A month after they were proposed, the MTA is adopting a new set of rules of conduct that will see fines being handed out for things like drinking (non-alcoholic beverages) in a subway car, putting your feet on a seat, and riding between subway cars. And you can't ride your bicycle, wear you Rollerblades or be atop a skateboard, either. The MTA says that police officers, who we have been seeing in droves at subway stations lately, will be "reasonable" when asking people why they are changing subway cars; the NY Times has this quote that proves why moving between cars is important:
Mark Page, the city's budget director, who represents Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on the board, observed: "It is, from time to time, convenient to absent oneself from a car or from a particular group of people."
Riders like Beatrice McCants, 30, said they had faced many such occasions. Ms. McCants, who works as a newspaper distributor in Midtown, said she was riding a Brooklyn-bound No. 3 train Wednesday when a man began masturbating in plain sight. "I thought, 'I've got to get off this train,'" she recalled. "Now I'm going to get a fine for that, for running from a flasher? I won't pay it!"
She'd probably be able to get the fine thrown out by the judge, but since things like moving away from bad smells or moving train cars to be closer to a subway exit wouldn't be summonsed. However, NYC Transit President Lawrence Reuter would like riders to change cars at stops, using the platforms. The NY Post points out that the MTA is thinking about easing on some other restrictions, like the package limit; when asked by, the MTA noted that a woman was fined for puttin a package on another seat - when she was the only person in the train car. Ha, and New Yorkers are supposed to believe the police don't have ticket quota? The rules will go into effect on October 1, if they are passed; the fines will range from $50 to $100 (we recommend you work on your debate skills).
Read the MTA's Rules of Conduct. Check out pictures of life riding the subways from Travis Ruse, and add your own to the NYC Subway group on Flickr.
Photograph by Dan Dickinson, on his Flickr page
