NYC Subway

The NYT reports this morning on the state of the elevators in the subway system. While the frequency of trains and the generally good coverage of the lines make our subway very useful, it is also a very old, broken down and inaccessible service. A quick visit to the city might lead you to think we have a good transit system - but it's plagued with delays, never ending construction, and a terrible lack of planning. And, when there is a service change, there are often no signs, or the signs are wrong.

There are very few elevators, and only at certain stations. Of course, this means that you must always carry your bicycle down set after set of stairs to bring it on the subway, and sometimes, these stations are very deep underground. But more importantly, this means the subway is basically useless for people who are in wheelchairs or who cannot, for any other reason, use stairs.

Subway Stairs, originally uploaded by Joe Stuczynski.

On the plus side, there are no separate tickets or passes required to bring your bicycle on the New York subway, but you must be able to carry it up and down the stairs (see above photo), get it into the station and find space on the crowded train.

And getting it into the station isn't always possible, as many entrances look like this (G**gle image search):