10 Reasons Why New York Subway System is America's Shame
New York City has some fabulous pleasant surprises but this doesn't include their subway system.
I
was recently in New York City. The city's subway system is pretty
shocking when compared to other subway systems around the world.
This
includes the Toronto Transit Commission's (TTC) subway which is
well-maintained and easy for most any visitor to the city to figure out.
And
in Toronto, subway system staff are at every stop and can easily help
any city visitor quickly figure out where to go. The same cannot be
said about the New York City system.
Travelling on the New York City subway system provides a critical perspective on the problems with American capitalism.
Here
you have a city where billionaires and billion dollar companies have
their Head Offices alongside a system in chronic decay.
Do
these billionaires and a government who primarily seek to represent
these billionaires care about public transportation used by "average
people"? Apparently, not it seems.
America
spends billions upon billions of dollars to blow-up our planet several
times over in an never-ending arms race with Moscow.
However,
Moscow which is Russia's largest city has a well-funded and modern subway
system that's much better than New York's [video above]
So,
the next time a U.S. politician declares that "America is the greatest
country in world", you may wish to ask them if that includes the New
York City subway system?
The
best things I can say about the New York City subway system is that it
has a great air condition system and I had no problems using my cell
phone.
Notwithstanding
this, here are my personal observations on why I regard the New York
City subway system to be a terrible travesty.
1 - A decrepit system suffering from profound decay in physical infrastructure
The
best way for me to describe the physical appearance of the New York
City subway system is to picture what you think the basement of an
overused 60 year old parking garage would look like with 60 year old
paint. Please make sure you also include pot holes and other sings of
decay in your picturing.
2 - A completely convoluted and disorganized system
I
was quite shocked to see how much difficulty New York City subway staff
had to explain me and other tourists during my stay there how to travel
from points "A" to "B".
The
New York subway system is so convoluted on multiple occasions I
witnessed fare operators going online to attempt to show me where to go.
3 - A nearly useless subway map
I
have a degree in geography and I view the New York subway system map to
be kind pretty but near useless. I found it practically impossible to
follow compared to the TTC. The New York subway system map is so
apparently useless that when I asked for directions I saw not even one
of the fare operators using it try to show me where to go. Who or what
company designed this map anyways?
4 - More confusion
Having
walked into what I thought was a "regular" subway, I accidently bought a
ticket to the "PATH" system which seemed to be sharing the same stop
wit the "regular" subway.
5 - Subway lines which go near to each other but don't actually intersect - how stupid is that?
When
I was in Manhattan, I decided it was far easier for me to walk 25
minutes that to figure out how many times I might need to exit the
system then walk 5 minutes to a different subway line.
6 - A lack of commercial services
In
the Toronto subway system, buying a beverage or a newspaper is easy to
do. A network of underground shopping that we call 'concourses' are
often at subway level. In New York's system, "Forget about it"
including even water. The New York system is like travelling from one
ugly decrepit basement of an underground parking garage to another.
7 - Poor signage
A
big frustration for myself as a tourist in New York was just finding
subway stops which almost seem to be sprinkled in the city very with no
apparent rhyme or reason.
8 - A lack of personal security
When
travelling on the New York subway I had noticed one lady apparently
objecting to comment made by an older lady of Asian background beside
her. The offended lady poked her and ordered her to get out of her
seat. But when she did, the offended lady then began to demand that she
get off the train. The lady of Asian background at first refused.
The offended lady became angry and then physically shoved her out the
train. There was no security in sight to provide assistance to the
older Asian lady.
9 - A lack of help in general
Have you found yourself lost in New York's subway system and don't know where to go? Good luck!
10 - Poverty and panhandling
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