MTA weekend subway service changes: is it annoying for those living in the "outer boroughs"? (home, shop)

[Fred314X]

As an employee of the transit agency everyone loves to hate, let me just offer this tiny little perspective...

General Orders (the in-house term for the official writeups of work projects) are produced by individuals who, it must be admitted, don't always confer with each other. That's why the individual work projects conflict, causing problems.

Could something be done about this? Yes, but you don't have to have much of an imagination to guess what sorts of bureaucracy would have to be slogged through to get it done. The old expression says that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line...but over at 2 Broadway, they rarely recognize a straight line when they see one.

Occasionally, you'll hear someone declare that the subway should be shut down between midnight and 5AM to allow for construction projects. Believe me when I tell you: you don't want that to happen. If you give MTA a precedent for eliminating 24-hour service, you'll never see it again. NEVER.

[mc33433]

I've been a little irritated at times. I'm on the E/F and sometimes the E runs on the F line and vice versa. Occasionally on a day of construction, the trains run local, making my 30 minute trip considerably longer from Queens to Manhattan. However, 99% of the time I was aware of the change beforehand (although those service changes signs can sometimes be confusing!) and it wasn't that big a deal because I budgeted for it in my time/route.

[jcoltrane]

Originally Posted by sheaosaurus

When I lived off the J train, it got pretty bad one month. The J picked us up at Fulton and then said its last stop was Essex Street. We got off, waited, then boarded a BK bound J. As we were crossing the bridge, the conductor told us the train was stopping at Marcy then running express to Broadway Junction. (my stop is Halsey). Long story short, when I got on the train at Broadway Junction, it was skipped my stop and went to Myrtle. From there I got PO'd and took a cab. On the weekends I generally avoid taking the train, specifically the F and the A late nights. I usually cab it.

Absolutely typical of an MTA twilight zone 'Odessey', you might never get home....

The thing is that MTA Odesseys like that can, particularly late night, can put riders in unexpectedly dangerous situations, and the MTA seems oblivious to this, and takes NO care for one's safety.

I mean its one thing to take the subway a couple stops to a trendy and relatively safe borough neighborhood/stop, but its quite another to find yourself caught in an MTA twilight zone odessey, deep in the ghetto, someplace you don't know where, sticking out like a sore thumb---then being compelled to go down/up to the street trying to find a taxi.

[jds2001]

So on a somewhat unrelated note, there are UNPLANNED service changes - like the one that I got caught up in yesterday on the L. I was in the financial district, and needed to get to 10th and 1st. The easiest way to do this it to take the 2/3 to the L over to 1st ave.

When I got to 14th st, the L platform seemed insanely crowded, but the countdown clock seemed to be in order, so I thought all was well - until the clock reached 0 and stayed there forever. An announcement was made that due to signal problems, a shuttle train was running between 8th Ave and Union Square - seems pretty straightforward, right?

There were clearly hipsters on the platform wanting to get to Williamsburg (I know, I'm stereotyping here, but go with it) who had NO CLUE what was going on, in spite of a surprisingly clear PA announcement saying what was going on.

Moral of the story - sometimes the "incomprehensible" service changes aren't really all that incomprehensible, if you just use your brain and listen/read/whatever.

[Doobage]

Originally Posted by jcoltrane

Absolutely typical of an MTA twilight zone 'Odessey', you might never get home....

The thing is that MTA Odesseys like that can, particularly late night, can put riders in unexpectedly dangerous situations, and the MTA seems oblivious to this, and takes NO care for one's safety.

I mean its one thing to take the subway a couple stops to a trendy and relatively safe borough neighborhood/stop, but its quite another to find yourself caught in an MTA twilight zone odessey, deep in the ghetto, someplace you don't know where, sticking out like a sore thumb---then being compelled to go down/up to the street trying to find a taxi.

I've been on an "MTA Odyssey" before. I've never heard a better term for it! lmao

[Doobage]

Originally Posted by Fred314X

As an employee of the transit agency everyone loves to hate, let me just offer this tiny little perspective...

General Orders (the in-house term for the official writeups of work projects) are produced by individuals who, it must be admitted, don't always confer with each other. That's why the individual work projects conflict, causing problems.

Could something be done about this? Yes, but you don't have to have much of an imagination to guess what sorts of bureaucracy would have to be slogged through to get it done. The old expression says that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line...but over at 2 Broadway, they rarely recognize a straight line when they see one.

Occasionally, you'll hear someone declare that the subway should be shut down between midnight and 5AM to allow for construction projects. Believe me when I tell you: you don't want that to happen. If you give MTA a precedent for eliminating 24-hour service, you'll never see it again. NEVER.

Yeah, I didn't want this to be an MTA bashing thread because as I said, the work does need to be done. But it seems like there's never a weekend without multiple service cuts in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens.

It doesn't affect me that badly now (except for the occasional weekend mashup of the 1/2/3 from Chambers to 96th) but I am looking to move. I was checking out a place in Bensonhurst the other day and I realized that my potential new "home stations" on the D would be out of service and/or I'd have to backtrack. I was just wondering how other people deal with the changes, in case my new home isn't in Manhattan!

[sekhmet1974]

The N/Q in Astoria has been having ongoing construction all summer and the. Communication about it is rarely accurate. There usually ARE postings, and I will plan ahead early. What sometimes happens is I arrive early and said train/track is actually NOT shut down, which may not seem like a problem except that I have rescructred my schedule to accommodate it, so to me it is a problem.
Worse, I have arrived and we are waiting forever with no explanation. Or there is unannounced construction and your train is moving 1 mile/hour and you are stuck on the train.

The worst so far happened to my husband last week. No N/Q Manhattan bound @ our station. So he takes it Ditmars bound with the intention of staying on @ Ditmars and then riding it into Manhattan. He left @ 930 to be at work @ 11. The train finally arrives and then goes to Ditmars. @ Ditmars, the train doors don't open. For ***45 MINUTES***!!!!!!! NO announcement or explanation. People were volitile, screaming and banging on the doors. Finally after 45 minutes they make an announcement that power has gone out on another train and service is halted and they finally open the doors. My husband tood a private hired car with 4 strangers to Times Square to finally arrive at work @ 1130 am. This was on a Sunday, btw. Complete BS. The biggest issue imo is that they did not allow passengers off for 45 minutes!!! Without explanation!! How can that even be legal????

[FOReverxpeace]

I live in Queens and I take the 7 train, the most problematic train of all. They're always running express during non-rush hours and the worst thing is that there are limited 7 trains after rush hour. During the weekends, they go express and sometimes there aren't local Flushing-bound trains.

[Fred314X]

Originally Posted by jds2001

Moral of the story - sometimes the "incomprehensible" service changes aren't really all that incomprehensible, if you just use your brain and listen/read/whatever.

The best I could do was rep you for this. You actually deserve a gold medal. Believe me, taking the time to reason things out is a minority opinion.

[FrancieNolan]

I live in Astoria and take the N/Q daily. Weekdays are rarely ever a problem. I probably don't go into the city on weekends very much. every now and then I have seen a problem with service butin the last year i can only name one time that it significantly complicated my plans. On the weekends I am more likely to drive to Long Island or north of the city for shopping. I may be a rarity, but I don't feel like I am overcharged for my $104/month. I get my money's worth out of it and the service is typically fine.