Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
(don't get me wrong...MOAS (monsters of art...its a crew out of various areas of the world) is dope and i do wish graffiti would make a comeback...it'd make our boring trains look "cool" IMHO. we're going to be stuck with these boring designs for 30+ years anyway, right?)
from what *I* saw in parts of europe, its pretty common. it depends on the country and city within the country but overall its far more common to catch graffiti on the side of a train in europe than it is anywhere in america, including ny.
i'll give you tokyo as far as having a pretty spotless system...but london, paris, rome, frankfurt, berlin, etc.? na.
graffiti in europe is everywhere. houses, yes houses (in the "country" too), train stations, trains, street signs, highway signs, under/overpasses, etc.
some of the cities might have us beat. europeans are far more proactive at graffiti when it comes to subways than we are. hell, many of them are coming HERE to do it for the sake of nyc being the "mecca."
There's definitely a good deal of graffiti in Europe--and I don't take that as a sign of dirtiness.
It's the kind of tame street art graffiti than it is the marking of territory for a gang. I think it's great--mostly because I'm involved in it.
Anyhow, the cleanliness isn't the huge issue for me. I don't care that much. I had stated earlier the actual things about the system that I think really need fixing. I just want them fixed.
Join the straphangers campaign, eek! That way you can help make sure NYC's system's actually the best so every time this discussion comes up, NYC definitely wins.
As an aside, how do you like the commercial poster-repurposing in the subway stations? It's really the only outlet that the MTA doesn't try to crack down on.
I've been on the D.C. subways more than once, and they do good job. One thing I have always wondered about, in this age of safety conscious why aren't their fences or barriers of some kind between the platforms where the passengers get on or get off of the train, that would open when train door opens and close after train door closes? Once while waiting for a subway train in Crystal City, Virginia station a kid wondered away from his mom, was paying no attention, and almost fell onto track area, his mother caught him just in time before he fell. If he had fallen on track, would have been electrocuted, or would simply have been run over by train and died horrible death. If a country boy like me who doesn't ride a subway but maybe once or twice a year can see this, why can't those that run these things see that. If a Wal-Mart or Target or any store does not provide enough handicapped parking places, there is often an uproar, or even if not, may be cited by state for not providing said parking spaces, but something like no railings or barrier for something as obviously as dangerous as where one could fall onto subway tracts I don't understand.
nyc has all of this. also, iirc, the 7 train has 11 cars. shuttles have like 4 cars, the C train is like 8 cars, the M train is 8 cars...the G is like 6-8 cars, i don't remember.
usually there are 10 cars per line but those are the exceptions.
ny has money trains, garbage trains, express trains, local trains, skip stop trains, etc.
the j train is elevated for most of its line and goes over the williamsburg bridge before descending into traffic, so to speak and back underground.
obviously there are express tracks, and all that.
i've already shown you a vid of two trains, one across the platform "racing."
obviously there are abandoned tunnels/stations, etc.
everything you are asking about, ny has. you can't catch a numbered train on a lettered train's track so you have to go upstairs/downstairs or whatever to transfer at that particular stop.
yes there is graffiti in the tunnels. i'll show some images and videos again to keep the thread going.
the fact that in nyc trains can race(not literally) given they have express and local tracks makes the nyc subway really nice.
i think a subway system with just 2 tracks or only 1 train running on it is just plain boring to me. Which is why a lot of the subway systems in other cities tend to be boring. But that's my viewpoint though.
As an aside, how do you like the commercial poster-repurposing in the subway stations? It's really the only outlet that the MTA doesn't try to crack down on.
Don't view this as a knock on New York. The U.S. simply doesn't place the same priority on public transit as Britian does.
This is really what it comes down to. Our cities cannot compete with federally funded systems. Also the people here who don't use the system are always against any tax increase to subsidize mass transit. They say that the riders should pay the full cost (yet when it comes to childless people subsidizing their kids' education there isn't the same outcry).
Anyways I like NYC's systembut I'm not going to lie about it or overlook its flaws just because it's an American system. The tracks need work and most weeknds the system is a shell of itself due to badly needed track work...lines shut down, express trains running local, etc. It'd be interesting to see the amount of funding that goes into transit systems worldwide.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
