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The subways in Paris and in Budapest are extremely inexpensive and very clean.... much better than NYC, but yes, I don't think that they run 24/7.
Metro in Paris shuts down about after 2400 hours on weekdays, and an hour later Friday through Sunday (really Monday morning) on weekends. Either way when they say "closing" that is exactly what is meant. Gates come out/lowered, trains will discharge passengers, and everything goes on lock down until opened next day.
This being said system opens again by six AM so there isn't that long of a wait without trains. There also is extensive bus service that is intended to make up for loss of Metro during those hours.
People either make tracks for the Metro before it closes to get home or whatever before it shuts down, or plan to break the night and stay out until it starts up again. This or take one or more of the aforementioned buses to get where they need to go.
Metro in Paris shuts down about after 2400 hours on weekdays, and an hour later Friday through Sunday (really Monday morning) on weekends. Either way when they say "closing" that is exactly what is meant. Gates come out/lowered, trains will discharge passengers, and everything goes on lock down until opened next day.
This being said system opens again by six AM so there isn't that long of a wait without trains. There also is extensive bus service that is intended to make up for loss of Metro during those hours.
People either make tracks for the Metro before it closes to get home or whatever before it shuts down, or plan to break the night and stay out until it starts up again. This or take one or more of the aforementioned buses to get where they need to go.
And since bus service is efficient it isn't a big deal. In Italy, we had night service, basically buses that only operated during overnight hours in Florence. As I said, very efficient service.
And since bus service is efficient it isn't a big deal. In Italy, we had night service, basically buses that only operated during overnight hours in Florence. As I said, very efficient service.
Well yes, and no.
One night in Paris having totally not heeded advice of friends who were leaving the club to catch Metro before closing, remained and had a good time. Being from NYC used to arriving at a place at 1AM and leaving near closing going home at 11PM just seemed stupid.
Never the less when one did leave had to make my way from the 8th arr. to 15th wasn't simple as taking Metro. It took some walking, one bus, then transferring to another, with more walking still before arrived at place was staying. All this at 3AM armed with nothing more than a Paris bus map. Had a blast though seeing Paris as the locals do, and wasn't bothered or worried a bit. Next day friends were sort of amazed, but then again coming from NYC they assumed I had the skills to handle myself. *LOL*
But the NYC subway is very affordable and runs 24/7. It also has a lot of character
The very affordable part isn't quite true. NYC is more middle of the pack among large metro systems in the developed world rather than anywhere near the front so can't really be considered very affordable.
The 24/7 is true and may be part of the issue as running it 24/7 might not be the best idea in terms of maintenance and reliability at an efficient cost. Outside of that though, 24/7 service is really nice to have if only the maintenance and the constant service changes lottery one plays for late night and weekend services were better.
I think most older subway systems have a lot of character and some of the newer ones (as in from within the last quarter century) also have quite a bit of character--it's just that the character isn't necessarily associated with griminess.
Anyhow, the way the article was made seems to invite comparisons where only the more favorable aspects were mentioned. I'm not saying that's not wrong, but there are actually some pretty good things about NYC's system which are its extensiveness (even factoring in how massive this city is), the local/express system that's pretty convenient, the aforementioned 24/7 service, and among very old systems, a better commitment to disability access (i.e. some goddamn elevators even if they seem to break and/or reek of urine).
The gist of the article is still right, though and I think most us can agree that there are a lot of improvements that need to be made to the NYC subway and mass transit in general here (in this city, in this metropolitan area, in this state, in this region, in this country).
If we're going to use these comparisons even moderately usefully, then what we have is that the system needs to get prettied and cleaned up a lot and have a way of easily maintaining that, delays are terrible and so signal modernization needs to be a priority, and connections to other forms of transit such as buses and most importantly the commuter and regional rail system need to be improved. This requires that the various levels of government prioritize the mass transit system, increase its funding, and be more efficient with that funding as well as better coordinate the different modes of transit. It also probably means having to really enforce laws against littering and other forms of disruption on the system. I reckon most of this is something most New Yorkers can agree on, but simply aren't really getting done.
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 02-11-2019 at 06:15 PM..
One night in Paris having totally not heeded advice of friends who were leaving the club to catch Metro before closing, remained and had a good time. Being from NYC used to arriving at a place at 1AM and leaving near closing going home at 11PM just seemed stupid.
Never the less when one did leave had to make my way from the 8th arr. to 15th wasn't simple as taking Metro. It took some walking, one bus, then transferring to another, with more walking still before arrived at place was staying. All this at 3AM armed with nothing more than a Paris bus map. Had a blast though seeing Paris as the locals do, and wasn't bothered or worried a bit. Next day friends were sort of amazed, but then again coming from NYC they assumed I had the skills to handle myself. *LOL*
I guess I was lucky because I could walk from the nearest train station when traveling late back to Florence. I took the bus when i didn’t feel like walking. Let’s say a 20 minute walk from Stazione Centrale to the Palazzo Pitti area. There were also an abundant of cab stands. You just go to a stand and wait and the cabs come quickly. They are expensive though, and if you called for one as I did on occasion they already started the meter prior to you even getting into the car. Similar to the new surcharge levied here in NYC with Uber, the yellow cabs and so on where it’s $5.80 before you even set foot into the car.
Every communist country has a good rail system because majority of people depend on cheap mass transit.
NYC Subway is bad because it's a tax payer funded system. In a city that is over crowded and 1/2 the people don't pay enough taxes there's gonna be shortfalls in the budget and poorly managed.
Every communist country has a good rail system because majority of people depend on cheap mass transit.
NYC Subway is bad because it's a tax payer funded system. In a city that is over crowded and 1/2 the people don't pay enough taxes there's gonna be shortfalls in the budget and poorly managed.
It's more that the federal and state taxes don't come into the system enough as mass transit is not enough of a priority despite how great of an economic multiplier it is and there are some boneheaded mismanagement and larger regional planning issues.
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