Scott Rankin
Ken WhiteTap-phone-to-pay subway an ease-of-use game changer. Remembering what it’s like to have a functioning transit system. Super easy to get around. Nobody doing drugs on train.
Nick 'The Viking'Civilization can be awesome.
Nerd That Talks Good@Popehat But is anyone having a breakdance fight?
Brandon@Popehat On the other hand my Apple Watch is responsible for at least 6 lbs of weight gain via the nearby vending machine.
MikeasaService@Popehat
NYC has had this for a while. It came in very handy when I went there recently and…left my wallet in the car at the Albany train station.
NYC has had this for a while. It came in very handy when I went there recently and…left my wallet in the car at the Albany train station.
Mama's Pinky Toe@Popehat
1. I'm trying to guess the two systems. The Métro and NYC? BART and MTA?
2. (Kingston Trio joke here)
1. I'm trying to guess the two systems. The Métro and NYC? BART and MTA?
2. (Kingston Trio joke here)
Jonah Stein@Popehat mostly true. Caffeine is a drug.
Craig Saila
Tony@Popehat you should try being on the tube on Friday or Saturday night. I've seen plenty of people doing coke over the years.
Jason Milletary@Popehat tbf, they all took their ketamine at home
Nathan A. Stine@Popehat one of the most surprising things when I was in DC this past summer was that the entire DC metro smelled like weed.
Matt L@Popehat The London vs NYC transit comparison is really the ultimate case study in how badly America is broken.
NYC is a Liberal city in a blue state, and has far more functional independence and tax raising powers than Greater London.
Also London's city government and mayor were only created in 2000. Before that it was administered directly by the national government like DC.
NYC should easily be able spend more and solve its problems more easily.
But it doesnt and cant.
@Popehat The reasons why are quite broad, but they're also a pretty good summary of all the things ruining America.
DrGecko@mattlav1250 @Popehat You're totally, completely and utterly wrong about NYC. The MTA, which runs our transport, answers to three states and, unlike Transport for London, has control only over most (not all) the trains and buses. Other agencies control other transport systems. NYCity itself has almost no independent taxing powers. Ultimate authority rests with the state which treats the city as an ATM and routinely raids 'dedicated' MTA funds.
@DrGecko @Popehat I mean somewhat true, but there is A STATE of New York thats not the national government and can pass its own laws and taxes. And is, at least in theory, controlled by a liberal party.
Also, I think you're underestimating how much tax authority the city does have. NYC has its own supplemental business taxes, sales taxes and a property tax.
Greater London has nothing except a per capita grant, traffic charges and a small property tax bump.
@DrGecko @Popehat I agree completely about the divisions of power, responsibility etc in New York, the abusive relationship with Albany etc.
I think that was kind of my point. There are no UNDERLYING reasons why NYC should be worse than the GLA.
Its all due to the broken dysfunctional way the system is run and organised in practice.
@mattlav1250 @Popehat The problems in NYC are (1) the transit system sprawls over multiple political jurisdictions, (2) all of which are hostile to NY. London has always had a more-or-less unified structure (London Regional Transport, London Regional Exec, etc) answerable to a single political body. This is a very common problem in America (split jurisdictions, control by distant, hostile state gov'ts).
@DrGecko @Popehat Yes, I agree.
Which is sort of what I meant about the broken nature of American government. Endless jurisdictional conflicts, institutional sabotage, lack of unified decision making or joined up government.
Plus the absolutely corrosive and destructive effects of the campaign funding system, with its limitless possibilities for quid pro quo corruption in contracts etc.
@mattlav1250 @Popehat Exactly my point - there are deep structural reason why our transportation system is so broken. It's not easy to solve, contrary to your first message here. NYC is not in control of its own transportation system. The various taxes (city income tax, property and sales taxes) are only levied with permission from the state, same as county taxes elsewhere. States are sovreign; NYC is a corporation chartered by the state and has no independent authority.
@DrGecko @Popehat At the end of the day, I dont think you seem able grasp what my point was.
There are INDEED structural reasons why the NY area transport system does not function adequately, and they illustrate quite well the deep problems in US government.
