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It's not really a surprise that the NYC Transit Authority found that only 17% of the NYC subway stations had audible delay announcements - if the NYCTA stood on the platform every once in a while, they'd know (especially during rush hour). But they got official and issued findings from a study during the second part of 2005. AM New York has the stats:
-17% understandableThe NYCTA tried to cover its butt by saying the study was only a partial study, but really, we think any commuter would be able to weigh in on how the PA system is just terrible - on the platform, on the train, everywhere. However, there are some riders who just don't pay attention to announcements - think iPod users. But this is a nice complement to the Straphanger's recent survey about how train announcements are pretty bad.
-17% partially understandable
-31% marginally understandable
-35% not understandable
-90% subway cars with public address announcements
The real dumb comment, though, from the NYCTA about the issues with a PA system was this one from spokesman Paul Fleuranges: "If you see smoke on the platform you are not going to stand there and wait. If there is a real emergency situation, people are going to know on their own, or our people will get them out. It's not really an issue of a public address system." Uh, what if there's a fire on a track on another level - the people up or downstairs or going to have to wait to see smoke to know to leave?
And in other subway news, the Daily News says that TWU President Roger Toussaint won't be charged for the subway strike. However, the Attorney General is looking to stop the automatic deduction of union dues from paychecks, which is a considerable amount of the TWU's revenue.
Photograph by Tien Mao
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I'm glad most announcements are inaudible- do I really need to hear 5 times a day to watch my bags? Or stand clear of the doors? I don't need an apology for the delay. Just shut up and take me where I'm going, thanks.
haha great post!
They should do something about the conductor intercoms too in the older subway cars...
I used to think that the announcements came from the station when you hear something from inside the subway car, because you just couldn't understand it.
i remember there was one conductor on the F train who used to put on the radio/music on the intercom. That was pretty cool.
...so after those 3 days of crowded agony and sore feet...no one gets charged in the end?!?!?!
NY is starting to disappoint...
NYC subway announcements always remind me of the scene in Monsieur Hulot's Holiday where people move from platform to platform in response to completely unintelligible announcements. There is no way of responding rationally to them. You have to have a kind of intuitive sense of what (if anything) to do next.
I was stuck on an uptown C train at 23rd Street for about half an hour this morning. The announcements would have been completely audible had there not been two competing announcements going on at the same time - one on the train and one at the station. It made an already annoying situation even more irritating.
"If you see smoke on the platform you are not going to stand there and wait."
Um. NO. Personal experience says otherwise. Not only do people stand there and wait, they get on the train when it comes in.
The King's Cross fire shows that some people will actually head TOWARDS the smoke source, out of curiosity.
Remember the SNL sketch about transit workers making impossible-to-understand announcements? Anyone?
I just came back from Paris, wow, their subway system is leaps and bounds better than ours. The announcements are all perfectly understandable, and they are in three languages. The platforms have signs showing you how many minutes it will take for the next two trains to arrive. cellphone service works in the tunnels between stations and on the platforms. they have panels in the stations where you can press a button for your current location and for your destination station and it shows you the connections you need to make to get there. awesome, and cheaper than the NYC subway at about $1.65 per ride, and they have much more options for discounted tickets if you buy multiple day or week or month passes.
Yes, that SNL sketch was was classic.
I complained about the subway my whole life. Then I moved out of NY. It's the best damn transportation in America. I consider moving back just for easily accessible, frequent public transportation. Leave for a bit (or remember the MTA in the 80s) – You'll never complain again.