SUBWAY - Random Thoughts Topic

[Deucey]

1 hour ago, NBTA said:

So the  is white with red lettering now, according to these new posters.

What new posters?

[NBTA]

3 hours ago, Deucey said:

What new posters?

New G.O posters talking about the shut down on the  between 137th and 242nd.

Edited December 27, 2020 by NBTA

[Jemorie]

The “hElLo” and “hElLo EvEryOnE” PSAs sound incredibly stupid and unprofessional. Typical .

The former “Ladies and gentlemen” and “Attention passengers/customers” PSAs were much more fitting. Also miss Charlie Pellett’s PSAs, as they were replaced for literally no reason.

[RapidoNewLook]

9 hours ago, Jemorie said:

The “hElLo” and “hElLo EvEryOnE” PSAs sound incredibly stupid and unprofessional. Typical .

The former “Ladies and gentlemen” and “Attention passengers/customers” PSAs were much more fitting. Also miss Charlie Pellett’s PSAs, as they were replaced for literally no reason.

Couldn't agree more. His "Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, Please" was legendary.

[Lawrence St]

2 hours ago, RapidoNewLook said:

Couldn't agree more. His "Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, Please" was legendary.

It was all an attempt to be more gender neutral, but it wasn't necessary to replace every single announcement, all they had to do was just replace "Ladies and Gentlemen" with "Attention Everyone".

I'll be honest, I used to pay more attention to announcements when Charlie did them because they were clear and loud. The new announcements sound like someone's talking into a trash can with an unprofessional voice, the acoustics are way out of order.

[Calvin]

I think they still use "Ladies and Gentlemen" but only at Union Square b/c of the platform gaps. 

Edited December 28, 2020 by Calvin

[R10 2952]

Easiest solution would be to use "Attention passengers", but MTA seems to have this private sector-style fixation on referring to them as "customers", so I doubt things will change.

[CenSin]

On 12/28/2020 at 12:22 AM, Lawrence St said:

On 12/27/2020 at 10:10 PM, RapidoNewLook said:

Couldn't agree more. His "Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, Please" was legendary.

It was all an attempt to be more gender neutral

Neutral or biased depending on your inventory of genders. The former announcements acknowledged 2.

2 hours ago, R10 2952 said:

Easiest solution would be to use "Attention passengers"

Short and direct. No extraneous syllables.

[Deucey]

5 hours ago, R10 2952 said:

Easiest solution would be to use "Attention passengers", but MTA seems to have this private sector-style fixation on referring to them as "customers", so I doubt things will change.

After all the years of complaints about  treating passengers/customers like crap, now there’s complaining about  using customer-friendly language in addressing passengers/customers.

Why try to be different when you get shat on either way?

[R10 2952]

41 minutes ago, Deucey said:

After all the years of complaints about  treating passengers/customers like crap, now there’s complaining about  using customer-friendly language in addressing passengers/customers.

Why try to be different when you get shat on either way?

Maybe because it's an insincere, phony and topical attempt of them pretending to solve a much deeper institutional-wide problem they have when it comes to not giving a shit about the riding public?

Much like when big retail corporate chains come out with an ad campaign saying "we care about [insert social issue here]", I'm not convinced. 

[Deucey]

2 minutes ago, R10 2952 said:

Maybe because it's an insincere, phony and topical attempt of them pretending to solve a much deeper institutional-wide problem they have when it comes to not giving a shit about the riding public?

Much like when big retail corporate chains come out with an ad campaign saying "we care about [insert social issue here]", I'm not convinced. 

So your solution is to do more of the old but with more brevity and curtness?

[R10 2952]

8 minutes ago, Deucey said:

So your solution is to do more of the old but with more brevity and curtness?

Actually, in the context of a transit agency, the user-friendly option would be to acknowledge the riding public as such; "passengers" on a railroad or a bus, or in the case of motorists on the river crossings- "drivers".  Making it more removed from the context by referring to them as "customer" just conveys the message that they are treating people like little more than dollar signs.  For comparison- hospitals have patients, libraries have patrons, elected officials have constituents, and so on.

Edited December 30, 2020 by R10 2952

[Deucey]

30 minutes ago, R10 2952 said:

Actually, in the context of a transit agency, the user-friendly option would be to acknowledge the riding public as such; "passengers" on a railroad or a bus, or in the case of motorists on the river crossings- "drivers".  Making it more removed from the context by referring to them as "customer" just conveys the message that they are treating people like little more than dollar signs.  For comparison- hospitals have patients, libraries have patrons, elected officials have constituents, and so on.

