The Quest to Shave Minutes and Seconds off a Commute

[CenSin]

I’ve been gathering a lot of numbers and notes on the , but lately, I realized that I should not make it my only way to save commute time. With the temporary eutering, I figured I should take the opportunity to fully explore other time-saving ways to get into Manhattan from Coney Island. My destination is usually Canal Street. If by some chance I end up at Grand Street or Broadway–Lafayette Street, I walk or take the . So far, I have not recorded any information about these other non- trips yet, but these points come from my commuter’s intuition and experience:

• Manhattan-bound
  • The consistently saves the most time… if you can catch it that is. Most trips will take 43~47 minutes.
  • The alone is generally fast—competitive with the to Canal Street even. But that is only if there are no delays. Unfortunately, the is often plagued with bunching and delays.
  • The will usually never catch a , because it usually leaves a half a minute or two ahead. And if it does, that will rarely catch another up ahead. The exception is when there are delays radiating from DeKalb Avenue. Then by all means, take the to catch the . You want to skip as many trains in the queue as possible.
• Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue-bound
  • The alone is generally the best. It moves very quickly and often outruns the trains just 2 stations behind.
    • If you happen to be on a and get to Brighton Beach before the arriving gets to Kings Highway, running will get you to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue faster than waiting for that train.
  • The can be good or bad depending on the conditions. If train supervision lets the go first…
    • Waiting for the next one may take a while as the is often delayed.
    • The will also never catch a at 62 Street. It does takes less time to get to New Utretcht Avenue than 62 Street. But in practice, train supervision likes to flick the yellow holding lights on at 36 Street and 59 Street, sinking any chances of making such a transfer. I have made 5 attempts and never succeeded so far. (The worst case I’ve experienced so far was running up to the 62 Street platform to see that a train had just left and the next one would be 14 minutes away during PM rush.)
  • The is a terrible combination, unless there are complications with the , in which case it is the only sane option left. It’s a 52-minute trip on average, which is longer than the ’s 45-ish minutes.
    • The local takes 50 minutes on a good day to make the trip from Broadway–Lafayette Street to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue.

Over the next month or two, I’d like to collect data to prove or disprove those points. The gold standard for normal service is the , which I have recorded a record-setting 38 minutes between Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue and Canal Street. I don’t think any other option will top that. But it’s always good to know what the runner-up options are.

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Today (1/17/2020)

• 4:25 PM: I missed the Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue-bound at Canal Street.
• 4:27 PM: I catch the 86 Street-bound at Canal Street instead.
• 4:39 PM: The reaches Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center with a bit of delay. I notice that 2 trains had somehow gotten ahead back-to-back just a minute ago and the next one had just left Grand Street—which I did not want to dwaddle around on the platform for.
  • So I ran over to the Brighton Line platform for whatever train might arrive next.
• 4:40 PM: I catch the Brighton Beach-bound . The train that I missed was already at Prospect Park. Another train was behind the at DeKalb Avenue.
  • The conductor was apparently a bad draw for us—took way too long to open and close the doors at stations. At that station, people were staring at the door for a good 7 seconds before the doors opened. Still, I thought that I had a good chance to get that train that I missed at 4:25 PM.
• 5:04 PM: The train finally made it to Brighton Beach. And view from the curve showed that the train was already at Ocean Parkway! I did not expect the to be that fast, but there was the unmistakable reality.
  • There, I made the decision to get to Coney Island by foot rather than idle around for the next that was at Kings Highway. I wondered how much of a lead I could maintain over it.
• 5:06 PM: I cleared the entire length of the platform (from east to west) and made it to street level in 2 minutes.
• 5:08 PM: I crossed Ocean Parkway and continued my jog down Surf Avenue.
• 5:12 PM: I crossed West 8 Street and continued my jog down Surf Avenue.
• 5:15 PM: I made it to the turnstiles at Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue, just 1 station ahead of the which was at West 8 Street.

Compared to the other possibilities, I figure I got pretty good results. I missed a train by 10 seconds, and got a commute that was still 5 minutes shorter than waiting for the next train and a runner’s high.

1. 46 minutes: 0 minutes wasted waiting on the platform; 46 minutes on the train
   1. Catch the at Canal Street at 4:25 PM.
   2. Make it to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue at 5:11 PM.
2. 50 minutes: 2 minutes wasted waiting on the platform; 38 minutes on the train; 10 minutes of exercise
   1. Wait for the train at Canal Street at 4:25 PM.
   2. Catch the at Canal Street at 4:27 PM.
   3. Run to the Brighton Line platform at Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center at 4:39 PM.
   4. Catch the at at Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center at 4:40 PM.
   5. Get off at Brighton Beach at 5:04 PM and run.
   6. Make it to to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue at 5:15 PM.
3. 55 minutes: 8 minutes wasted waiting on the platform; 48 minutes on the train
   1. Wait for the train at Canal Street at 4:25 PM.
   2. Catch the at Canal Street at 4:33 PM.
   3. Make it to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue at 5:21 PM.
4. 65 minutes: 11 minutes wasted waiting on the platform; 54 minutes on the train
   1. Wait for the train at Canal Street at 4:25 PM.
   2. Catch the at Canal Street at 4:27 PM.
   3. Catch the at Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center at 4:48 PM.
   4. Make it to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue at 5:31 PM.