alerts and Select Bus Service have improved the customer experience.

“There is more work to be done, but I leave confident knowing the MTA is headed in the right direction. I am grateful to Governor Paterson and Governor Spitzer for this wonderful opportunity. I wish Governor Paterson the best of luck in choosing a successor who will build on the progress the MTA has made over the past two and a half years.”

WCBS notes, “Sander was appointed in January 2007 to head the nation’s largest mass transit agency by then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer.”

Pete Donohue from the NY Daily News is reporting that the first segment of the second avenue subway could be delayed at least four years. From the article, “The feds have “provided the MTA with a time period that is more than reasonable” regional administrator Brigid Hynes-Cherin wrote to the MTA in November. “Unfortunately, the MTA appears to have been caught up in a never-ending process of evaluating and reevaluating each program. The time for evaluation has taken far too long, and the time for presenting a recovery plan is now long overdue.” In the letter, Hynes-Cherin also complained about a “lack of leadership” when the MTA “took an excessive amount of time” to fill top-level vacancies in the capital construction division, including the presidency.”

Most railfans believe we will never see the second avenue subway in our lifetimes. I agree. It’s amazing that the MTA can go from a mega budget surplus to a “doomsday” scenario in less than two years. I’d love to run the MTA for a year even if they don’t pay me – things would be fixed.