Makes sense.

But given that mass transport in the US calls users passengers as they stuff them into carriages, coaches, and fuselages with little space, amenities or comforts for fares that often seem like price gouging for their respective demographics, "customer" is meant to change perception from focusing on the purpose and status of the user towards thinking of it as a service to them.

Small semantic difference, but large potential psychological difference.

[Lawrence St]

5 hours ago, Deucey said:

So your solution is to do more of the old but with more brevity and curtness?

My solution is to not have done it either way. IIRC, the subway was in a state of emergency back then. Why was it a priority to waste money on recording new announcements when they could've just replaced "Ladies and Gentlemen" with "Attention everyone"?

[Deucey]

1 hour ago, Lawrence St said:

My solution is to not have done it either way. IIRC, the subway was in a state of emergency back then. Why was it a priority to waste money on recording new announcements when they could've just replaced "Ladies and Gentlemen" with "Attention everyone"?

 

[B35 via Church]

6 hours ago, R10 2952 said:

Actually, in the context of a transit agency, the user-friendly option would be to acknowledge the riding public as such; "passengers" on a railroad or a bus, or in the case of motorists on the river crossings- "drivers".  Making it more removed from the context by referring to them as "customer" just conveys the message that they are treating people like little more than dollar signs. 

For comparison- hospitals have patients, libraries have patrons, elected officials have constituents, and so on.

Nailed it..... It's one reason why I say that this agency views & treats the riding public as expendable & nothing more than mere numbers.... The concern of waning ridership system-wide they exude is just as disingenuous as how they address the riding public in these announcements.... The latter I personally find cringe-worthy as shit, but it is what it is with the MTA...

6 hours ago, Deucey said:

Makes sense.

But given that mass transport in the US calls users passengers as they stuff them into carriages, coaches, and fuselages with little space, amenities or comforts for fares that often seem like price gouging for their respective demographics, "customer" is meant to change perception from focusing on the purpose and status of the user towards thinking of it as a service to them.

Small semantic difference, but large potential psychological difference.

Yeah, I mean, imagine the simple thought of a public transportation provider treating the... public, like human beings....

There is a certain concern for passengers that other transit providers tend to project & exude, that the MTA is sorely lacking in.... You read enough of these PDF's, correspondences, etc. that they put out & they come across as being very robotic - almost sociopathic-like.... I hate to say this, but it's all a  factor as to why people in this city (at minimum) view the MTA in not the greatest of lights (putting it cordially) & the anger & frustration is unfortunately taken out on the front line workers....

Edited December 30, 2020 by B35 via Church

[T to Dyre Avenue]

On 12/27/2020 at 12:47 PM, Jemorie said:

The “hElLo” and “hElLo EvEryOnE” PSAs sound incredibly stupid and unprofessional. Typical .

The former “Ladies and gentlemen” and “Attention passengers/customers” PSAs were much more fitting. Also miss Charlie Pellett’s PSAs, as they were replaced for literally no reason.

Agreed. I get why they did them, but I just don’t like the incessant use of “Hello everyone...,” like it’s Sesame Street or The Wiggles. It’s juvenile and unprofessional.

11 hours ago, R10 2952 said:

Actually, in the context of a transit agency, the user-friendly option would be to acknowledge the riding public as such; "passengers" on a railroad or a bus, or in the case of motorists on the river crossings- "drivers".  Making it more removed from the context by referring to them as "customer" just conveys the message that they are treating people like little more than dollar signs.  For comparison- hospitals have patients, libraries have patrons, elected officials have constituents, and so on

I really don’t see what’s wrong with using “Passengers.” But “Customers” is fine too, really. They used to have an announcement that used both. It went, “In order to provide the best possible service for all out customers, we are waiting for connecting passengers on an arriving train.” Though it was prefaced with a “Ladies and gentlemen,” so I guess it had to go. It’s too bad, because outside of that, I found it to be a rather customer friendly announcement and not what we’d normally expect from the MTA.

