seatfinder's tips?

the other day i was riding a jenny-bomb and i could not,for the entire life of me,find a single open seat! i ended up standing in the vestibule (i often do) and grinning and bearing it!

it reminds me of that hampton inn ad

"all i want is a room somewhere...."

does anybody have any idea how to make finding a seat easier/quicker then normal?

get your butt on the train earlier

roffl. not exactly what i was hoping for.

jenny/bomb jenny-bomb and jennybomb sound quite a bit like my ex (who is still in court-mandated anger management classes for beating up that cop)


except her name wasnt jenny...anybody got any other ideas....like...which end of the train is emptier...or faster...or something....please?

if you get on in grand central the 1st or 2nd cars should not be too crowed but it is a lot of walking.



or find a MU train running on your line

These days with the North end access the train fills up from both ends.

Last five minutes before departure tend to see a LOT of people rush onboard

The best way to be sure of a seat is to charter your own train.

These days Metro-North has plenty of riders, and plenty of regulars (even during off-peak). The best advice I could give you is to get to your train early. Even if the track is not posted on the big board, you can often find the train information online. Get there early and pick your seat -- just don't take mine

Nester

Even the dreaded "middle" seats were all taken?
Not that I'd sit there. I'd usually rather sit on the floor!

Ha! Speaking of middle seats and sitting on the floor, check out this article in today's Times.

For Train Riders, Middle Seat Isn't the Center of Attention
By PATRICK McGEEHAN
Published: May 31, 2005

Before the 5:19 p.m. train headed north out of Grand Central Terminal last week, some passengers were already sitting on the floor, surrounded by the scuffed shoes and stuffed briefcases of people leaning against the walls.

Another overcrowded shuttle during the evening rush to the suburbs? Hardly.

In fact, empty seats easily outnumbered the unseated riders. Throughout the car, all of the window and aisle seats were occupied. But there was an unbroken column of 18 unfilled seats - straight down the middle - along the eastern side of each car, where the wider space could accommodate three people.

Once again, everybody had steered clear of the middle seats.

People around New York have a hard time reaching a consensus on many things, but on this they - and, really, commuters everywhere - tend to agree: Nobody wants to sit in the center..........

The whole article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/31/nyregion/31seat.html

It really depends on where and when you ride the train. If the writer had travelled on a LIRR Ronkonkoma peak train, you'd see middle seats full. Yes, there is an attitude in Metro NY that no one wants that seat. But I would rather take that seat than stand for an hour or so. Most of the people who won't take the middle seat usually have "size" issues or want to do things that require more space, like work on a laptop or read the newspaper.

Nester

This is a big difference from the LIRR...there all seats are taken when a train leaves Penn or by the time a train gets to Penn. Even the ones in the middle. On M1s and M3s it's not too bad but it is really a tight squeeze on the M7s even with 3 average sized people.

bingdude wrote:This is a big difference from the LIRR...there all seats are taken when a train leaves Penn or by the time a train gets to Penn. Even the ones in the middle. On M1s and M3s it's not too bad but it is really a tight squeeze on the M7s even with 3 average sized people.

Yes, yes it is. And if you are already on the outside and rise to let a person into the middle , generally (not always) they will spread to fill your space (elbows , shoulders knees).

One more thing put people should put thier crap in the (tiny on m7's) overhead rack and put your
jacket there also.
.

The overhead rack "size" on the M7 is not universal throughout the car. The end quarter height is shorter than the racks found in the middle of the car.

You can fit a "rolling suitcase" in the middle overhead rack -- but not on the ends.

Nester

Nester wrote:The overhead rack "size" on the M7 is not universal throughout the car. The end quarter height is shorter than the racks found in the middle of the car.

You can fit a "rolling suitcase" in the middle overhead rack -- but not on the ends.

Nester

That's what makes it a pain in the butt.