3 ms·

“Even” NYC? I know New Yorkers love to complain about the MTA, but don’t take it too seriously. New York’s subway is extraordinary. It has no match in the U.S.

“Even” NYC? I know New Yorkers love to complain about the MTA, but don’t take it too seriously. New York’s subway is extraordinary. It has no match in the U.S. (by a long shot) and is still very, very big by world standards. The next time a New Yorker feels like complaining that they had to wait 20 whole minutes for a 7 train in far out Queens, they might do well to remember that most cities in the world wouldn’t have a station there at all. Lots of fun stuff here: https://www.citymetric.com/transport/what-largest-metro-system-world-1361 https://www.citymetric.com/transport/what-largest-metro-syst...

carlmr 9y ago
>The next time a New Yorker feels like complaining that they had to wait 20 whole minutes for a 7 train in far out Queens, they might do well to remember that most cities in the world wouldn’t have a station there at all. Living in Germany, almost all the far out places have train stations. And 30min to 1h wait times between trains.
- dionidium 9y ago
  As part of the primary subway system? Crucially, we're only looking at "subway" stops here (i.e. places where there is no system transfer to the primary, inner-city subway). New York also has the LIRR, Metro-North, and Path, which are commuter rail systems that reach even further and wider (and with headways more like what you describe). I'm just poking fun at New Yorkers. I understand why late trains are frustrating, but a little perspective never hurts.
  - carlmr 9y ago
    Most cities in Germany have 2-3 primary "subway" systems, one operated by the national railroad company, and the other usually municipal. Above that the national railroad operates regional trains (RB, RE), express trains (IC and ICE). IC and ICE is what you would take from Stuttgart to Frankfurt. RB, RE is what you would take from Stuttgart to some surrounding town like Tübingen. Then there's the S-Bahn, U-Bahn and Strassenbahn (not always), which are the somewhat local trains. The S-Bahn usually comes every 30 mins (but often multiple trains on the same line lead you to have enough selection for a 10 minute wait in the city) and fans far out (~30-50km in many cities), but often it's the fastest local train. The stops are about 2-5km apart. The U-Bahn is more local and doesn't fan out as far, usually goes every 10min and has stops every km. The Strassenbahn stops every 500m-1km and is above ground (so not technically a subway), also this doesn't exist in all the major cities. I was referring to the S-Bahn. For me it's my city train service, It's the closest station and takes 10 min to downtown with a train running roughly every 10min. I can take it far out of town as well. I'm putting all three in the same pool because you usually buy a single ticket valid for S-Bahn + municipal transport (U-Bahn, Strassenbahn and Buses). The S-Bahn is both a primary subway for many people and it goes far out like some commuter trains in NYC.
carlob 9y ago
> Lots of fun stuff here: https://www.citymetric.com/transport/what-largest-metro-syst.. https://www.citymetric.com/transport/what-largest-metro-syst.... Seems a bit disingenuous to count far out Queens as subway, but not RER in Paris, which is just as far and unfrequent.
- pwinnski 9y ago
  Agreed. If I can use a single pass to ride, it should count. I don't care if it's operated by a separate company or is overground vs underground.
  - dionidium 9y ago
    As I mentioned to the other commenter, NYC has an extensive network of commuter rails (and suburban light rail), too. If you want to add that stuff in, fine, but NYC's lead over Paris doesn't shrink, it grows.
    - carlob 9y ago
      Commuter rail would be Transilien in Paris. RER is really a lot like NYC subway, maybe express trains. It's the normal Paris subway that is weird in that its stops are waaaay too dense. To give you some perspective: a decent cyclist with a decent bike can outrun the subway in Paris, not in NYC. In terms of frequency: RER in a station on the main branch in rush hour is around 2-3 minutes, Transilien around 15 minutes, métro can be even under 2 minutes (that's why it runs on tires and not on metal wheels).
      - dionidium 9y ago
        Thanks for the response! I should read more about Paris transit.
bobthepanda 9y ago
It stopped being super useful when you could measure the variance in commute in hours depending on the delay of the day.
kelnos 9y ago
I'm not saying NYC has a bad subway system, and agree that it's one of (if not the) best in the US. I've spent enough time there to know that. But when compared with most other large cities outside the US (where I've also spent enough time to enjoy their trains), it's merely decent.

