Oh, bother.
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Between that and all this talk about weird subways, i'm reminded of this:
Honestly, would a train carrying a Humongous Mecha really be the weirdest thing you've ever seen in NYC's subway?
edited 18th Jul '17 7:27:40 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised
The Wanderer
@Last page: I've been on the DC Metro twice, the second time being this Friday. Compared to the NYC subway stations their stations are far more utilitarian in design, and also happen to be deeper underground.
(And there's no flat rate, seriously, what's up with that?)
Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.
Studious Girl
I was in DC for two weeks once ages ago and took the metro. I do remember being struck by how deep the escalators took you underground. In NYC, save for a few stops like Hudson Yards, you'll only take a few small flights of stairs down (Not to mention that most the subway in the outer boroughs is actually above-ground, where you have to take stairs up.)
edited 18th Jul '17 12:09:36 PM by Cailleach
Oh, bother.
I feel spoiled here in Taiwan. The public transport options are very good here, especially in Taipei.
Disgusted, but not surprised
DC has some of those upward stations too, but most of them are in Maryland and virginia
what do you mean?
Studious Girl
Wait so the DC metro spreads into other states too? I did not know that.
Ours is only within the city, though you can take the subway straight to several different train stations that'll take you in any direction out of it
edited 18th Jul '17 2:20:25 PM by Cailleach
The Wanderer
I saw the Blue line's aboveground stations the last time I was there since I was staying with my friends in Virginia.
@PhysicalStamina: You see, except for when you're taking those double the price express buses in Manhattan, the price of a subway ride is always the same whether you're at a station in the outskirts or in the middle of Manhattan or if it's rush hour or not, compared to how the DC Metro has prices that differ based on where you're going.
Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.
Studious Girl
Wait so the DC metro isn't flat rate? I guess I was too young to realize that the last time I was down there. Forgive the ignorance, but...how do they check? Like how do they check that you're getting off at the station you paid for?
Yep. WMATA in general serves, not only DC, but the surrounding areas (Maryland's Prince George's and Montgomery Counties, and Virginia's Arlington and Fairfax Counties, plus Alexandria).
So if the lines that take you to places like New Jersey aren't subways, what are they classified as? Are they just commuter rail?
NY/NJ rail confuses me.
They don't take the money out of your SmarTrip card right away; instead, you scan it at the aisle at the station you're leaving from, and once you get to the station you're going to and scan your SmarTrip card in those aisles, then it takes out the money.
Oh yeah, I dunno how long ago you were in DC, but paper farecards are gone now. SmarTrip cards are the only way to ride on the Metro these days.
It's one thing to make a spectacle. It's another to make a difference.
The Wanderer
Every station has it's price depending on whether it's peak or off peak-hours, which are paid for using a SmartTrip
◊ card (I took this when I got mine back on Friday, they were using a temporary paper-based card as well the last time I was there, but they phased them out sometime in the last three years). You pay to enter a station, and you pay to leave.
(Kinda like New Jersey. 
)
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'd
edited 18th Jul '17 4:26:24 PM by rmctagg09
Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.
The Wanderer
They're commuter rail, yes, though the LIRR and Metro-North are under the MTA like the subways are.
Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.
Studious Girl
Thanks for the explanation.
When I was there there were still paper cards, but there was talk of changing over to plastic soon. And a lot of the people I talked to had very strong opinions about it.
So, what does the "M" stand for in this case?
The cool thing about Smartrip cards is you can put an assload of money on them, so you don't have to waste time reloading them, as it were.
edited 18th Jul '17 8:10:17 PM by PhysicalStamina
It's one thing to make a spectacle. It's another to make a difference.
A procrastination in of itself
Also means you're screwed if you loose it or it gets stolen. That's the risk with Oyster cards in London.
London is a pretty similar system to DC for those curious, however you can get a flat ticket that coveres particular zones (or all zones) for a day, basically areas raidiating outwards from the middle of London, fair prices are based largely on if you're traveling within the same zone, going across several zones or similar (also if you're traveling at peak or non-peak times).
The best thing we have though fair capping. So you can get an all day travel card for X amount, or you can just travel journey by journey and pay as you go, however if the cost of your journeys even reache the amount that it would have cost you to buy an all day travel card at the start of the day, you stop being charged if you're using an Oyster card or contactless payment card, that's it, your journeys are free for the rest of the day.
The system will retroactively buy you an all day travel card once that would have made the most sense for your day.
