NYC Transit Tidbits

Next time you swipe your card but are asked to swipe it again, you may have an MTA next to you to help you out. The Post reports that the MTA is looking to have employees stand near turnstiles and Metrocard vending machines to help out passengers. The "station customer assistants" are part of an effort for the MTA to improve customer service; Gothamist thinks it's because other passengers hate the Metrotards that block the turnstiles, insisting they know how to swipe. The idea is that the station customer assistants would help out during rush hour at heavily trafficked stations, but the transit workers union is worried that assistants will be put in dangerous situations when thieves trying to hack into the vending machine or fake out the turnstile come around.

Other news: Freaking Congress is working on a bill giving New York State $1.6 billion less in federal money for transportation - most of which would be directed towards NYC related transportation. Let's hope some more funding will come our way before the bill passes, as Representative Sherwood L. Boehlert (a Republican) points out "New York's transit system carried about a third of the nation's mass transit riders last year, but will receive only about 14 percent of all federal transit aid." You tell them, Boehlert!

Finally, the statement of Quelal Bonergy, who caused a fire and huge subway stoppage last month, was released. The Daily News reported that he wanted a mass murder ("I wanted death, death. One-hundred twenty would die.") and was angry over "being 'inconvenienced' in a clothing store, and further angered after thinking about his daughter having sex." Quelal said it wasn't a terrorist plot, claiming he liked President Bush and Mayor Bloomberg, "I like them very much. I like Republicans." Clearly, Quelal will be using some sort of "insanity" defense.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on April 2, 2004 11:52 AM

Comments [rss]

brian w

And you can't jump over a full-body turnstile or send your kid under the bar...

Jen

Full body turnstiles eliminate the need for token clerks.

Sean

Why exactly were the old turnstiles replaced with the full-body turnstiles? They seem to take up a lot of space, are cumbersome to operate, must be more costly to build, and (at my station at least) have lower functionality.

rachelle

that's the first thing i thought of, ashley. . .in Chicago we have what the MTA is proposing.. CTA employees who just stand there by the turnstyle.. but we dont even swipe here. The card gets inserted in and then comes back out. I've never seen anyone not go through on the first try. Also, many people have the CTA card plus which allows you to just hold your card up to a reader, again I've never seen anyone have a problem. So.. maybe the MTA could take these excess CTA employees and put them to use.. or maybe the MTA could do away with the swipe that is so inefficient.

Ashley

Okay, let me get this right....The MTA got rid of a bunch of booth agents and elevator operators in areas that I really felt benefited from their presence as a deterrence to crime (whether it actually worked or not, it did make one feel safer), and now they want to hire people to stand at turnstiles to provide assistance. If that's not asinine, I don't know what is....