carlmr 9y ago

>The next time a New Yorker feels like complaining that they had to wait 20 whole minutes for a 7 train in far out Queens, they might do well to remember that most cities in the world wouldn’t have a station there at all. Living in Germany, almost all the far out places have train stations. And 30min to 1h wait times between trains.

dionidium 9y ago
As part of the primary subway system? Crucially, we're only looking at "subway" stops here (i.e. places where there is no system transfer to the primary, inner-city subway). New York also has the LIRR, Metro-North, and Path, which are commuter rail systems that reach even further and wider (and with headways more like what you describe). I'm just poking fun at New Yorkers. I understand why late trains are frustrating, but a little perspective never hurts.
- carlmr 9y ago
  Most cities in Germany have 2-3 primary "subway" systems, one operated by the national railroad company, and the other usually municipal. Above that the national railroad operates regional trains (RB, RE), express trains (IC and ICE). IC and ICE is what you would take from Stuttgart to Frankfurt. RB, RE is what you would take from Stuttgart to some surrounding town like Tübingen. Then there's the S-Bahn, U-Bahn and Strassenbahn (not always), which are the somewhat local trains. The S-Bahn usually comes every 30 mins (but often multiple trains on the same line lead you to have enough selection for a 10 minute wait in the city) and fans far out (~30-50km in many cities), but often it's the fastest local train. The stops are about 2-5km apart. The U-Bahn is more local and doesn't fan out as far, usually goes every 10min and has stops every km. The Strassenbahn stops every 500m-1km and is above ground (so not technically a subway), also this doesn't exist in all the major cities. I was referring to the S-Bahn. For me it's my city train service, It's the closest station and takes 10 min to downtown with a train running roughly every 10min. I can take it far out of town as well. I'm putting all three in the same pool because you usually buy a single ticket valid for S-Bahn + municipal transport (U-Bahn, Strassenbahn and Buses). The S-Bahn is both a primary subway for many people and it goes far out like some commuter trains in NYC.

carlob 9y ago

> Lots of fun stuff here: https://www.citymetric.com/transport/what-largest-metro-syst.. https://www.citymetric.com/transport/what-largest-metro-syst.... Seems a bit disingenuous to count far out Queens as subway, but not RER in Paris, which is just as far and unfrequent.

pwinnski 9y ago
Agreed. If I can use a single pass to ride, it should count. I don't care if it's operated by a separate company or is overground vs underground.
- dionidium 9y ago
  As I mentioned to the other commenter, NYC has an extensive network of commuter rails (and suburban light rail), too. If you want to add that stuff in, fine, but NYC's lead over Paris doesn't shrink, it grows.
  - carlob 9y ago
    Commuter rail would be Transilien in Paris. RER is really a lot like NYC subway, maybe express trains. It's the normal Paris subway that is weird in that its stops are waaaay too dense. To give you some perspective: a decent cyclist with a decent bike can outrun the subway in Paris, not in NYC. In terms of frequency: RER in a station on the main branch in rush hour is around 2-3 minutes, Transilien around 15 minutes, métro can be even under 2 minutes (that's why it runs on tires and not on metal wheels).
    - dionidium 9y ago
      Thanks for the response! I should read more about Paris transit.

bobthepanda 9y ago

It stopped being super useful when you could measure the variance in commute in hours depending on the delay of the day.

kelnos 9y ago

I'm not saying NYC has a bad subway system, and agree that it's one of (if not the) best in the US. I've spent enough time there to know that. But when compared with most other large cities outside the US (where I've also spent enough time to enjoy their trains), it's merely decent.