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I’ve always thought MTA ought to change their slogan to “We’re walking here!” to capitalize of regional humor and make light of all the problems they have. The

I’ve always thought MTA ought to change their slogan to “We’re walking here!” to capitalize of regional humor and make light of all the problems they have. They will usually reply to criticism that it’s because the subway is very large and very old and mere mortals don’t get how complicated it is - but funny thing was they once invited experts from other cities with very old and large subways (London, Paris, Moscow) and they were just as perplexed why NYC MTA has so many operational problems and why so many infrastructure repairs had multi-decade timelines. There are not plenty of places to still get NYC Subway maps including ones made of plastic that are far more durable, and credit card sized maps that are far more easy to manage and reference on a crowded train. There are thousands of the electronic map terminals, they are all hard wired for power and communications, and bolted or embedded in place. It’s not like an app where you have “maps beta” and progressively improve it. Its taken years to install those terminals (still ongoing) and it will take years more to retrofit and upgrade them, with huge labor and materials costs, all going to the lowest bidder and often broken apart in bizarre ways to appease the various union interests (ladder placing needs dedicated workers apparently). They really need to nail the functionality and usability before deploying in the field, it’s more of an afterthought in MTAs case. You see the same issues in the myriad of incompatible and overlapping apps they publish, each with their own aesthetics.

segfaultbuserr 7y ago
What resources/budgets do NYT need to fix the subway system? Is it because the public transport is always underfunded and/or because the bureaucracy is very ineffective in the U.S.? Is there any decent coverage on the issues, like City Lab's? Have any politicians pledged to solve the problems?
- istorical 7y ago
  It's definitely not an issue of budget. It's a bureaucracy problem.
  - nolok 7y ago
    Any more details? If the French RATP can do it, I can’t accept “bureaucracy” as the complete explanations
    - thatfrenchguy 7y ago
      Despite the ever-complaining complaints of (perfectionist) French people, somehow bureaucracy-burdened RATP and SNCF manage to be dozens of percentage more on time than any transit agency in the US.
    - addicted 7y ago
      The political issue is the NYC subway is used by NYCers, but the organization that runs the NYC subway (MTA) is run by the state government. And in state politics setting money aside for city transit is not popular, despite the city being the engine of the state economy. Further, NYC being nearly the only city in the entire US where a car free existence is possible, non NYC residents often can’t fathom why non car improvements are valuable.
- treebog 7y ago
  > Have any politicians pledged to solve the problems? Much the opposite, unfortunately. The governor, Andrew Cuomo, is in charge of the MTA. He 1. Falsely claims that he is not in charge of the MTA and denies any responsibility for its problems. 2. Wastes resources on frivolous projects he thinks will look good when he runs for president. For example, he championed a project to put WiFi on buses. This was pointless for most New Yorkers because you could already just use LTE. 3. sometimes, similarly, forces the MTA into idiotic schemes. See the debacle when Cuomo decided he’d like to be the L train hero https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/02/13/cuomos-new-l-train-shutdown-plan-is-as-bad-as-we-expected/ https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/02/13/cuomos-new-l-train-sh... 4. In April, Cuomo reportedly felt that MTA chief (and true subway hero) Andy Byford was getting too much credit for improving the subway and allegedly came close to firing Byford. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/nyregion/cuomo-andy-byford-mta.amp.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/nyregion/cuomo-andy-byfor... Ultimately, the MTA is a mess because of misplaced accountability. The governor needs to appeal to upstate voters to get elected, and only NYC people care about the subway. Ideally, the mayor of NYC should control the MTA and be accountable for its performance. In practice, many New Yorkers falsely believe the mayor is in charge(!), thanks in large part to Cuomo’s misinformation campaign in #1 above.
  - zxcvbn4038 7y ago
    They made a huge deal over WiFi in the subway, great idea, some places cell service doesn’t work. It’s ok if your in a station and can’t get a cell signal, but every time you get to a new station you get pulled into a new captive portal and have to log in. By the time you do that you should be going on to the next station. By the time you get back on your return commute your login has expired and you get pulled into the captive portal again. Granted that doing it right is a much bigger technological problem, but a solved problem I’m sure - more or less the same challenge as wiring a stadium with a hundred thousand fans in it for WiFi.
  - segfaultbuserr 7y ago
    Thanks. What an unbelievable situation!

segfaultbuserr 7y ago

What resources/budgets do NYT need to fix the subway system? Is it because the public transport is always underfunded and/or because the bureaucracy is very ineffective in the U.S.? Is there any decent coverage on the issues, like City Lab's? Have any politicians pledged to solve the problems?

istorical 7y ago
It's definitely not an issue of budget. It's a bureaucracy problem.
- nolok 7y ago
  Any more details? If the French RATP can do it, I can’t accept “bureaucracy” as the complete explanations
  - thatfrenchguy 7y ago
    Despite the ever-complaining complaints of (perfectionist) French people, somehow bureaucracy-burdened RATP and SNCF manage to be dozens of percentage more on time than any transit agency in the US.
  - addicted 7y ago
    The political issue is the NYC subway is used by NYCers, but the organization that runs the NYC subway (MTA) is run by the state government. And in state politics setting money aside for city transit is not popular, despite the city being the engine of the state economy. Further, NYC being nearly the only city in the entire US where a car free existence is possible, non NYC residents often can’t fathom why non car improvements are valuable.
treebog 7y ago
> Have any politicians pledged to solve the problems? Much the opposite, unfortunately. The governor, Andrew Cuomo, is in charge of the MTA. He 1. Falsely claims that he is not in charge of the MTA and denies any responsibility for its problems. 2. Wastes resources on frivolous projects he thinks will look good when he runs for president. For example, he championed a project to put WiFi on buses. This was pointless for most New Yorkers because you could already just use LTE. 3. sometimes, similarly, forces the MTA into idiotic schemes. See the debacle when Cuomo decided he’d like to be the L train hero https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/02/13/cuomos-new-l-train-shutdown-plan-is-as-bad-as-we-expected/ https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/02/13/cuomos-new-l-train-sh... 4. In April, Cuomo reportedly felt that MTA chief (and true subway hero) Andy Byford was getting too much credit for improving the subway and allegedly came close to firing Byford. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/nyregion/cuomo-andy-byford-mta.amp.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/nyregion/cuomo-andy-byfor... Ultimately, the MTA is a mess because of misplaced accountability. The governor needs to appeal to upstate voters to get elected, and only NYC people care about the subway. Ideally, the mayor of NYC should control the MTA and be accountable for its performance. In practice, many New Yorkers falsely believe the mayor is in charge(!), thanks in large part to Cuomo’s misinformation campaign in #1 above.
- zxcvbn4038 7y ago
  They made a huge deal over WiFi in the subway, great idea, some places cell service doesn’t work. It’s ok if your in a station and can’t get a cell signal, but every time you get to a new station you get pulled into a new captive portal and have to log in. By the time you do that you should be going on to the next station. By the time you get back on your return commute your login has expired and you get pulled into the captive portal again. Granted that doing it right is a much bigger technological problem, but a solved problem I’m sure - more or less the same challenge as wiring a stadium with a hundred thousand fans in it for WiFi.
- segfaultbuserr 7y ago
  Thanks. What an unbelievable situation!