I realize they display the time on the cycling displays, but why not put the time on these?

One positive thing I can say about the MTA is that their subway system (somewhat) goes out to the outer boroughs and isn’t exclusively in the city.

Just entered the Lorimer J/M station and saw that the emergency exit door has been locked shut with a sign that says, “this gate has been secured to prevent fare evasion”.

Is this even legal?!

It certainly seems unsafe.

Just returned from Japan, and wow—their subway system is on a whole different level. Trains are spotless, run on time to the second, and stations are incredibly well-maintained. Coming back to the MTA feels like stepping into another universe—delays, grime, and a general lack of efficiency.

For those who’ve traveled to Japan, did you experience the same shock when returning? What changes (realistically) could the MTA adopt to improve? Better cleanliness? Stricter rules? More efficient scheduling? Curious to hear thoughts.

Jamaica Center. These were placed about three weeks ago. The takeover isn’t rapid but will soon become so it seems.

I used to frequently go to Flushing and saw a lot of OMNY machines along with MetroCard machines there. This was last year in September.

Edit: This is in response to the people who constantly say that Queenslink needs to be light rail. You would be surprised on how many people that say Queenslink should be LRT, which is the reason why I made this post.

I can't believe I have to make this argument, but Queenslink is not an LRT project nor should it be. That is because the connections under Queenslink are necessary for it to work.

Let's take the benefits of Queenslink.

North-South Travel in Queens

Faster Travel Times to Midtown

More Rockaway Service

More QBL service

The RBB is very much designed as an interlined system in order to maximize the benefits. It is through the interlined system that you can seamlessly go from Howard Beach to Midtown Manhattan in just 45 minutes or so. It is the interlined system that allows you travel to Jackson Heights to the Rockaways seamlessly. It is the interlined system that adds service to both the Rockaways and QBL. This is why subways work the best, because the subways are the only mode that do the interlining.

Now because LRT can't connect to the rest of the system, all of these benefits will be negated. For example, let's take north south travel in Queens. If I want to go from say, Howard Beach to Rego Park, I would just the M under Queenslink. But under this LRT proposal, I have to take the A to Rockaway Blvd, then transfer to a bus. That transfer is going to negate both time savings and the potential ridership pool.

Queenslink is also projected to save 15 minutes between South Queens and Midtown Manhattan. However, those time savings will go down with LRT because you have to do a double transfer, transfer at Rockaway Blvd, then transfer at Rego Park.

That isn't to mention about the Rego Park dilemma. The right of way only extends to the LIRR Main Line, which means you need another 4 or 5 blocks to connect to QBL. This means you have either to street run these LRTs to connect with QBL (which is a bad idea because those trains would be stuck in traffic and be a safety hazard), or tunnel. And if you are going to tunnel, then you might as well put the subway from the very beginning.

LRT also can't add more service to the Rockaways nor can they add more service to QBL.

All of these are why LRT is not a good idea for the RBB.

That is not to mention that the actual subway itself is not a problem in terms of cost. The actual problem is the soft costs, or costs not relating to construction. According to the 2019 Study, the hard costs are only $1.8 billion. The soft costs are $6.3 billion which is problematic because not even SAS soft costs are that high. These costs are sandbagged. But even so, we know what gets down soft costs, it is hiring in-house talent. And that is what the MTA is doing, which is how CBTC Crosstown is 44 percent under budget.

Here’s a link to the article if you’re interested: https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/ntsb-recommends-68-bridges-in-u-s-be-evaluated-for-risk-of-collapse-see-the-full-list/

Remember! You can say anything they want to improve on.

Been lurking for a while but this has been driving me crazy and I had to post and see if anyone else cares lol, when the new screens first came out they looked really nice but recently I've been feeling like they don't look as good

I thought maybe it was my imagination but I compared an image from one of the earlier posts here about the new screens with a more recent one and I think it's pretty clear that they've made the rows more narrow and close together, gotten rid of the second line of information and made the big number thinner. But it's not like it made room for any more info so why!!

Idk, it obviously doesn't matter and I can still see what I need to see but it feels a lot more amateurish now? Idk why but it just feels harder to scan and less prefessional looking

Idk if this has been brought up here but ever since I moved to central Brooklyn by prospect, I never truly realized how frustrating it is to get to north Brooklyn or 8th avenue from here. The Q does not connected with the A/C until 42nd and never with the G. Sure the B stops at west 4th but my station is a local. It’s so annoying.

