Fun times on the subway

I'm familiar with the Boston T, and I've known the Red Line to skip stops, but it's rare.

I kinda assumed that most people could figure out the express/local concept through common sense and through experience with their own commuter rail system. Express trains and buses get to their destinations faster because they don't make every intermediate stop, whereas locals do. Then again, not everyone takes a commuter rail to work.

I really do wish I could have pointed them in the right direction, but I was firmly wedged in place.

Maybe I was just having a "whaddya mean, the rest of the world isn't like NYC?" moment

Head-end View wrote:S-W-C: You need to understand that New York is about the only city subway system in the country that has 3 and 4 track lines with express and local trains. Most other cities such as Boston, Wash D.C. and San Francisco to name a few, only have 2 track lines and all trains are locals making all stops. (And trust me, it's maddening if you have a long ride)So if those people had never been to NYC before, you can see where they might be confused by the express/local system.

Philadelphia has skip-stop service on the Market-Frankford line, and four-track express service on the Broad Street Subway. Chicago has the Purple line express during rush hour.

I agree, however, that it can be EXTREMELY confusing in New York. I still don't get parts of the system, and I've ridden many, many times. Tourists will get almost inevitably hopelessly lost.

And WMATA sometimes skips stops too in the event of an ATO/ATP failure, which causes bunching up, thus requiring some trains to go right by stations without stopping.

Hebrewman9 wrote:

Head-end View wrote:S-W-C: You need to understand that New York is about the only city subway system in the country that has 3 and 4 track lines with express and local trains. Most other cities such as Boston, Wash D.C. and San Francisco to name a few, only have 2 track lines and all trains are locals making all stops. (And trust me, it's maddening if you have a long ride)So if those people had never been to NYC before, you can see where they might be confused by the express/local system.

Philadelphia has skip-stop service on the Market-Frankford line, and four-track express service on the Broad Street Subway. Chicago has the Purple line express during rush hour.

I agree, however, that it can be EXTREMELY confusing in New York. I still don't get parts of the system, and I've ridden many, many times. Tourists will get almost inevitably hopelessly lost.

If you ride BSS, then NYCT is no different. Tourists get lost because they cannot or do not want to devote the time to reading a map. If you miss an express stop, go back. That is all. Simple.

A lot of tourists don't just come from simpler subway systems. They come from places without any mass-transit at all, other than the occasional bus.

There are lots of things they don't understand, like how to read schematic maps (instead of street maps), train schedules (instead of one flight time printed neatly on their ticket). They sometimes don't even understand that it's their responsibility to get on or off at a stop. Maybe they're waiting for a flight attendant to them them, "Please stay seated until we're finished pulling up to the gate", in which case they will disregard the notice and stand up.

Fifty years ago, such things were life skills that you picked up when you were ten years old. Now, we're having to teach people mass transit skills (and courtesy!) from scratch.

NYC is different, but not that different. Someone brought up California -- actually, the Caltrain schedule is filled with overtakes and expresses. BART runs to some stops during some parts of the day, but not late at night. etc. Other systems may not have four lines, but they have peculiarities. Once you've gotten used to reading a map, you can figure most things out.

It's gotten to the point that some lady, who said she lives in manhattan, seemed to get lost. I was out riding the 160s when they frist came onto the N in normal service. The train was heading south over the bridge. There were only two other people in the car, an older lady who was sitting at the other end of the becnh I was on, and a younger girl about my age (Late teens/early twentys) sitting across from me.

The train had just left Canal and was heading over the bridge when the old lady turned and asked if Pacific street was in lower manhattan. the girl looks in my direction and we share that "WTF" look. the lady thought she was on the R. I'm like "you didn't hear 'this is a Brooklyn bound N train' this whole time?" apperntly she didn't. So I spend the next few minutes explaing her how to get back on the R at Pacific becuase she wanted on the R stops after the split.

But wait, it gets better! A few minutes later, as the train is rolling down the grade, the lady looks out the window and sees Empire-Fulton Ferry Park (the warehouses and the land next to them on the DUMBO waterfront), and asked "Oh, is that Ellis Island?"