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What are some holes in your daily transportation life that you feel could be filled through technology?
Maybe an app or website, or an add-on to an existing app or website?
What are the struggles you face during either your commute or your day-to-day traveling? These struggles could be related to time, comfort, safety, cost, access, aesthetics, or anything else you could think of.
I'm working on some research on this topic and would love to hear some thoughts that could send me in a direction I hadn't thought of before.
I greatly appreciate it!
Last edited by Rose488; 02-04-2015 at 02:59 PM..
Reason: Improve title
Not frequent enough M21 service, but then if I catch it, I'm usually the only one on the bus. I can understand why they only come every 30 mins (20 mins on peak(?)).
My neighborhood has late-night safety issues. When I exit my subway station, I have this choice: walk 8 blocks home or go stand for a local bus. However, the new "in-real-time" bus-locating apps (Moovit, or the MTA's) don't function inside subway stations. So they don't help me decide soon enough. I want to get this info quickly (= how long before the next real-time bus, at a given bus stop..) to decide whether it's smarter tonight to wait, or walk. I want to move with confidence, not stand outside a train station typing on my phone to ask the existing apps. Or at least make it faster/more automatic to ask about the same-ol stop, same bus every time since I'm almost home.
Last edited by BrightRabbit; 02-04-2015 at 03:52 PM..
My neighborhood has late-night safety issues. When I exit my subway station, I have this choice: walk 8 blocks home or go stand for a local bus. However, the new "in-real-time" bus-locating apps (Moovit, or the MTA's) don't function inside subway stations. So they don't help me decide soon enough. I want to get this info quickly (= how long before the next real-time bus, at a given bus stop..) to decide whether it's smarter tonight to wait, or walk. I want to move with confidence, not stand outside a train station typing on my phone to ask the existing apps. Or at least make it faster/more automatic to ask about the same-ol stop, same bus every time since I'm almost home.
They are working to have all the stations have WiFi which would help you with this problem. I agree having a digital display of the time of the next bus arriving would be nice though.
I remember last time I visited NYC, I couldn't get cell phone reception underground at subway stations. Granted, this has more to do with the carrier, but it does pose an issue if you were expecting an important call or needed internet access.
What are some holes in your daily transportation life that you feel could be filled through technology?
Maybe an app or website, or an add-on to an existing app or website?
What are the struggles you face during either your commute or your day-to-day traveling? These struggles could be related to time, comfort, safety, cost, access, aesthetics, or anything else you could think of.
I'm working on some research on this topic and would love to hear some thoughts that could send me in a direction I hadn't thought of before.
I greatly appreciate it!
Well, for starters, the Staten Island Ferry doesn't have a real-time tracker. It would be nice to know that if it's 6:59PM, and the 7PM boat is delayed, that I don't have to run for it. (It would also come in handy for those days when they operate on a reduced schedule. It's 8:19 and you think you're going to catch the 8:30 ferry, but it becomes the 8:20 ferry and the next ferry is at 8:40).
It would be nice if they expanded that tracking technology to the lettered lines (BMT/IND division).
I have plenty of other complaints, but they can't really be fixed with technology, just common sense. The nearest bus route is almost a half a mile away, even though there is clearly need and demand for more convenient service. They ripped out the bus stop that was a mile away for the bus coming from Brooklyn, inconveniencing people in my neighborhood for no reason. On the weekends, the X17 stops running at 8:30PM on Saturday and Sunday evenings, despite being busier than all of the BM express routes combined.
They should use the technology to ensure more reliable service, and while they claim they can, more can and should be done. There's times when buses are scheduled 30 minutes apart, but they come back-to-back, leaving an hour gap, when there's plenty that could be done about that (short-turns, etc)
Grand Central downtown platform and trains packed as early as before 7:30am. Don't see a solution to this though. Maybe some day Metro North can be extended to Fulton.
Escalators would be great if they could be added along the Queens Blvd. local stops from the street level to the mezzanine level. Not only would that help with carrying stuff and who have lower body disabilities but also people would have another alternative for crossing the "boulevard of death" safely!
No consistency at the subway stations. For example some subway lines have a digital clock on the platform indicating when the next train will arrive. But some subway lines don't have this. On top of it, the MTA personnel at the station rarely announce delays. It just helps to ease the mind knowing when the next train is coming.
Also, subway stations tend to be dirty because there are not enough garbage cans spread across the station and the platform. More of these would be helpful.
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