Gothamist: W Is for Worst

your sister's gay boyfriend

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 18:03:53 -0500

My favorite canned announcement is "We apologize for the unavoidable delay. We will be moving shortly." Bullshit. No delay is unavoidable if you try hard enough.

eNizzle

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 15:59:20 -0500

and here's one of the many reasons the TWU does not deserve most of their demands! they suck.

Tobi Jo

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 15:27:25 -0500

Of course, this Gothamist mention of the W is because of the 'service disruptions' this morning due to broken track on Lex., right? The announcement was something like: We are being held momentarily due to broken track on Lexinton Avenue. There will be no service to Queens on the N/W/R lines. For service to Queens (insert ridiculously long series of transfers and shuttles). I sat on the train for several minutes thinking... well, I don't need to go to Queens. By "held momentarily", do they mean minutes, or will this train just sit here until dinner? Then, I got off and caught the F. (F as in - 'F' it! I'm getting off the F'in W.)

roo

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 15:13:10 -0500

Personally, I hate the 4/5/6 electronic, Deputy Dawg -sounding, boringly repetitive announcements. Also, they get lost sometimes, and worse, provide absolutely no nuance except the usual claptrap about "moving shortly". Completely Disney-fies NYC subways into just another bad amusement park ride. How much more NYC-style would it be with: -- local accented speakers -- random NYC celebs (emphasis on random) -- pure machine beat-box Makes me miss the irish-jamaican announcer on the A. Really made you feel like you were part of a global village. Now I feel like I'm just another cog in someone elses lousy-running machine.

Jen

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 13:16:35 -0500

I guess the Straphangers' point is that information is power - what if knowing that something at a subway station a couple stops away could encourage a rider to get out earlier, because waiting and waiting might be too much of a time expense? And gak's photo is also part of the Flickr "One Letter" pool.

Joe

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 12:40:45 -0500

Great headline!

Subway Jared

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 12:38:28 -0500

The red signal is actually something important. Because of the age of our antiquated subway signaling system, the driver doesn't know if there's a train right around the bend or quite a bit away. The traffic controller only knows this much as well, so they have a "safety distance" between trains. It keeps the trains from smashing into each other, leading to death and destruction. But it sucks if you're late to your party, right?

Toby

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 12:31:31 -0500

I once saw a NYCTA publication with suggested announcements and when to use them. Perhaps it is online somehwere? And I love when they make the annoucement that the train will be running over another line when it pulls out of the station, since that usually means you have to get off at the next stop and back track or worse.

crybaby

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 12:27:44 -0500

sweet. gothamist is now crediting photographers for images of letters of the alphabet.

kristin

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 12:26:37 -0500

I agree that missing or unintelligible announcements are frustrating, but the red signal and local to express announcements are fine...i don't really have a desire to know why, since all the first means to me is that we aren't going right now (and i have time to switch cars if necessary), and the later just means that people need to adjust accordingly...the explanations why are irrelevant.