Register to leave a comment, or log in if you already have an account
I think the MTA fares are cheap by comparison with many other cities. London is certainly more expensive ($2.80-$6+ single fare depending on how far you go). Toronto somewhat more ($3 single fare).
I agree that MTA service has deteriorated somewhat. I’d rather they figured out how to optimize service on the lines they have before launching big new capital
Speaking of no one in the booth, I was at the 4/5/6 59th st station when the turnstile(sp?) ate my fair. There is no longer a booth there and I was told to walk to the 60th st entrance. I was so pissed and in a hurry. I ended up swiping pay per ride back up card. Talk about annoyed.
I mostly take the 2/3 from Park Slope, so my vision may be skewed, but apart from basically nonexistent weekend service, my daily commute is a breeze. I never wait more than 5-10 minutes for a train, there are no delays, and the stations on both ends are clean and graffiti-free. I also tend to travel either before or after rush hour, so I admit I have no sense of how crowded the trains are at peak times, or what service is like on other lines, which I only take sporadically.
The problem is that we are all getting the same currency for different jobs. Jobs that different people, depending on your own place in the pay scale, have assigned different “worth” to. How we look at all of this is based on our own education, training, background, and the class biases those things bring to our view.
Therefore to someone who may have a college, or post college degree, the thought that a carpenter with a high school education is making as much as you do, with all of your education, pisses you off. (the hypothetical “you”, not directed at anyone.)
If the capitalist system is really the bestest thing in the whole wide universe, then shouldn’t we be celebrating the heights to which “lesser” workers have embraced the system and made the most of it? Why shouldn’t it work for them?
another thing, when i dont have my monthly, i often buy metrocards daily, or im broke and stuff… sometimes you gotta scrounge up enough just to get to work and back! and SO annoying how many times the machines are broken and there is no one in the booth anymore, tho they were never helpful with stuff like that, they’d just tell you to get out and go across the street or something. definitely a lot more of that.
not to mention the disgusting human poop from a few weeks back that was obviously there for a number of hours.
i know that with most companies even when they downsize everyone still knows the people left have to pick up the slack to continue provide the product and service their customers deserve, no? blarg. maybe dave is right. for some i highly doubt the mta workers who remain are doing any “extra” work to pick up the slack. which is why people probably get mad.
I think the MTA fares are cheap by comparison with many other cities. London is certainly more expensive ($2.80-$6+ single fare depending on how far you go). Toronto somewhat more ($3 single fare).
I agree that MTA service has deteriorated somewhat. I’d rather they figured out how to optimize service on the lines they have before launching big new capital
Speaking of no one in the booth, I was at the 4/5/6 59th st station when the turnstile(sp?) ate my fair. There is no longer a booth there and I was told to walk to the 60th st entrance. I was so pissed and in a hurry. I ended up swiping pay per ride back up card. Talk about annoyed.
I have decided to ditch the MTA myself, CGar, and I am going to bike to work from now on, but where am I going to chain up the bike in midtown?
jinx ishtar
I mostly take the 2/3 from Park Slope, so my vision may be skewed, but apart from basically nonexistent weekend service, my daily commute is a breeze. I never wait more than 5-10 minutes for a train, there are no delays, and the stations on both ends are clean and graffiti-free. I also tend to travel either before or after rush hour, so I admit I have no sense of how crowded the trains are at peak times, or what service is like on other lines, which I only take sporadically.
if you factor inflation – isn’t it cheaper today for a ride than it was 20 yrs ago?
The problem is that we are all getting the same currency for different jobs. Jobs that different people, depending on your own place in the pay scale, have assigned different “worth” to. How we look at all of this is based on our own education, training, background, and the class biases those things bring to our view.
Therefore to someone who may have a college, or post college degree, the thought that a carpenter with a high school education is making as much as you do, with all of your education, pisses you off. (the hypothetical “you”, not directed at anyone.)
If the capitalist system is really the bestest thing in the whole wide universe, then shouldn’t we be celebrating the heights to which “lesser” workers have embraced the system and made the most of it? Why shouldn’t it work for them?
another thing, when i dont have my monthly, i often buy metrocards daily, or im broke and stuff… sometimes you gotta scrounge up enough just to get to work and back! and SO annoying how many times the machines are broken and there is no one in the booth anymore, tho they were never helpful with stuff like that, they’d just tell you to get out and go across the street or something. definitely a lot more of that.
not to mention the disgusting human poop from a few weeks back that was obviously there for a number of hours.
i know that with most companies even when they downsize everyone still knows the people left have to pick up the slack to continue provide the product and service their customers deserve, no? blarg. maybe dave is right. for some i highly doubt the mta workers who remain are doing any “extra” work to pick up the slack. which is why people probably get mad.
*rob*
Biff, those fare increases don’t even keep pace with inflation.
I want to get a look at the funding cuts Albany has made to the MTA over the years. THAT would be more interesting than those fare hikes.