Don’t Hate Her, She’s Just the (Subway) Messenger • Hacker News Board

Re: Don’t Hate Her, She’s Just the (Subway) Messenger

#11

Post by kaybe » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 3:46 PM UTC

probably_wrong wrote: post #5

no_wizard wrote: post #2

I have friends who have and currently live in NYC and I know the MTA gets a lot of flak from them and sometimes for very good reason. I have to say though all things considered this is a shining example (to me) of something that is typically very opaque - government agency public relations- and giving it some honest try polish and actually trying to meet people where they are (e.g Twitter) Does this paper over all th…

The German train system uses TTS in all stations to announce (among other things) delays and cancellations. Cancellations are usually followed by the phrase "we apologize". This has always been for me the most infuriating part: that the fakest of apologies was attached to it. In contrast, getting actual information about the delay works for me, precisely because it feels more honest.

I feel like they increasingly inform about causes of delays too though. It has been worse in the past.

Re: Don’t Hate Her, She’s Just the (Subway) Messenger

#12

Post by pavel_lishin » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 3:53 PM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #7

I checked out their Twitter feed a couple days ago (had to reroute due to a broken rail at Wall St. and wanted to see a picture or something of the broken rail). I was amazed how polite and helpful they are to the most irate customers. It really does seem that the social media team calms down a lot of angry people. Meanwhile, I am surprised at how desynchronized their various data sources are. I check mta.info before…

The worst part about mta.info is that it'll show scheduled work on lines, but it doesn't show closed stations - so the C looks like it skips 86th but not 72nd, when in actuality 72nd is closed for repairs and you ain't getting on or off a train there. If you need to plan a trip, you have to check at least two places.

Re: Don’t Hate Her, She’s Just the (Subway) Messenger

#13

Post by macintux » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 3:54 PM UTC

chimeracoder wrote: post #9

I live in NYC, and I follow transit news very rigorously. This article underplays the extent of the problem, which is that the information they give is just not actually correct . First of all, the MTA made a big deal about rolling out the subway countdown clocks across (almost) all the stations. Except, for the old BMT lines[0], the clocks are just... not actually accurate! They're literally just publishing the sche…

I understand your frustration. Precision without accuracy can be absolutely infuriating.

Imagine a friend saying "I'll be there in 5 minutes" and showing up 2 hours later. Just maddening.

Re: Don’t Hate Her, She’s Just the (Subway) Messenger

#14

Post by L_Rahman » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 3:55 PM UTC

This is an improvement over how things worked before, but the end state for this has to be an API definition for service changes so that services like Google Maps and Citymapper can update my routes or estimated travel times.

I don't want to plan a route in Citymapper and then have to check myMTA for service status.

Re: Don’t Hate Her, She’s Just the (Subway) Messenger

#15

Post by RIMR » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 3:57 PM UTC

Can I recommend that "MYmta" should be replaced with "MyMTA".

Re: Don’t Hate Her, She’s Just the (Subway) Messenger

#16

Post by withdavidli » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 4:23 PM UTC

probably_wrong wrote: post #5

no_wizard wrote: post #2

I have friends who have and currently live in NYC and I know the MTA gets a lot of flak from them and sometimes for very good reason. I have to say though all things considered this is a shining example (to me) of something that is typically very opaque - government agency public relations- and giving it some honest try polish and actually trying to meet people where they are (e.g Twitter) Does this paper over all th…

The German train system uses TTS in all stations to announce (among other things) delays and cancellations. Cancellations are usually followed by the phrase "we apologize". This has always been for me the most infuriating part: that the fakest of apologies was attached to it. In contrast, getting actual information about the delay works for me, precisely because it feels more honest.

Using the DB app is really helpful to me. All delays are near real-time. It makes using public transport so much easier. Now the German ticketing machine, please fix that so it includes the stops instead of just end points.

Re: Don’t Hate Her, She’s Just the (Subway) Messenger

#17

Post by pluma » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 4:24 PM UTC

probably_wrong wrote: post #5

no_wizard wrote: post #2

I have friends who have and currently live in NYC and I know the MTA gets a lot of flak from them and sometimes for very good reason. I have to say though all things considered this is a shining example (to me) of something that is typically very opaque - government agency public relations- and giving it some honest try polish and actually trying to meet people where they are (e.g Twitter) Does this paper over all th…

The German train system uses TTS in all stations to announce (among other things) delays and cancellations. Cancellations are usually followed by the phrase "we apologize". This has always been for me the most infuriating part: that the fakest of apologies was attached to it. In contrast, getting actual information about the delay works for me, precisely because it feels more honest.

The most infuriating part for me with the local transport agency in Cologne (KVB) is the verbosity. They use a 90s style unbearably slow ticker display. So if you catch a glimpse at the wrong moment you're stuck reading all the unimportant garbage while trying to figure out whether the message is even relevant to you.

This is especially bad with cancellations because it lists every major stop (with station name and time) for the canceled tram. So instead of getting the important information instantly you are stuck waiting for the message to end and then repeat to the point that's actually important. I realise this is a technical limitation because apparently all affected stations get the same message but this seems fairly archaic while at the same time also being an obvious cost-cutting move over having actual announcements.

In general however the infuriating part about the apologies is that instead of "we apologize for the inconvenience" a more literal translation of the one you see most often -- "Danke für Ihr Verständnis" -- is "thank you for your understanding", which comes off as super passive-aggressive compared to the more apologetic but much less frequent "Wir bitten um Verständnis" ("we ask for your understanding"). Sure, they're both hollow phrases but thanking you seems extremely condescending.

Re: Don’t Hate Her, She’s Just the (Subway) Messenger

#18

Post by chimeracoder » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 4:26 PM UTC

sametmax wrote: post #3

I don't get the hate. I just love to have a good information system. People hating those messages never had to live in countries with failures occurring without any feedback.

> I don't get the hate. I just love to have a good information system.

That's the exact problem. We don't have a good information system: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17442606

Re: Don’t Hate Her, She’s Just the (Subway) Messenger

#19

Post by electricslpnsld » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 4:49 PM UTC

macintux wrote: post #13

chimeracoder wrote: post #9

I live in NYC, and I follow transit news very rigorously. This article underplays the extent of the problem, which is that the information they give is just not actually correct . First of all, the MTA made a big deal about rolling out the subway countdown clocks across (almost) all the stations. Except, for the old BMT lines[0], the clocks are just... not actually accurate! They're literally just publishing the sche…

I understand your frustration. Precision without accuracy can be absolutely infuriating. Imagine a friend saying "I'll be there in 5 minutes" and showing up 2 hours later. Just maddening.

> Imagine a friend saying "I'll be there in 5 minutes" and showing up 2 hours later. Just maddening.

Sounds like L.A.!

Re: Don’t Hate Her, She’s Just the (Subway) Messenger

#20

Post by chirau » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 4:55 PM UTC

chimeracoder wrote: post #9

I live in NYC, and I follow transit news very rigorously. This article underplays the extent of the problem, which is that the information they give is just not actually correct . First of all, the MTA made a big deal about rolling out the subway countdown clocks across (almost) all the stations. Except, for the old BMT lines[0], the clocks are just... not actually accurate! They're literally just publishing the sche…

I totally agree. I was stuck at the Broadway Junction station this weekend waiting for the L. Every 5 min or so, both the screen and the announcer would claim it is now arriving. We were there for 35 min. I was supposed to meet some friends and initially I was updating them that it's about to get there. Eventually, they were almost pissed because they thought I was lying. Had to send pics.

I really really get frustrated by the inaccuracies. I'd rather they just let me know straight up that it's 30 min away and I make alternative arrangements.