New York Subway: Difference between revisions
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Twenty-three lines, 468 stations, 5 million daily riders, 1.5 billion yearly riders (at $2.25 a pop, soon to be $2.50)...and it's in the red. Probably the most famous subway system in the world. Not the first, certainly not the best, but the one everybody seems to know. Administered by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, or MTA. According to [[That Other Wiki]], the subway trails only the metro systems of Tokyo, Moscow and Seoul in annual ridership and carries more passengers than all other rail mass transit systems in the United States combined. |
Twenty-three lines, 468 stations, 5 million daily riders, 1.5 billion yearly riders (at $2.25 a pop, soon to be $2.50)...and it's in the red. Probably the most famous subway system in the world. Not the first, certainly not the best, but the one everybody seems to know. Administered by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, or MTA. According to [[That Other Wiki]], the subway trails only the metro systems of Tokyo, Moscow and Seoul in annual ridership and carries more passengers than all other rail mass transit systems in the United States combined. |
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== Representation in Media == |
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The trope here is that the subways of [[New York City]] are hot, grimy, filthy, encrusted with graffiti, and magnets for street crime. While this was once [[Subways Suck|basically true, subway cars haven't fit this bill]] since 1990. Some common representations, however, ''are'' true: |
The trope here is that the subways of [[New York City]] are hot, grimy, filthy, encrusted with graffiti, and magnets for street crime. While this was once [[Subways Suck|basically true, subway cars haven't fit this bill]] since 1990. Some common representations, however, ''are'' true: |
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* The subways do not run on anything that resembles a schedule. Residents don't expect it to, out-of-towners get frustrated, and the MTA still tries to claim that [https://web.archive.org/web/20131031053242/http://www.mta.info/nyct/service/schemain.htm their official schedules have worth]. |
* The subways do not run on anything that resembles a schedule. Residents don't expect it to, out-of-towners get frustrated, and the MTA still tries to claim that [https://web.archive.org/web/20131031053242/http://www.mta.info/nyct/service/schemain.htm their official schedules have worth]. |
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* The PA systems are either too quiet, garbled, or both, making it difficult to hear the announcements. Newer cars have electronic maps showing where the train is and what the next stop is, along with a loud and clear automated PA system announcing the stops. (Unless the computer is broken, in which case the route map is off and you have to wait for the conductor to make the announcement. Or just sit/stand where you can see the stop names on the walls.) |
* The PA systems are either too quiet, garbled, or both, making it difficult to hear the announcements. Newer cars have electronic maps showing where the train is and what the next stop is, along with a loud and clear automated PA system announcing the stops. (Unless the computer is broken, in which case the route map is off and you have to wait for the conductor to make the announcement. Or just sit/stand where you can see the stop names on the walls.) |
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Another reality-impaired subway trope is that there are [[Sinister Subway|miles upon miles of abandoned subway tunnels beneath the city,]] just [[Beneath the Earth|waiting to be inhabited]] by [[Morlocks|something evil]]. Not so much. Though, there ''are'' several abandoned stations, as well as the infamously half-complete Second Avenue Line, which has been on the city's to-do list for |
Another reality-impaired subway trope is that there are [[Sinister Subway|miles upon miles of abandoned subway tunnels beneath the city,]] just [[Beneath the Earth|waiting to be inhabited]] by [[Morlocks|something evil]]. Not so much. Though, there ''are'' several abandoned stations, as well as the infamously half-complete Second Avenue Line, which has been on the city's to-do list for over a hundred years. |
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== Operations == |
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Although much of the subway operates underground (roughly 60% of its stations), the system does include large sections of elevated track, particularly in the outer boroughs. |
Although much of the subway operates underground (roughly 60% of its stations), the system does include large sections of elevated track, particularly in the outer boroughs. |
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This has led to the former IRT lines still being colloquially known as "the IRT", while the IND and BMT designations are little-used outside the [[Fandom]]. Whatever you do, [[Berserk Button|do not]] refer to lines by color. The most famous cars that shout "New York Subway", the "Redbirds", once the canvas for graffiti artists, have all been decommissioned and used to build an artificial reef in New Jersey. Modern cars are slightly more generic looking. |
This has led to the former IRT lines still being colloquially known as "the IRT", while the IND and BMT designations are little-used outside the [[Fandom]]. Whatever you do, [[Berserk Button|do not]] refer to lines by color. The most famous cars that shout "New York Subway", the "Redbirds", once the canvas for graffiti artists, have all been decommissioned and used to build an artificial reef in New Jersey. Modern cars are slightly more generic looking. |
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Unlike many similar subway systems that use a zone system or calculate fares based on the entry and exit stations, the New York subways are flat-rate: pay once when you enter, and you can go anywhere the cars will take you, be it one stop away or to the opposite end of the city. Originally costing a nickel, it's |
Unlike many similar subway systems that use a zone system or calculate fares based on the entry and exit stations, the New York subways are flat-rate: pay once when you enter, and you can go anywhere the cars will take you, be it one stop away or to the opposite end of the city. Originally costing a nickel, it's $2.90 as of the 2023 fare raise for entrance,<ref>Er, sort of -- a single-ride ticket is $2.90, but programs like Fare Fairs help make the subway more affordable.</ref> with the option to purchase unlimited cards that last a set time period—7 or 30 days—instead. |
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Additionally, the MTA runs a complicated system of buses, Staten Island (the [[Redheaded Stepchild]] of New York City) has its own elevated train line across the island, and there are several separate local rail systems primarily for commuters: |
Additionally, the MTA runs a complicated system of buses, Staten Island (the [[Redheaded Stepchild]] of New York City) has its own elevated train line across the island, and there are several separate local rail systems primarily for commuters: |
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Unlike many other cities, the NYC subway runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.<ref>Although you can and should expect longer intervals at night--3 minutes in the day versus up to 15 around midnight or so.</ref> The city that never sleeps, indeed. |
Unlike many other cities, the NYC subway runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.<ref>Although you can and should expect longer intervals at night--3 minutes in the day versus up to 15 around midnight or so.</ref> The city that never sleeps, indeed. |
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Inevitably, any TV show or movie [[Big Applesauce|set in New York City]] has at least one subway scene. Listing all of them would just be silly. |
Inevitably, any TV show or movie [[Big Applesauce|set in New York City]] has at least one subway scene. Listing all of them would just be silly. |
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