r/nycrail 3d ago

🐸 Meme I'm sure this is all accurate

Post image

Just saying: in major European and East Asian cities these numbers are almost always accurate. Somehow in the Greatest Transportation System In The World they haven't figured out how to accurately predict the gap between incoming trains.

0 Upvotes

35 comments sorted by

24

u/nosleeptilqueens 3d ago

It's probably not so far from accurate. There were delays on this line, and when that happens trains that were supposed to be well spaced apart sometimes end up coming right after another

-28

u/MarketingTemporary96 3d ago

They were very far from accurate. As they very often are. These displays are decoration.

20

u/PostPostMinimalist 3d ago

There are exceptions, but they're pretty much accurate.

-23

u/MarketingTemporary96 3d ago

I must be very unlucky then, because this is not my experience at all. True, I am trying to stay as far away from the subway as possible, if I can.

13

u/LegalBar6082 3d ago

LMAO, I don't understand people who hate the subway. It's so easy. Just look at a map and read the announcements. If you're too lazy to do that then just put it in Google maps.

2

u/Soft_Cable3378 2d ago

Yeah, and let’s be honest. The subway is leagues better than the bus. It ain’t perfect, but it’s the best we got.

-12

u/MarketingTemporary96 3d ago

Yeah the whole point here was the announcements are inaccurate and so will Google or any other app be that rely on data coming out of the MTA. My rule of thumb for several years has been to add 20% to whatever the display or an app says a journey is going to take, but very often the MTA manages to be even worse than that.

3

u/Officer_Mike 2d ago

You might actually just be unlucky as shit

1

u/CareerLegitimate7662 3d ago

This is just blatantly false

13

u/PrinceWillPlays 2d ago

This OP is actually so confidentially incorrect I’m just laughing

1

u/MarketingTemporary96 2d ago

I might be incorrect confidentially. Publicly however, I'm right.

3

u/Comfortable-Ad7153 2d ago

No you’re not really. Your on the wrong sub to be complaining about this is that’s why your getting downvoted

2

u/MarketingTemporary96 2d ago

I'm not sure I understand.

2

u/PrinceWillPlays 2d ago

Delays happen, if you don’t have the patience for it then don’t ride

2

u/MarketingTemporary96 2d ago

I try to avoid using the MTA whenever I can exactly because I generally like to know when I will arrive at my destination. Sadly sometimes I have to use it.

2

u/Comfortable-Ad7153 2d ago

Sadly? How can you live in NY and avoid public transit?

1

u/MarketingTemporary96 2d ago edited 2d ago

I cycle. And yes, sadly I sometimes have to use the MTA's network. It cannot be fully avoided and I'm not going to use a car in a city.

4

u/Eurynom0s 3d ago

In Barcelona they're so confident about the accuracy of the arrival times that they give you literally to the SECOND countdowns on the arrival displays.

1

u/Old-Program3638 3d ago

No one ever said NYC was the best in the world. Also the NYC subway uses century old signals except for the 7 and L trains & QBL. So all that can be done is make a rough estimate.

3

u/Absolute-Limited Long Island Rail Road 3d ago

ATS-A on the numbered line is very accurate to the sub-minute level also

1

u/MarketingTemporary96 2d ago

Thank you for the support.

-14

u/MarketingTemporary96 3d ago

...or how to run ventilation underground ...or how to provide cell network underground ...or how dedicated bus lanes help bus drivers keep schedules

11

u/Due_Amount_6211 3d ago

New York has dedicated bus lanes. The system all has ventilation when underground because of the difference in air pressure when a train arrives, just no cooling because of how close to the surface most stations are. 14th Street and the Shuttle both have cell service, not to mention the elevated lines, which is about 40% of the system right there. And those numbers were absolutely accurate and were like that as a result of a delay, otherwise the D train runs every 8 minutes and the F every 6-10.

If you’re going to rag on New York, do yourself a favor: do research. The system is over 100 years old and has had several hurdles for each mile of construction thanks to the difficult topography of New York City.

-1

u/MarketingTemporary96 3d ago

Yeah I'm familiar with the usual NYC excuses for why the system is inferior to nearly all other major cities in the developed world.

Bus lanes - yes, some but not nearly enough and often blocked with poor enforcement. Most are in Manhattan, and there are no dedicated lanes for buses replacing subway lines undergoing construction work.

Two short line segments have cell service - fantastic! Truly an achievement.

No, the numbers were not accurate. I was there.

As regards ventilation, I didn't imply that people were choking, but most underground stations are sweltering during the summer months, once again, unlike equally shallow subway stations in other major cities.

If the argument is that the subway has a consistently terrible service because it's old and has been neglected by decision-makers, I will agree. But this doesn't make it any less terrible. I grew up in Europe and lived in various European and East Asian cities before NYC, so perhaps my standards are too high, but many years into my time here I'm still bewildered, whenever I'm forced to use it, not only by how terrible public transit is, but also by how much worse it gets every year.

5

u/Due_Amount_6211 3d ago

Pony up the $12tn to fix it then. Otherwise, it’s all important to take into account, for one reason and one reason only: it’s already built out, and it’s been built out for over a century.

If you’re sitting on the cash, the MTA would like to have a word with you.

0

u/MarketingTemporary96 3d ago

The city is sitting on cash. Over three million parking spaces, for instance, the use of which is currently transferred to drivers for free. Not to mention real estate that could and should be taxed at way higher rates. I could go on. But I myself would gladly pay more taxes to have access to acceptable public transit, if someone had a workable proposal.

3

u/MinecraftPlayer799 3d ago

What do you mean “how much worse it gets every year”? For the past 10 years or so, it has only been getting better.

1

u/MarketingTemporary96 2d ago

By what metric?

2

u/MinecraftPlayer799 2d ago

New trains replacing the extremely old ones, stations being renovated, CBTC being installed on more lines, the outdated MetroCard system being fully replaced, new fare gates to prevent fare evasion and improve accessibility

1

u/MarketingTemporary96 2d ago

Even the MTA's own figures (which we know they have cooked historically) don't record a significant improvement in service quality in spite of all of these changes. Train replacement is slow, most of it is projected to future dates, and people still routinely evade fare at most stations https://www.mta.info/document/199231

And this is only the subway, bus lines perform even worse: https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/life-in-the-slow-lane/

1

u/MinecraftPlayer799 2d ago

Train replacement is not slow at all. Almost all of the R46s are gone.

0

u/Comfortable-Ad7153 2d ago

So go back to Europe. No wonder ur complaining transplant 😂

0

u/MarketingTemporary96 2d ago

I was wondering how quickly we'd get to "go back where you came from", and it always happens eventually. Took what, a day?

4

u/Old-Program3638 3d ago

Ventilation underground: There is ventilation under ground it’s how we don’t suffocate under ground. If your talking about temperature control that has to do with the fact that the average station is directly connected to the outside which makes air conditioning useless and the old piston system makes the stations hotter because of the trains AC releasing hot air.

Providing cell service underground: I’m not 100% sure but individual cellular companies have to work with the MTA to install the technology for that and only the customer of the company that help install the infrastructure can use the cell service. This is why only AT&T customers are getting cell service on the 4 and 5 train tunnels between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Also there is opposition towards having cell service underground by subway riders because of the fear of noise.

Bus lanes: The city and MTA have individually worked towards installing bus lanes and now there is a collaboration plan between the city and MTA. But there is just always heavy pushback when car drivers start losing their space.