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What did the trolleys provide that today's bus system does not?
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Though I've never personally experienced it, perhaps due to following the advice, I've been repeatedly advised when trying to get around NYC to always get in the taxi before telling them my destination is in Brooklyn. This could be wrong, but the stated reason is that drivers don't want fares to Brooklyn (typically lower, and harder to get another fare who wants to go Brooklyn to someplace else for the return trip),…
A taxi refusing a fare at all (inside or outside) is against TLC rules and the driver will be fined / have their license suspended if you report them.
Did they forget about the G train??
Kramer: Ok, you can take the B or the F and switch for the N at Broadway Lafayette, or you can go over the bridge to DeKalb and catch the Q to Atlantic Avenue, then switch to the IRT 2, 3, 4 or 5.
But don't get on the G. See, that's very tempting, but you'll wind up on Smith and 9th, then you've got to get on the R.
Elaine: ... Couldn't he just take the D straight to Coney Island?
Kramer: Well. Yeah.
Thoughts that occurred to me as I read this: 1. Why were privately owned mass transit systems the norm in the first half of the 20th century, and why is that now considered "impossible" today? 2. Why is it OK for government to "monopolize mass transit", which they have done almost everywhere, but a criminal "conspiracy" when four private entities try to do it?
After the consolidation, it took a major project to provide the modest amount of interconnection we have today, via the Chrystie Street Connection [1], and that only united 2 of the 3 legacy systems. We're still left with bizarre redundancies in some parts of the system and lack of service in others, and two entirely separate systems (known as the A-divsion and B-division) that will likely never be fully consolidated.
Today, as much as I can find plenty to criticize about the system, after many decades of public stewardship, NYC's mass transit system is by far the best of any city I've ever been to.
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A taxi refusing a fare at all (inside or outside) is against TLC rules and the driver will be fined / have their license suspended if you report them.
I live in Brooklyn. They can't officially refuse. But you'd be shocked how many taxis meters stop working about 20 seconds into the journey....
There is a delightful movie called Who Framed Roger Rabbit in which the villain is attempting just this: buying trolley lines to build "highways, as far as the eye can see". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096438/
I second the recommendation for anyone who hasn't seen this movie. It was marketed as a kids movie, but has a lot of stuff in it that adults can appreciate. It was also one of the first movies to combine significant CGI with real-world interaction.
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This is good advice, but it's never worked for me. I've never hailed a cab in which they didn't have the doors locked until you tell them where you want to go. I even had one cab speed off while I was still holding the door handle when I told him I just wanted to go five blocks south (in Chelsea, in the snow), I figured he though I was going to change my mind when I got in. I don't take cabs anymore.
I must be understanding what you're saying. I've taken thousands of cabs in NYC and only a hand full of times have I been required to tell them where I'm going before they've allowed me in the cab. Or perhaps it's a racial minority thing? I'm an upstanding looking white guy.
However, I've had plenty of cabs mysteriously go "off duty" as they approach me. That's probably a much less risky way to avoid a trip that presumably leads to a less profitable/more dangerous destination statistically, due to my ethnicity.
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Actually, I'd say it really comes down to rails and tires. Streetcars can be given the same rights-of-way as buses and would perform similarly, except: the streetcar is a smoother ride. I can grab breakfast and eat it on a streetcar knowing there's only one direction of motion to worry about. On a bus, however, you can never tell which way you'll be jerked around. It really is much less pleasant, even if it's faster…
Can someone who's taken the new MTA Select Bus Service busses comment on whether they are smoother than regular busses? I took an MTA bus today for the first time in a long while and it was uncomfortably bumpy.
It keeps the hipsters out of Queens and then rent stays low. Do you really need another coffee shop for people to hog up tables using wifi all day?