On top of that we have multiple different transport networks integrated into the Oyster system. Using the Tube, Oyster card, using the bus, Oyster card, using the overground, Oyster card, using the trains to go from one of london's many train stations t o another, Oyster card, using the tiny bit of trams we have, Oyster card, using the light railway, Oyster card. Well Oyster card, contactless payment card or paper ticket, your travel on all the different forms is done with the same payment system, the same caping and the fair system if using say trains instead of the underground.
Paper tickets actually cause a lot of issues for tourists, you can't buy them on buses anymore (but can buy them at stations and just show them to the driver) but worst of all everyone native uses either an Oyster card or a contactless payment bank card. So tourists see five people infront of them wave a card over a card reader and try and just do the same with a paper ticket, that actually has to be fed into the machine.
edited 18th Jul '17 8:33:24 PM by Silasw
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
You can always just buy another one. They're only, like, $5 IIRC.
Plus, I keep mine in a pocket in my wallet that lets me scan it without taking it out, so I always have it with me.
It's one thing to make a spectacle. It's another to make a difference.
A procrastination in of itself
Sure but the money on your existing one is gone.
Oyster cards actually have a protection against that, first you can set them to auto reload themselves from your bank account when they drop below a certain amount on them, second you can register the card to yourself and get the money on the card transferred to a new one in the event of your old one getting lost or stolen.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
That second method actually sounds like a good idea, and I wish WMATA would adopt it.
It's one thing to make a spectacle. It's another to make a difference.
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
Incidentally that is how the Touch & Go cards here work, although those don't have a daily fare cap to the best of my knowledge. You can pay toll charges or parking fees (with surcharge) with it, though. I do wish it were less fragile...
I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
Also, depending on the variant, you can even pay in selected shops. In case of the Watson's Pharmacy variant, it doubles as a membership card.
By the way, the MRT Sungai Buloh - Kajang line is now fully operational. Oh, and there is a 50% discount on that line, LRT, BRT & Monorail until end of August! Now I can go to one of my favourite mall arcade with a shorter journey time.
The Wanderer
MTA stands for Metropolitan Transit Authority.
They were about $2 when I was there.
If you lose your weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard you'll get the money you paid for them back if you call the MTA, but that's about it.
edited 19th Jul '17 8:31:46 PM by rmctagg09
Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/920667/easing-cebu-road-woes-brt-to-lrt
This is part of modernizing mass transit in the Philippines, which is among the worst of the worse in Southeast Asia.
The Wanderer
Crossposting from the US Politics Thread:
They Have a Say Over the Subways, From Hundreds of Miles Away
Joseph A. Griffo, another Republican from upstate New York, who is the deputy majority whip in the State Senate, is not big on the subway when he visits the city. “He usually either walks or takes an Uber or taxi,” his spokesman explained.
The future of the nation’s busiest subway system, which has become engulfed in crisis, could well depend on New York State lawmakers like Mr. Ortt and Mr. Griffo, who live hundreds of miles from the city and do not have day-to-day familiarity with its dilapidated transit infrastructure. But since they have a say over the finances of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the subway, they can influence the lives of millions of subway riders.
And in the drama that is state government in New York — with its complicated relationships between the mayor and the governor, as well as between the Democratic-controlled Assembly and the Republican-controlled State Senate — the Legislature has not always been kind to the needs of the city’s aging public transit system.
Now, with the subways overwhelmed by soaring delays and fraying equipment, both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo are promoting plans to provide long-term funding for the system. Mr. de Blasio has proposed a tax on high-income earners to raise money, while Mr. Cuomo is working on a plan known as congestion pricing, which would impose tolls on drivers entering the busiest parts of Manhattan.
Either approach would require the Legislature’s approval, and winning passage would be difficult, if not impossible. The Senate has been particularly averse to imposing any new taxes or fees that would flow directly to the city.
“The political dynamics of the State Senate have allowed New York City to be consistently outmaneuvered,” said Mitchell L. Moss, a professor at New York University and the director of its Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management.
“There’s a long history of the upstate legislators treating New York City as if it was a wayward, profligate political entity,” he said. “The truth is just the reverse — upstate gets a disproportionate amount of attention and resources, given its half-century of economic decline, and that’s hurt the New York metropolitan area, which is driving the state’s economy.”
Studious Girl
They didn't call it "the summer of subway hell" for nothing.
Studious Girl
It just struck me that the public transportation in a lot of major cities doesn't run overnight. How do people deal with that?
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Ayo yo what TIME is it? SHOWTIME!
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.