To even begin to understand New York, it seems absolutely vital to try and understand the transportation network. I feel this way despite my educational bias and reason for being in the city, as I have spoken to friends here for completely different reasons, who feel the same way.  The seemingly incomprehensible web of the underground subway network and its many tricks and inconsistencies, is to many a point of pride. Just yesterday, the clamor of local knowledge and competition that arose from a woman’s barely audible uttrance of “which stop do I get off…” quickly squashed my growing confidence in my own understanding of the system. I have heard many times since being here that only a true New Yorker can understand the subway, but there seem to be discrepancies even among locals.  A rather heated argument broke out between two helpful bystanders about whether the woman should stay on the 4 and swtich to the 2 by walking from 149th or switch to the 5 sooner and make the transfer underground.  Everyone seems to have their own opinion of what is the fastest and easiest way to navigate the system using loopholes that, of course, only true New Yorkers know about.

The system was not originally built for ease or speed, however; it was created by competing private and public projects that were  clumsily merged under the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1968.  As such, these competing systems were not meant to connect. The MTA has been struggling to build transfers since that time, resulting in an astounding network of near-misses and gauche underground stations. For an outsider new to the system, I am still awed by the MTA’s relative effeciency. Sure, trains are often late, crammed full of people, and backed-up on top of each other, but the fact that they run at all, let alone roughly on schedule, is amazing considering the gigantic population they transport.

A man casually talks on the phone as he participates in the Underwear Mob in the Union Square 14th Street station.

Some of the many underwear mobbers in Union Square 14th Street subway station. While they went about their usual activities, those of us caught unaware stared unabashedly, snapping pictures and stifling giggles.

The consolidated New York subway system, one of the largest mass transit systems in the world, provides a forum for large scale visibility. Ads are one thing, but this weekend I experienced first hand the powerful potential of public campaigns on the subway. A flash “underwear mob,” apparently a national event, descended on the subway as I made my way back from a downtown exploration of Union Square. Apparently, this 7th annual No Pants Subway Ride event prompted 900 people to take a trip in their underwear simply to cause a stir and make people smile. In addition to the entertainment value, I was impressed by the huge forum provided by the subway for this type of event.  Nowhere else have I seen such a casually effective setting, something that can impact so many people.

I took the crosstown bus this morning, the only way to get from the East to the West sides through Central Park, and was surprised at the antiquated speed at which it weaved through Manhattan. I was also surprised by the user group, who tended to get on and off every two or three blocks. Granted, the city received upwards of 8 inches of snow the night before, but the reluctance of these New Yorkers to walk a few blocks was shocking as I consider walking one of the major forms of transportation in the city. The sluggish bus was forced to stop sometimes twice on every block for red lights and to let new people on.  It is no surprise to me that the DOT, who runs the streets, and the MTA, who runs the buses, have been working together to build a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.  The idea is to renovate the prehistoric bus system with bus-only lanes, censor-attuned green lights, and pre-boarding payment to make the system more appealing to long-distance commuters.

Pilot programs up and down 1st and 2nd avenues and in various locations through the city have proven successful and I can only hope, on behalf of E-W Manhattan travelers, that it will be implemented cross town as well.

Presumably this bus system would be used by commuters traveling shorter distances  and the subway would be reserved for those traveling across multiple boroughs.

As much as I prefer the subway, I do feel it is vital to improve and expand other forms of mass transit in the city. New York transit is over capacity. Rush hour trains bursting from the seams roll in and out of stations stranding many, many people who don’t stand a chance of pushing their bodies through the sliding doors. People stand pressed together, arms and legs straining in unison against the jolting bus movement, waiting through 5, 7, 10 stops until the bus finally travels their 15 blocks. Ever an optimist, I believe that bicycle lanes will eventually provide an alternative to many. But until cycling becomes mainstream and accepted as a major means of transport, and even then because no optimist can assume that this will attract everyone, mass transportation must improve and provide options to all types of commuters. I also truly believe that no matter how many improvements are made, no matter how many ineffeciencies are fixed, only true New Yorkers will ever be able to understand the infamous transportation system.