InsideTransit » photos

An Empty Grand Central Terminal

Allen — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 22:48:53 +0000

My favorite place in the world is Grand Central Terminal. It’s my favorite place for so many reasons – watching the people go to work, leave work to head home to their families, the smell of the trains, the shops, the great black and white cookies at Zaros, the transit museum shop and being able to watch the place go from such a pile of crap to one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture out there.

With the hurricane named Irene heading into NYC, there has been a suspension of all rail and subway service so GCT is empty. The MTA took some photos and below is one of them. Just amazing to see the place empty – just think of what it would normally be like on a Saturday afternoon.

Tags: MTA, New York, New York City Blog, NYC, photos, pictures

NYC Subways and Buses Suspended Due To Hurricane Irene

Allen — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 21:05:57 +0000

Here’s something I never thought I would see in my lifetime – a complete shutdown of the NYC MTA bus and subway system. This is due to approaching Hurricane Irene. MTA’s Aaron Donovan notes that the system will resume, “when conditions make it possible”.

This suspension includes ALL subway lines (both the letters and numbers) and ALL buses in every borough. Also included are the commuter rail lines – Metro North and Long Island Rail Road.

For historical purposes, below is a screenshot of the current MTA.info website showing all subway and bus routes are currently suspended.

If you are a NYC resident, make sure to check mta.info for the latest transit information. I suggest not heading to a subway station or bus stop without verifying that the system is up and running.

Tags: MTA, New York, New York City Blog, NYC, photos, Subway

Stuck NYC Bus Driven By Snowman

Allen — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 02:35:22 +0000

So the big Snow Blizzard of 2010 in NYC continues into another day. I sure wish I had not moved from NYC — it would be awesome to be part of the action! Here are two photos from Heather – she was able to catch a bus that is stuck in Brooklyn. The bus appears to be driven by a snowman – it’s a cute photo

Here is a side shot of the bus – you can see that the bus will be there for quite a while with all of that snow around it…poor bus – it wishes it was back in the bus barn with all of its other bus friends

Here’s the new bus driver – MTA Employee #42682609:

Tags: bus, MTA, New York, New York City Blog, NYC, photos, pictures, Transit News

What the NYC Blizzard Really Looks Like

Allen — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 18:23:15 +0000

Ok seriously, there is a lot of snow in NYC right now – some say it’s a blizzard. Jeff at Subchat has put together some photos from the Marine Park area of Brooklyn. I used to stand on this corner every day and catch the bus on the way home. Never in all my years have I seen so much snow – even with last year bringing an absolute ton of snow.

Here are two of Jeff’s photos – go visit Subchat to see all of the snow blizzard doom!

Tags: bus, MTA, New York, New York City Blog, NYC, photos

New London Routemaster Bus Revealed

Allen — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 23:33:09 +0000

Two years ago, the mayor of London announced a competition to create a new design for the iconic Routemaster bus.

Last week the first photos of a life-size full-scale model was displayed to the public. BBC News has a great slideshow of photos of the new bus. As much as I normally dislike new bus designs as they try to be over-the-top modern while usually ending up looking like crap, this new Routemaster bus actually looks good!

The bus will carry only 87 persons versus about 150 on a bendy bus. The bus won’t have air conditioning (a mistake in my opinion) and frankly I don’t know why there is a need for the hop-on, hop-off from the old days.

The first new Routemaster bus should hit the streets in 2012. The arrival of the new bus is a great reason for me to come visit London!

Tags: bus, London, photos, pictures

What Riding The NYC Subway Was Like in the 80s

Allen — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:49:45 +0000

Take a ride on the NYC subway today and you see a (relatively) clean system – no graffiti on the cars (except the new advertising wrapped cars), good quality announcements, air conditioning that works, and overall good service.

Go back 30 years to the 1980s and the NYC subway was completely different. I was a young kid during the 80s but I remember riding how different the subway was back then. The dirt, the endless amounts of graffiti, the crime, the lack of maintenance on the cars, I could go on… But it’s also important to remember the city itself was different back then.

24Flinching has put together a collection of photos from a variety of artists that take you back to the NYC subways of the ’80s.

Here’s one sample – check out the post for the rest of the artwork.

Tags: map, MTA, New York, New York City Blog, NYC, photos, transit

Bus Eats a Woman – She Lives to Tell Story

Allen — Sun, 16 May 2010 11:02:41 +0000

Back in March we took a look at snakes on a bus. Now thanks to our main street reporter Mark, you can see below a bus eat a lady. Mark noted that the woman appeared unaware as she entered the bus that it was about to eat her.

We were able to grab a few minutes with the lady inside of the bus after being eaten. She said that she will be using her car from now on and appeared very upset and frazzled. I guess I can understand her mood after the bus ate her!

Tags: bus, germany, images, photos, pictures

Toronto Transit Teaches Us About Etiquette

Allen — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 22:53:17 +0000

The National Post newspaper in Toronto, Canada has put together an etiquette group they call the TTCC or the Toronto Transit Civility Commission. The idea is to post etiquette posters all around the Toronto subways to help people remember to:

take only the number of seats a human needs
to not stink
and to not do personal grooming on the subway

I would add one about putting your trash in the trash bin. Here in NYC I think there are more trash bins than there are people yet pigs throw their garbage on the tracks and on the ground.

The posters (one seen below) are also available in large sizes perfect for printing.

Tags: ads, advertisements, images, photos, Toronto, transit

Austin Light Rail Downtown Station Photos

Allen — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:14:16 +0000

This morning while attending a conference in Austin, I snapped a few photos of the downtown station (the terminal) for the new light rail that will begin service next week. I just missed a train by about 1 minute! The train had two cars and a coupler in the middle.

Tags: Austin, light rail, photos, transit

Two…Two Buses In One?

Allen — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:16:04 +0000

OK, tell me…when you look at the photo below, do you see one bus or two? Look closely…

It’s one bus with a full bus wrap – the old bus is actually wrapped into the new bus! This is the coolest bus wrap I have ever seen and would probably freak out drivers who are driving on the side of this new bus.

Tags: bus, germany, photos, pictures, transit