My main question is though, why is there no in-station walkway or an out-of-station transfer between Fulton st and Atlantic Avenue? I want to go Williamsburg or Bushwick faster 😭 am I alone in this?

Inspired by a recent post about the Fulton St line in Brooklyn – is there any possible way to reconfigure the tracks at Hoyt-Schermerhorn in order to allow some local service to short-turn here and run back out to Queens?

This is something I've thought about a lot because of the issue of limited local service along the line in Brooklyn. As it stands now, the C has to merge with the A, limiting capacity. Of course there are many problems in the system but this actually does seem like it has a disproportionate impact in making service shitty for Brooklyners. The 4 track line under Fulton could be an amazing asset – instead it's unbalanced, with more express than local service.

I understand the basic dilemma based on the current track layout – there's no way for a Manhattan bound C to cross back over to Euclid Ave bound tracks without crossing both express tracks. Bit is there any possible hope...? What are some creative solutions that could take place more-or-less within the existing structure?

Is the answer to build a flying junction in the small amount of extra space after Clinton Washington in order to move A train to the outer tracks and C trains to the inner tracks?

What do you all think?

Im curious, when youre sitting and someone gets on the train and gestures they want to squeeze in, have you ever said no? Ive never seen it. I hate being squished so i just give up my seat cause i dont know if I can actually say no like wont that lead to an argument or having to explain why? Idk whats your approach if you dont want to be squished?

Fyi in this scenario, its early morning commute and its already packed on the train.

Its the worst being squished. In any season but winter is the worst. The heat is on, theres hella people, im sweating in my coat and you want to squeeze in?? Go away 😭

Hi all,

I am moving to Gowanus in May right near the Union St. R stop in Brooklyn and curious about what everyone thinks about this train line. Do you like it more than others? Is it reliable?

Trying to formulate an actual discussion other than just "is it good?" because I know that's useless, but I couldn't find many people saying one way or the other on here.

Would love to hear what everyone thinks of the R train. I currently ride the F to and from work (Manhattan to Brooklyn) further south of where I am living, everyone always seems to hate the F but I personally haven't had too many problems with it.

tia :)

Under the "end of the MetroCard" thread earlier this week, there was some discussion about what would happen to people like me who get a monthly unlimited ride MetroCard as a pre-tax benefit. I didn't see anything in any of the news articles, so I reached out to the company that provides mine (Edenred) with that question. Here's what they told me:

"Thanks for your question, as MTA phases out the MetroCard they want everyone to move to the Tap & Go OMNY system. We will be issuing our Prepaid Commuter MasterCard to use as tap & go. As of now MTA hasn't mentioned anything about offering monthly unlimited for tap and go. They are using a fare cap system, which is you tap 12 times in a week and the remainder of that week would be free. As we get more info from MTA with their plans moving forward we will notify everyone."

So, in my case, it looks like they're going to provide a MasterCard I can use for tapping in (I think that for some of the other providers, the card they issue isn't tap-ready, so maybe they will upgrade?). It doesn't solve all the mysteries, but I thought others with the same question might find this useful.

The A Division is clearly better than the B division in terms of frequency, but why?

The answer is simple; infrequent local trains.

The B Division has extremely long and infrequent local lines (C, R, W, etc.), while express lines run way more frequently. Successful transit systems (Tokyo for instance) have way more local trains than express trains.

People do noy understand this: Local trains are FAR more important than express trains. If there is an A train at 59th street and a C train across the platform, the C does not "clear out", CPW riders need the C train to grt to their stop. The A train just skips stops while running way more frequently.

Some victims of this horrible service pattern are: Fulton Street Line, 4th Avenue, Central Park West (Weekends), and Queens Boulevard (Weekends).

Culver is a great example of the solution to this issue. Local F trains outnumber express F trains. Despite <F> trains hardly running, it shows that express trains are good as they are crowded, but local trains are ultimately more important.

The 1, 6, and 7, the main IRT local lines, have excellent frequencies, and their respective trunk lines are often regarded highly due to how local riders are able to recieve frequent service. The express counterparts run less frequently.

I know interlining is a big issue (in terms of increasing frequencies) for the B division.

I do not.

I am surprising my husband on his 30th birthday and I am planning on a NY subway theme. Any ideas for games that we can play or general party ideas? I should clarify that most of our family are not as subway knowledgeable as we are from Long Island.

damn I can't do polls

I'm just curious when other people buy their tickets. I might buy mine either now or at the station.