5 ms·

+1. I'm tired of hearing people make excuses for the NYC subway system such as age and complexity, seemingly ignorant that there's plenty of large cities in ot

+1. I'm tired of hearing people make excuses for the NYC subway system such as age and complexity, seemingly ignorant that there's plenty of large cities in other first-world countries in the 10+ million range that do a much better job. Tokyo was bombed to the ground in WW2 and still manages to do better. I think the actual explanation is that the NYC system was not properly maintained during the postwar period, when America focused on car transit instead. Although plenty of people complain, there is no political will to fix the problem, either at the top or at the bottom. The 24/7 operation and fixed ticket price don't help.

jdhn 9y ago
>Tokyo was bombed to the ground in WW2 and still manages to do better. An argument could be made that that's exactly why it's doing better. Since it got completely destroyed, it could be built from the ground up without the legacy costs that are now plaguing NYC's subway. >fixed ticket price don't help I simply can't see the MTA adopting ticket prices that are based on zones. The outcry would be larger than anything seen to date.
- eecsninja 9y ago
  > An argument could be made that that's exactly why it's doing better. Since it got completely destroyed, it could be built from the ground up without the legacy costs that are now plaguing NYC's subway. What kind of "legacy costs" are you referring to, which would be higher than the cost to build the system from the ground up? > I simply can't see the MTA adopting ticket prices that are based on zones. The outcry would be larger than anything seen to date. Yes, hence "lack of political will." There are too many people who benefit from some aspect of the inefficient status quo, be it outer borough commuters, late night partiers, or people living next to minor subway stations. Knowing American politics, that's why I am pessimistic that the dysfunctional status quo in the NYC subway will ever change.
  - nkozyra 9y ago
    > What kind of "legacy costs" are you referring to, which would be higher than the cost to build the system from the ground up? The costs (direct and cascading) of displacing essentially all riders for some undetermined amount of time? Tokyo had no choice but to do this.

jdhn 9y ago

>Tokyo was bombed to the ground in WW2 and still manages to do better. An argument could be made that that's exactly why it's doing better. Since it got completely destroyed, it could be built from the ground up without the legacy costs that are now plaguing NYC's subway. >fixed ticket price don't help I simply can't see the MTA adopting ticket prices that are based on zones. The outcry would be larger than anything seen to date.

eecsninja 9y ago
> An argument could be made that that's exactly why it's doing better. Since it got completely destroyed, it could be built from the ground up without the legacy costs that are now plaguing NYC's subway. What kind of "legacy costs" are you referring to, which would be higher than the cost to build the system from the ground up? > I simply can't see the MTA adopting ticket prices that are based on zones. The outcry would be larger than anything seen to date. Yes, hence "lack of political will." There are too many people who benefit from some aspect of the inefficient status quo, be it outer borough commuters, late night partiers, or people living next to minor subway stations. Knowing American politics, that's why I am pessimistic that the dysfunctional status quo in the NYC subway will ever change.
- nkozyra 9y ago
  > What kind of "legacy costs" are you referring to, which would be higher than the cost to build the system from the ground up? The costs (direct and cascading) of displacing essentially all riders for some undetermined amount of time? Tokyo had no choice but to do this.