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Back in 2005, the MTA imposed new rules and fines for a variety of subway offenses, such as a $50 fine for putting your foot on a seat or platform bench. Or a $100 fine for wearing skates. One of the rules included was a $75 fine for walking or riding between subway cars because the MTA wanted to make sure riders weren't exposed to dangers of riding/walking between cars, emergencies or smelly people or crowded cars be damned.
And it seems that the rule has been lucrative: 3,600 summonses were issued for riding/walking between subway cars last year. In 2005, 700 summonses were issued, while 900 were issued in 2004. Some of the people were carrying weapons and ten had been previously involved with subway crimes before.
The Daily News says that 51 of 88 people given summons for walking/riding between cars in Brooklyn this year had outstanding warrants. The MTA is not surprised with the findings, and spokesman Paul Fleuranges reiterated the MTA's "point" for the rule: "You get on the subway to get to where you are going, not to be accosted. Riders don't like someone shoving CDs in their face that may or may not be bootlegged, or batteries ... or candy that may be spoiled. It's about the quality of the ride. A lot of riders don't want to be bothered like that." Yet they still are - subway riders don't generally like to pass through between cars, but then they want to, it's for a good reason. This rule is still pretty stupid.
In 2005, the MTA experimented making only the first five cars open and locking up all other in order to prevent robberies. And last fall, a man was killed when he tried to board a train by climbing over the gates-between-cars.
Photograph by |Shrued on Flickr
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Actually, I don't think the rule is stupid. It is obviously dangerous to cross between cars - every now and then there is a story of some poor sap who gets seriously injured or killed doing it.
As you note, there is rarely a good reason to cross between cars, and the rule makes exceptions for situations where you have to do it. So, where's the dumb part?
I agree, the rule is stupid. If the car you've gotten into is crowded, you are much less likely to hold up the train by passing into the next car than leaving the train and running to the next car, hoping to find a seat.
Also, being able to pass through doors makes multi-car subway parties much better!
And this rule certainly won't deter anyone from selling bootlegs, batteries or offering food for the homeless.
my recent experience with the new rules --
http://blogs.chortle.co.uk/andrewjlederer/2007/03/04/the_people_vs_andrew_j_lederer
Riding between Subway Cars requires a completely different mindset than someone walking between cars - especially when the train is not moving.
Summonss can be issued whether the train is moving or not moving - so now, more people are running outside to get into another car.
Sometimes it could be that a car is too cold orwithout heat - or has a horrible odor - or passengers are talking too loud - or just to find a seat in an less crowded car
I don't have a problem banning people from moving between cars when the train is in motion - it's dangerous. I do have a problem with this when the subway is stopped in a station. It doesn't make sense.
What I'd much rather see - even more than the feet on the seat fines (which I am in favor of) - are fines for people eating on the subway or in stations. That shit is nasty. Many people in this city behave like animals when left to their own devices.
Let's be honest: when the city imposes new rules like this it's not really about public safety or quality of life. It's just a quick and easy way to raise revenue to help balance the budget--which continues to swell to absurd levels thanks in no small part to the staggering amount of pension money and other benefits promised the municipal unions. It's not enough that New Yorkers already pay the highest taxes in the country; the city also deems it necessary to screw regular people out of every possible dollar in the form of petty summonses and the like, metered parking on Sundays (which thankfully was revoked) and anything else the Bloomberg administration can come up with to suck a few more dollars from people's pockets. Instead, they should stop handing out crazy money and benefits to the unions who are just protecting their lazy members and their cushy way of life.
I think the rule is stupid, especially when most people just passing through, for the reasons Bodyguards mentioned. For the same reason I think it's stupid to lock the doors between cars (like most A, D and F trains). I was once on an A when some guy went nuts and started throwing meds and other objects around the car he was in. For some reason it took the conductor and the cops several minutes to unlock the doors and get to him. Meanwhile during his freakout a bunch of people were trapped in that car WITH him.
Because they are bigger, the cars on the A, D, and F trains would be *really* fucking dangerous to walk between - watch how they connect (or don't connect) the next time you go around a corner. That's why those doors are always locked.
Why can't the NYC subway use the same looooooooong one car system as other subways around the world?
#10, it's because you people don't want to pay for it (see #7).
It seems to me that 9 times out of 10 people crossing between subway cars are either selling something, or begging. Whenever I hear those doors slide open and look over it is almost always a homeless person coming through. I've seen groups of 3 or 4 kids ride between the cars for the fun of it. I have no problem with this rule. I've ridden the subway for 5 years now and have never come across an odor so bad or a car so packed that I had to walk between cars to avoid it. I'm surprised at the number of summons given out though because I have never seen one given out even though I see someone walking between cars daily. Also, how about fining people stretched out across the seats asleep? I've been on a car with a sleeping person stretched out and a cop, and the cop didn't do anything about it.