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I work with two persons who have moved to NJ from LI and both say the LIRR provided them a more dependable commute.
Two years ago I had to do some work over in Secaucus. I spent four months commuting there via NJ Transit. It is one stop from Penn. Well if that train was close (within 5 minutes) to being on time once a week that was a lot I wised up and took a bus from Port Authority in the morning to make sure I could get to the office on time.
After that experience I vowed to never complain about LIRR's dependability again.
I'd like to give a shot out to the dirt bag kid (young 20's) sitting in the 4 seater next to me last night on the 7:11 train from Penn to Ronkonkama:
Putting your feet up on the seats means your filthy shoes are now on a seat that someone will sit on. Any dirt on your shoes is now on their behind. Anyone who touches that seat touches all the garbage you stepped on. Think about others for once in your life, pal.
What did he say to you when you explained that to him ??
In the book Superfreakonomics, there's a description of a campaign to get people, particularly doctors, to wash their hands more frequently. What finally worked?
They had someone press their unwashed hand against an agar plate, then incubated it. The resulting garden of bacterial colonies was photographed. then that was made the screen saver on all the hospital computers.
Well, it's wrong, but a good deterrant for the 400-lb fat man...b/c honestly, no one wants to sit next to a fatty. Also, a good deterrant for the person wtith swine flu. I don't want to sit next to the lady who is hacking up a lung either.
Essentially I agree with you though.
So true, avoiding coughers and fatties is always a constant challenge on the train. However this is public transportation. That said, a better tactic to avoiding sickos and fatties is to sit next to healthy people, that way the seat is already taken and they wont sit by you.
They should just have garbages. NJ Transit has garbages...and it's a very clean train b/c of it. People get lazy and don't want to have to carry their garbage with them. It would be so convenient to have a garbage on the train. I think it would also help with cleanliness and train morale.
That's a great idea, and another reason New Jersey is better than Long Island (and NJT better than MTA). They have garbages on some Suffolk Transit buses as well and they are much cleaner than MTA buses.
Really? Ever have to transfer at Jamaica or the nightmare commute from Penn Station in NY? That said, NJ Transit bus service can be spotty and train service on the NJ Coast Line is well known for bad service.
Well their bus service is better than what we have here on Long Island. Alot are like luxury coaches, and they aren't packed with day laborers. They also have much longer hours of service. NJT even provides extra bus service for shoppers at Garden State Plaza. LI Bus on the other hand doesn't, and they get stuffed with standing loads. And lastly you dont hear NJ Transit cry every year about not having enough money like the MTA.
Two years ago I had to do some work over in Secaucus. I spent four months commuting there via NJ Transit. It is one stop from Penn. Well if that train was close (within 5 minutes) to being on time once a week that was a lot I wised up and took a bus from Port Authority in the morning to make sure I could get to the office on time.
After that experience I vowed to never complain about LIRR's dependability again.
Actually NJ Transit and LIRR share the same delay issues because of Penn station and it's trackage (on LIRR thats west of Harold, on NJT that's east of Secaucus and NE Corridor), which is owned and operated by Amtrak. They will always delay commuter trains for Amtrak trains. And then there's the lack of tracks, less than 20 tracks for Amtrak, NJT, and LIRR. In Grand Central Metro-North has almost 100 tracks to use. Penn station wasn't designed for this heavy use. The solution IMO would be to have LIRR trains use Grand Central. They are working on it but the MTA takes forever to get anything done. NJT just announced plans for a new Hudson river tunnel. Bet that gets built before the LIRR-GCT connection!
The trackage at Metro-North is of superior design, whereas NJ and LI are screwed by lousy Pennsy designs.
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I wised up and took a bus from Port Authority in the morning to make sure I could get to the office on time. 