[B35 via Church]

39 minutes ago, T to Dyre Avenue said:

I really don’t see what’s wrong with using “Passengers.” But “Customers” is fine too, really. They used to have an announcement that used both. It went, “In order to provide the best possible service for all out customers, we are waiting for connecting passengers on an arriving train.” Though it was prefaced with a “Ladies and gentlemen,” so I guess it had to go. It’s too bad, because outside of that, I found it to be a rather customer friendly announcement and not what we’d normally expect from the MTA.

I mean hell, although it suffices (technically speaking), dubbing the riding public as "customers" IMO doesn't sound all too customary emanating from a transit agency..... That specificity, although minute, can go some way to bridging the apparent disconnect between the MTA & us mere..... customers.

They don't value the riding public.... We're only a means to some end.

Edited December 31, 2020 by B35 via Church

[Mtatransit]

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-subway-token-booths-closed-20201231-d5xyb36fkfgrrjb5kwb2sgndeq-story.html

 

I don’t really have a problem with this. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, there are too many bad apples that simply give you an altitude for everything. 

Edited December 31, 2020 by Deucey
Made the hyperlink work. -Deucey

[Trainmaster5]

Let me get this message out there for all members of the forums. Happy New Year 🎆. Enjoy your hobby but remember to “ Be Safe “ at all times . Here’s hoping 2021 will be better than 2020. Carry on.

[B35 via Church]

On 12/31/2020 at 12:03 AM, Mtatransit said:

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-subway-token-booths-closed-20201231-d5xyb36fkfgrrjb5kwb2sgndeq-story.html

 

I don’t really have a problem with this. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, there are too many bad apples that simply give you an altitude for everything. 

Yeah, true, with the attitudinal ones.... But FWIW (although I hate to say it), with the advent of the metrocard, this was going to eventually gradually happen anyway.... Notice they used to be called TOKEN booth clerks; when's the last time you used a NYC subway/bus token? 😢

14 hours ago, Trainmaster5 said:

Let me get this message out there for all members of the forums. Happy New Year 🎆. Enjoy your hobby but remember to “ Be Safe “ at all times . Here’s hoping 2021 will be better than 2020. Carry on.

Thanks man... Happy New Year to you too - Hope you see many more.

Forum members here (myself included) can stand to soak up the knowledge & wisdom you've amassed throughout your career & your course of life.

[checkmatechamp13]

On 12/5/2020 at 1:16 PM, T to Dyre Avenue said:

Never knew that. I learn something new every day. Always thought it was because the portal is located at the intersection of Pearsall and Mace avenues and Esplanade. 

The only  trains that I know of terminating at Gun Hill Road are White Plains Road ‘s. Before 2010, when I lived in the northeast Bronx, there would be many times when I took a Nereid-bound  home, only to get the conductor coming on at East 180 to say the next and last stop would be Gun Hill Road. Of course, this would be followed by groans, gripes, cursing and teeth-sucking without fail as everyone not going to Gun Hill (including me) would have to pour onto the platform to wait for the following  train    usually waiting outside the station. 

Couldn't some of them take it to Gun Hill Road and transfer there? Or do they open the doors on the opposite platform or something like that?

16 hours ago, Trainmaster5 said:

Let me get this message out there for all members of the forums. Happy New Year 🎆. Enjoy your hobby but remember to “ Be Safe “ at all times . Here’s hoping 2021 will be better than 2020. Carry on.

Same to you my friend. Happy New Year and let's hope that it truly is a happy one.

[paulrivera]

7 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

Couldn't some of them take it to Gun Hill Road and transfer there? Or do they open the doors on the opposite platform or something like that?

Pelham Parkway (WPR) is a high ridership stop, which is why all those people get pissed off. A lot of people transfer between the  and the Bx12 at that stop.

[B35 via Church]

7 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

Couldn't some of them take it to Gun Hill Road and transfer there? Or do they open the doors on the opposite platform or something like that?

To have a trip cut short like that, to only have to xfer for 1,2,3, or 4 more short stops after the fact, has got to suck.... I'd be miffed at that too.

....and then there's all the people seeking service b/w 180th & GH (namely Pelham Pkwy., as was just mentioned).

[RR503]

A lot of the Gun Hilling has to do with congestion around Nereid. Discharging s on the mainline can get nasty, especially if the railroad is already running behind or bunched. It's a tradeoff, but putting those s up the middle and discharging at Gun Hill does prevent delays for riders later on -- whether they be people on northbound s who'd get bogged down waiting for the  to clear, or people waiting for a southbound  late out of the terminal because it got delayed by discharging s.