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The Subway Is So Late, It’s Making New Yorkers Early

nytimes.com

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Re: The Subway Is So Late, It’s Making New Yorkers Early

#241

Post by cocoablazing »

piva00 wrote: post #230
dx034 wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NYC is unique in that they are one of the few systems running non-stop. Any maintenance results in delays. Other large systems (Tokyo, Moscow, London) shut down most nights. Those 4-5 hour windows can make a lot of difference.

As I mentioned in another comment: what stops NYC from running replacement busses while one of the lines is under maintenance during the night? A bunch of cities do that, for example Berlin, I don't see what stops NYC from doing the same...

The highway organization and hydrology of NYC Metro and Berlin/Tokyo/Beijing are very different.

Re: The Subway Is So Late, It’s Making New Yorkers Early

#242

Post by majewsky »

vvillena wrote: post #226
majewsky wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a city invests heavily in a bike network instead of a rail system, what happens on rainy days? I imagine that most people would be reluctant to bike to work through rain, and would thus try to fall back to car or rail, thus drastically overloading those modes.

Bikes still work on the rain, you only need to dress up a bit. Extreme heat is way more problematic. As you said, it's more of a cultural problem, that can be solved. If we accept that motorbikers need lots of specialized equipment to ride, we can accept that cyclists need a couple bits of extra clothing every now and then.

> Bikes still work on the rain, you only need to dress up a bit.

Given that I've seen car users complain about using public transit because they have to wait for a few minutes or sit next to someone they don't know, needing to buy specific clothing is likely to deter them even more from biking.

It's a cultural problem.

Re: The Subway Is So Late, It’s Making New Yorkers Early

#243

Post by s0rce »

mmariani wrote: post #232
s0rce wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here in the east bay, driving to work in Emeryville takes 15-25 minutes and then add another 5-10min to park, even in the garage. If I bike to work its less than 25, usually around 20 and I can leave my bike in the small garage in the basement or just take it up to my office. Takes me longer to get home since have to climb back up 300ft to my place in Piedmont. The bus is pointless and would take about 20min of…

Spinning is winning. Instead of using high torque shift to easier gears and spin as fast as you can while seating on the saddle. You’re going to get there with fresher legs though a bit hotter in general—it’s a nice cardio—but that shouldn’t be a problem because you’re steps away from your shower.

Yup, 46/30 subcompact double and an 11-36 11spd cassette. Got a decently low gear to get home after a long day.

Re: The Subway Is So Late, It’s Making New Yorkers Early

#244

Post by ebragg09 »

nasredin wrote: post #239
CydeWeys wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not in Manhattan though, and definitely not along my commute. Motorcycles are about as slow as the cars. There isn't room for a full motorcycle to filter through the narrow space between the row of parked cars and the line of slow-moving traffic. Hell, sometimes there's barely room to slip through on a bicycle. And it's flat out illegal for motorcyclists to ride in the bike lane. But yeah, this is more of a special c…

Aren't all lanes in US of a minimum width? IIRC only California allows lane splitting. So this is a legal issue as well.

A minimum width lane really doesn't leave enough room to lane split. It works in places like California because they have significantly wider lanes than the minimum required almost everywhere.

Re: The Subway Is So Late, It’s Making New Yorkers Early

#245

Post by taobility »

caminante wrote: post #80
SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading this doubly reinforces how good it is in Sweden where I live now. While trains and buses are notoriously delayed (somewhat frequently), I can look on a phone app and tell when the next one will arrive +- 1 minute. It’s no Switzerland or Japan, but it’s what a reasonably well run system looks like.

>[Sweden's public transit is] no Switzerland or Japan, but it’s what a reasonably well run system looks like. Comparing Sweden to NYC isn't fair. NYC Subway has ~742 stations (v. ~100 in Stockholm) and 1,756M in annual ridership (v. ~328M in Stockholm). This is just for the subway and excludes NY transit bus ridership.

Shanghai Metro has 393 stations and it's still expanding, with 3.53 billion annual ridership, and it has really rare delay.

Re: The Subway Is So Late, It’s Making New Yorkers Early

#246

Post by taobility »

mayukh wrote: post #172
wgerard wrote: post #24

It's interesting seeing the ways people work around this, even for people who don't have hard start/end times (e.g. tech employees). I have one friend who uses Citi Bike to get to important meetings I think people who don't live in the city don't realize how (relatively) stressful it can be when the trains are late. Riding the train during peak hours is already a pretty stressful experience: The sardine analogy is ve…

Offtopic: Audible. Big fan. Perfect for commutes and a lot of situations where having a book/device in front of you is not an option.

That's another question? Why there is no cell reception in NYC subway? Isn't very common in other countries?

Re: The Subway Is So Late, It’s Making New Yorkers Early

#247

Post by taobility »

pmiller2 wrote: post #63
kgc wrote: post #54

Maybe they should have scheduled maintenance closures that reoccur over the same parts of the day every day. Say, 1-5am?. So, it would be a 20hr/day instead of 24hr/day subway, but would be dependable during those 20 hrs.

Then how do people get home from the bars? That's my major complaint about BART, that it stops running too early. If I'm out late enough in the city, I can't return to the East Bay easily, so I either end up stressing to get the last train, or end up having to use my car, which has its own stress involved.

Do you know there is a transit option called Taxi?

Re: The Subway Is So Late, It’s Making New Yorkers Early

#248

Post by hfdgiutdryg »

ebragg09 wrote: post #244
nasredin wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't all lanes in US of a minimum width? IIRC only California allows lane splitting. So this is a legal issue as well.

A minimum width lane really doesn't leave enough room to lane split. It works in places like California because they have significantly wider lanes than the minimum required almost everywhere.

That's not true. An experienced motorcyclist could filter through most US cities. Most people have no idea how small a gap a motorcycle can fit through.

Re: The Subway Is So Late, It’s Making New Yorkers Early

#249

Post by jotjotzzz »

NYC will never know how bad it is until they go out of the U.S. to such places in Asia like Thailand, HK, Taiwan, or Japan and experience those subway stations. There is no such thing as a "weekend service" and subways arrive on-time without question, there are clean restrooms and WiFi. The NYC subway is decades behind. It has remained stagnant in advancements and has now broken down due to lack of development and overcrowding. It's a problem.

Re: The Subway Is So Late, It’s Making New Yorkers Early

#250

Post by superhuzza »

vvillena wrote: post #226
majewsky wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a city invests heavily in a bike network instead of a rail system, what happens on rainy days? I imagine that most people would be reluctant to bike to work through rain, and would thus try to fall back to car or rail, thus drastically overloading those modes.

Bikes still work on the rain, you only need to dress up a bit. Extreme heat is way more problematic. As you said, it's more of a cultural problem, that can be solved. If we accept that motorbikers need lots of specialized equipment to ride, we can accept that cyclists need a couple bits of extra clothing every now and then.

Not an option up here in Canada.

Biking is not viable for about a 1/3 of the year. Ice, snow and low temperatures make biking extremely dangerous.

My city is known as being extremely biker friendly, yet virtually nobody bikes for 4-5 months every year.

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