But, and this is the point, THEY SHOULDN'T EXIST. New York isn't New Delhi. It has a huge potential tax base. Its not a structure of society or economy problem.
Its a structure of government problem.
@mattlav1250 @Popehat You wrote, "Its all due to the broken dysfunctional way the system is run and organised in practice." This confused me. We both agree, I think, that it's a structure of gov't problem. That means it's not the way the system is run. It's the way the system is structured. Anyway, we do agree, I think, but also note that 'society' is part of the problem, given the multiple possibilities for graft and corruption.
@DrGecko @Popehat I mean, I would say 'run' fits in as in, all the poor decision making, grafting corruption by mayors governors etc, inside the existing systems, not withstanding that those structurally suck.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan Train Hall for example, is a disaster of mislocated, user-hostile design that is solely about a convoluted series of political decisions, panders and intrigues.
Built over the same time frame as London's massive Crossrail system.
@mattlav1250 @Popehat Oh, yes. One problem: Independent authorities like the MTA were created to be insulated from political pressure. They got things done for a while but soon ossified, became increasingly sluggish and stupid, and there's no way to change them since they were designed to be insulated from public pressure.
@mattlav1250 @Popehat The grafting isn't by mayors and governors; it's by a whole parasitic class of consultants and engineers (the MTA has almost no in-house capability). At least some of the user-hostile design of the Moynihan Train Hall is political (to further immiserate the homeless), although there were other reasons, for ex. we could always use another shopping mall (eyes-roll emoji).
HairyChris@Popehat London's very good like this. The rest of the country... not so much!
Pete Alex Harris🦡🕸️🌲/∞🪐∫@HairyChris @Popehat
London is pretty much the most sane part of England, although it contains the least sane part embedded within it. Kind of a Yin Yang deal.
London is pretty much the most sane part of England, although it contains the least sane part embedded within it. Kind of a Yin Yang deal.
@petealexharris @Popehat But as far as *transport* is concerned it's head & shoulders above the rest of the country.
Agree with your point but that wasn't what I was getting at!
Rhett Derrick@Popehat Drugs on a Train is the working title of my new action movie screenplay.
Daryl Sng@Popehat NYC has this too! Really convenient
Isaac Rabinovitch@Popehat I'm intensely jealous of European mass transit. But I follow a bunch of European transit wonks, and they're all about their systems' failures. Indeed, European car dependency, while much better than in the US, is still pretty horrible.
Sorry, I'm spoiling your trip, aren't I? Just ignore me.
Gojira1000@Popehat If everything in North America was only 20 miles apart mass transit would be a lot better. That being said, no idea why NYC sucks so bad.
AT Hayes@Popehat Incorrect, they are freebasing non-urinated air.
ジョシュア@Popehat It made getting around Tokyo SO MUCH EASIER. Suica card in the Apple wallet for trains, busses, and even things like convenience stores, etc. Apparently the DC metro has it here now also, but I so rarely go into the city that I haven't tried it yet.
Jay Lee@Popehat Who needs drugs when you live in a society that fully embraces Marmite?
Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK@Popehat they took their drugs at home - less likely to spill them when the train goes round a corner, to risk being robbed for the drugs, or be seen on CCTV and/or grassed up to BTP...
Pat@Popehat I thought they had tubes rather than subways 😂
@Popehat you need to factor in industrial action... Are the drug users protesting today?
Anyway, I would not have believed it, but London is significantly ahead of Tokyo in terms of transport ease-of-use (Tokyo is still at the stored-value/Oyster card stage).
Melissa Ratisher Ⓥ@Popehat I rode the subway recently, on the way I told my friends I had no Metrocard, anticipating a hassle at the station. Tapped, walked right through and shouted "what a time to be alive!"
Mike Hammer@Popehat main reason I’m driving into SF these days instead of BARTing.
Interpipes 💙@Popehat I mean, if you ride it late enough, there probably will be.
Ryan in Minneapolis@Popehat We could use some of that in MSP. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/wcco-cameras-capture-rampant-drug-use-on-metro-transit-light-rail-trains/
WCCO cameras capture flagrant drug use on Metro Transit light rail trains
David Schuman gives us an up-close look at what longtime riders say has gotten out of control.